Alternate Takes on Superman

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I found this interesting and read this awhile back.


Superman-ly Superheroes: Marvel's MEN OF STEAL
Super-Marvels

Superman, 75 years after his inception is still one the most recognizable characters and brands on Earth. The anniversary video made for the character shows just how much he's captured generations of fans, through many incarnations.

But DC doesn't necessarily have a monopoly on Men of Steel. The Marvel Universe has been populated with many similar characters over the years, some obvious analogues, and others that are more spiritual successors. One Superman-inspired hero, the Blue Marvel, has just resurfaced in the pages of Mighty Avengers, a team he'll be joining fully in the coming months. Another, Hyperion, is already a member of the main Avengers team, and yet another, Sentry, has returned from the dead to plague the Uncanny Avengers.

Meanwhile, Marvelman/Miracleman, a "second generation" Superman-inspired character (directly inspired by Captain Marvel/Shazam, who was inspired by Superman), makes his return in reprints of a thirty year old story that's been nearly impossible to find, by no less of writers than Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, in January.



SPIDER-MAN

There's been a surprising amount of discussion online over whether or not Marvel's Friendly Neighborhood Wall-Crawler is a Superman analogue or not. On the face of it, it doesn't seem to be the case when you consider power-sets or the character's backstory, but when you look at it from another angle...

Works for a newspaper in a major Metropolitan area? Check (Well, most of the time). A secret identity that enjoys a flipped social status from the superheroic identity? Check (Again, most of the time). Survivor guilt? Check. Constant need to do the right thing at all times, underscored by the few times when he's ignored that need and come to grief as a result? Check. Red-and-blue costume? Check. Longstanding marriage that was undone due to corporate desire to de-age the character? Check! It's like they're the same guy, you guys. If you, you know, squint hard enough and really want that to be the case.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

A strange visitor from another planet who came to love humanity so much that he fought on its behalf — even, eventually, against others of his own race.
Sound familiar? Sure, Mar-Vell — his name even sounds like Superman's Kryptonian name! — may have messed up the whole "secret identity" thing (you're supposed to pretend to be an average joe, not swap places in space with an average joe who gets dumped in the Negative Zone when you're off saving the day), but Marvel's mishmash superhero certainly has some DNA in common with the Man of Steel.

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The sentry

Let's see: Hyper-powerful hero who generally holds back for fear of going too far, wears cape, flies around a lot and has a giant "S" on his outfit.
Thankfully, Robert Reynolds had a freaky alter-ego (that eventually overwhelmed his "Sentry" persona and led to Siege, of course) to differentiate himself from Superman, otherwise all we'd have to go on was the fact that one of them was blonde and had a mullet once and the other one was brunette and had a mullet once. You know, like a mullet-ed Betty and Veronica.

OMEGA THE UNKNOWN

Not only did Steve Gerber, Mary Skenes and Jim Mooney's mid-'70s superhero look like a post-hippie Superman with his blue bodysuit, red cape and coiffure'd hair, but he's also the last survivor of a destroyed planet who landed on Earth to become a superhero.
Admittedly, things go slightly off-topic when you factor in the whole thing about his being shot dead by the police and then turning out to be a bio-engineered humanoid created by another alien race altogether, but there had to be some differences to keep from everything being a little too close for Marvel's lawyers' comfort, right?



WUNDARR THE AQUARIAN

Clearly, Steve Gerber had a thing for hippie Superman, because here's another version of that idea from the creator's Fear run in the early '70s.
This time around, Wundarr is the infant son of Hektu and Soja, who was rocketed to Earth because of an impending apocalypse that ended up not actually happening. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Wundarr has super-strength, incredible depth of knowledge and, it turns out, the ability to fight off zombie infections when needs be. All he needs to come into full-Superman mode is to lose the beard. He wouldn't want to be mistaken for Henry Cavill, after all.

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BLUE MARVEL

On the plus side, Adam Breshear isn't an alien rocketed from a dying planet, but instead a Korean War vet whose body was exposed to massive amounts of radiation that transformed him into a living anti-matter reactor and America's greatest hero for a short period — one who just so happened to have Superman-esque powers like super strength, super-speed, flight and super-senses... Oh, and his own Fortress of Solitude-style hangout at the bottom of the sea, to boot.

Someone clearly has a little bit of a Single White Female thing going on with the Man of Tomorrow, which is ironic considering he's actually a married black male, and now one of the Mighty Avengers, a new team with a new series, that debuted in September.

GLADIATOR

Sure, you could look at the leader of the Imperial Guard's OMAC-esque hairstyle and purple skin and proclaim "He's nothing like Superman! Just look at his origins! There's no doomed planet or anything going on!"
And yet, with a power-set that essentially is that of DC's favorite alien, a chest emblem that's Superman's triangle turned upside down and the fact that he was created to be a stand-in for Superboy in a faux Legion of Super-Heroes, there's no getting around it: For all intents and purposes, this is a Superman, in all but name. And skin color. Gladiator has of course risen above his humble origins, now acting as the Majestor of the Shi'ar Empire, and at the heart of the Infinity storyline. He'll likely be a major player in the upcoming All-New X-Men/Guardians of the Galaxy crossover "Trial of Jean Grey," as well.

