Created in 1932 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman has become
one of the greatest cultural icons in American history. Sworn to
protect truth, liberty, and the American way, Superman was the last
survivor of the doomed planet Krypton who came to earth as a baby. When
he grew up, he gained numerous superpowers, including super-speed,
flight, heat vision, and invulnerability. In his nearly 80 year
existence, he has inspired countless comics, movies, television shows,
and ordinary people to do their best every day. As one of the first
superheroes, he has become a template for other characters, be they
homages, doppelgangers, or rip-offs. Here are ten such characters,
presented in the order of their first appearance.
10. Ultraman
First Appearance: Justice League of America #29 (August 1964)
There
have been several Ultramans throughout comic history. But the one that
is mentioned here is the evil counterpart of Superman from Earth-3, a
parallel universe of the DC universe where all of the heroes were evil
and vice versa. The original Ultraman was a member of the Crime
Syndicate, the evil version of the Justice League. Unlike Superman, he
grew stronger with exposure to Kryptonite. The original Ultraman died
during the DC crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. In
post-crisis history, Ultraman and the Crime Syndicate of America were
rewritten to be the Justice League’s counterparts from the Antimatter
Universe. Whatever his origin or explanation, Ultraman remains one of
Superman’s most powerful, and persistent, foes.
9. Hyperion (Earth-712)
First Appearance: The Avengers #69 (October 1969)
Trying
to unravel the history of Hyperion is a mind-numbingly difficult task,
as there have been five completely different versions of the character
in the Marvel Universe. To make things simple, this entry is about only
one of the those versions: the Hyperion from Earth-712. This Hyperion
is a member of the Squadron Supreme, a superhero team that was created
by Roy Thomas and John Buscema that was based off the flagship
characters from their rival company, DC comics. The Squadron Supreme
has been known to traverse the different Marvel universes, occasionally
coming to fight the Avengers from the main Marvel Universe,
Earth-616. However, they are most known from their self-titled 12-issue
miniseries written by Mark Gruenwald. In it, the Squadron Supreme, led
by Hyperion, tried to remake their world using their powers and
knowledge into a utopia. But their attempts at remaking the world led
to them creating a totalitarian state with themselves as dictators.
8. Supreme
First Appearance: Youngblood #3 (1992)
Created
by Rob Liefeld as part of his Image Comics imprint, Supreme was
originally an incredibly violent version of Superman. The idea was that
Supreme would be Superman if he lacked his incredible moral
code. However, Supreme was rebooted by legendary comic book writer Alan
Moore into a tribute to Superman during the Silver Age of
Comics. Considered one of the most brilliant and ingenious reboots in
comic history, Moore based his storylines and characters off classic
Superman comics. He introduced new characters like Supreme’s sister
Suprema (a homage to Supergirl) and Radar the Hound Supreme (a homage to
Krypto) By doing this, he was able to take a modern day spin on
classic comic book stories and archetypes. His run won the 1997 Eisner
Award for Best Writer and is considered to this day to be a masterpiece
of comic book meta-fiction.
7. Mister Majestic
First Appearance: WildC.A.T.s #11 (June 1994)
Mister
Majestic was a character that was deliberately designed after
Superman. As such, he is one of the most powerful heroes in the
Wildstorm universe, an independent comic book company that was purchased
by DC in 1999. Mister Majestic was a warlord and commander of a
massive alien warship that became stranded on earth. As such, he is a
brutally violent character stemming from his militant
lifestyle. Thankfully, after coming to earth he swore to fight against
the forces of evil. Being able to live for thousands of years, he has
influenced human history for generations. He finally settled down by
becoming a costumed hero and joining the superhero team known as the
Wildcats. He has a massive ego that stems from a severe superiority
complex. Mister Majestic is another example of a writer inverting the
Superman archetype by imagining what someone of such power would be like
without his moral beliefs.