HYPERION

There have been multiple Hyperions in Marvel Comics throughout time, including the latest, in the Jonathan Hickman-written Avengers lineup. One thing links them all together: They're all Superman deep down.
The character was, after all, created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema to be Superman to all intents and purposes in Avengers #85 as part of the Squadron Sinister (which later became known as a the Squadron Supreme), and he's always shared Kal-El's origins, super powers and weaknesses — except, of course, instead of Kryptonite, he stays away from Argonite, because it's less legally actionable that way.

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VIRTUE

Not many people really remember Ethan Edwards, former Spider-Man character and most recently seen in Avengers alongside Wonder Man and his Revengers, and there's a reason for that: You probably thought he was Superman instead.
Edwards has it all: Infant rocketed from a dying planet that crash-landed on Earth and grew up to become a superhero with super-strength, flight, heat vision and invulnerability oh, and his secret identity? That's a mild-mannered reporter at a big newspaper. Next time Marvel and DC get together for a clash of their titans? Maybe one of the Avengers should remember to bring this guy along just to freak out Superman before things even begin.

http://www.newsarama.com/15648-super...-of-steel.html

[Ceebiro]

VIRTUE

Not many people really remember Ethan Edwards, former Spider-Man character and most recently seen in Avengers alongside Wonder Man and his Revengers, and there's a reason for that: You probably thought he was Superman instead.
Edwards has it all: Infant rocketed from a dying planet that crash-landed on Earth and grew up to become a superhero with super-strength, flight, heat vision and invulnerability oh, and his secret identity? That's a mild-mannered reporter at a big newspaper. Next time Marvel and DC get together for a clash of their titans? Maybe one of the Avengers should remember to bring this guy along just to freak out Superman before things even begin.

http://www.newsarama.com/15648-super...-of-steel.html

Now this guy is the epitome of wasted potential.

I don't know how Secret Invasion happened and NOBODY at Marvel thought about doing an Ethan Edwards story. A Super-Skrull raised on Earth with powers to rival any of Marvel's top dogs torn between his upbringing and his purpose.

How did this not happen?

I have a running Ethan Edwards pitch that actually features Blue Marvel in the first issue and overhauls/refreshes a few Marvel villains. I like it and if I ever get the chance I'll definitely do it, probably unchanged provided neither Blue Marvel nor Dr. Strange die.

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Marvel
Captain Forsa ?
Captain Forsa is a Brazilian superhero that was killed by someone named Zeitgeist.




MC2 Jim Rhodes
FRED

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DC COMICS
Sunshine Superman (Character)

Born on a parallel earth he is the counterpart to Superman having all the same powers and abilities. He is a black version of Superman sporting an Afro in a world very similar to that of the late 60’s and early 70’s. He was a member of the Love Syndicate [Animal Man # ].

http://worldofblackheroes.com/2015/0...hine-superman/

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Marvel Comics
Meteor Man (comics)


Meteor Man is a comic book spin-off of the 1993 MGM film The Meteor Man. Marvel Comics produced a 6-issue limited series written by Bert B Hubbard and Dwight D Coye. Robert Walker (Illustrator), Jon Holdredge (Illustrator) where Meteor Man met Spider-Man and Night Thrasher. The fictional superhero was created by director/actor/writer, Robert Townsend.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Man_%28comics%29

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DC AND MILESTONE COMICS.
Icon

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Val zod

Val-Zod Appreciation Thread
http://community.comicbookresources....ciation-Thread

Tangent Superman?

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DC COMICS
Aztec Superman


Young Aztec Superboy aka Quetzal





Reign of the Supermen #134: Quetzal
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/03/...4-quetzal.html

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DC COMICS
New power girl/tanya spears



Multiverse+earth
A black superman and supergirl.
Earth-D

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Maximum (comics)

Maximum is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Supermen of America vol. 2 #1 (March 2000), and was created by Fabian Nicieza and Doug Braithwaite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_%28comics%29

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CALVIN ELLIS

Kalel (Earth 23) - DC Comics Database
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Kalel_%28Earth_23%29





New Marvel/Shazam Family members

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Sunman


Hancock


Silver Sentry

Silver Sentry is a Superman-like superhero based in New York City, and a special friend and occasional partner of Michelangelo.
Abilities
Flight, Super Strength,Super Speed, Invulnerability, Super Breath, X-Ray Vision, Super Hearing, Energy Projection
Weapon(s) of choice
Shield and Lance
http://turtlepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Silver_Sentry