6. Apollo
First Appearance:
Stormwatch Vol. 2 #4 (February 1998)
Much
like Mister Majestic, Apollo is a Superman-type character originating
from the Wildstorm universe. Much like Superman, he is powered by the
sun’s
rays. At full strength he is nearly invulnerable and can shoot blasts
of heat and light. He was originally a mutated human who had been
designed to be a part of team to rival the Stormwatch, one of
Wildstorm’s superhero teams. However, he was part of a mission that
went horribly wrong that killed almost his entire team. Managing to
escape, he joined the Authority, yet another superhero team, along with
his lover, the Midnighter. Although not technically the first, Apollo
was among the very first openly gay superheroes in comic books.
5. The Sentry (Robert Reynolds)
First Appearance: The Sentry #1 (September 2000)
Much
like Hyperion, the Sentry is the name of several different characters
in the Marvel Universe. For this list, I have chose the most prominent
incarnation of the Sentry, also known as Robert Reynolds. The Sentry
has one of the most bizarre publishing histories of any character in
comic book history. Although first introduced in 2000, he was retconned
into having been a prominent member of the Marvel Universe since its
inception in the 1960s. However, an evil power known as The Void had
caused the entire universe, including the superhuman community, to
forget him. After regaining his memory, he had to defeat The Void while
regaining his long-lost friendships with characters like the Fantastic
Four, Spider-Man, Hulk, and the X-Men. He has since gone on to be one
of the most powerful characters in the entire Marvel Universe, even
managing to kill Ares, the
Greek god of war. However, his incredible powers are hindered by acute mental illness, including severe schizophrenia.
4. Omni-Man
First Appearance: Invincible #1 (January 2003)
Omni-Man
is the father of the superhero Invincible, a character in the Image
Comics Universe. He has the usual grocery list of Superman-esque
powers. However, he also possesses a massively increased lifespan. At
first he is depicted as a stalwart defender of earth and a consummate
family man…at least until he kills the rest of the planet’s heroes and
announces their subjugation to the Viltrumite Empire. The Viltrumites
are a humanoid alien race who are among the most powerful in the
universe. Omni-Man was assigned with conquering the planet. As such,
he became an opponent to his very own
son. However,
he has since redeemed himself by siding with the planet earth in the
Viltrumite Wars wherein he destroyed their home planet along with his
son.
3. Astonishman
First Appearance: The End League #1 (January 2008)
Astonishman
is a character in The End League, a comic book series published by Dark
Horse Comics. The point of the series is that the war against evil has
failed. Supervillains have conquered the earth and the last few
superheroes have been forced to band together. They are led by
Astonishman, originally a government employed hero who fought in World
War Two. However, as time went by, he grew more
arrogant. In
May of 1962, he was tricked by the villain Lexington into attacking a
nuclear warhead on the ocean floor, devastating the earth. Astonishman
was powerful enough to shift the earth’s gravitational cycle. He is
able to fly six times the speed of sound and has enhanced senses that
are so powerful that he can scan the planet in seconds.
2. Alpha One
First Appearance: The Mighty #1 (February 2009)
Alpha
One is a creator-owned property of DC comics that exists within his own
universe. Within his universe, he was the first and only Super
Hero. He has all of the standard Superman
powers. However,
as his world’s only superhero, he is assisted by Section Omega, an
entire police force whose sole goal is to help him seek justice. He has
so far only appeared in a 12 issue limited series. However, Paramount
has recently acquired the rights to his character, so a movie featuring
this mighty character is not out of the question.
1. The Plutonian
First Appearance: Irredeemable #1 (March 2009)
The
brainchild of comic book superstar Mark Waid, the Plutonian is the main
character in the comic book series Irredeemable. The series asks the
question of what would happen if a man with Superman’s powers became a
supervillain. In the comic, the Plutonian was originally his world’s
greatest superhero, even leading the Paradigm, a group of
superheroes. However, his powers grew so great that he could see and
hear everything on the planet. As a result, his faith in humanity
evaporated. When one of his mistakes leads to the deaths of hundreds of
children, he snaps, destroying major cities, killing both former
teammates and
villains,
and killing millions of people. The Plutonian is in essence a tragic
character as his inability to face all of his responsibilities and cope
with his mistakes leads him to horrific consequences. It still needs to
be seen whether or not this “irredeemable” character can, in fact, be
redeemed.
