Superman, being the King of Superheroes, has had a host of pastiches, expies and ripoffs over the years. The original rival to the throne was Billy Batson's Captain Marvel, but since then, a litany of characters have been introduced into comic books that even more closely resemble the Man of Steel.
One of the many harder-edged Superman knockoffs introduced through Image Comics (initially) is Apollo, who was the resident Superman expy of Stormwatch and The Authority. The Wildstorm Universe is once again part of the DC Universe, and this unity will have Superman soon teaming up with the similarly solar-powered Apollo. Here's a look at who Apollo is, how he's vastly different from the Last Son of Krypton and why it's so strange for him and Superman to fighting alongside each other.
Apollo
Debuting in the fourth issue of the second volume of Wildstorm's Stormwatch and quickly made waves for not only being an openly gay superhero, but particularly one who was cast in the Superman archetype. Likewise, his boyfriend and later husband Midnighter bore more resemblance to Batman, making the two a fairly controversial take on the World's Finest.
This status was even homaged in their introductory storyline, "A Finer World," where they were explained as the only survivors of a team of seven (likely referencing the typical founding number of Justice League members) and subsequently went underground. Once a normal human and soldier, he had been genetically engineered by Henry Bendix. This gave him powers such as super strength, flight, super speed, healing, invulnerability and heat vision, all of which were derived from his ability to absorb solar energy. When this energy depletes or Apollo is kept from the sun for too long, however, he becomes mortally vulnerable fast.
A Wild Storm
Like most Wildstorm characters, namely those on The Authority, Apollo's morality was far removed from that of typical superheroes. He and the others had no compulsions about killing and inflicting graphic violence upon enemies. He would form a close friendship with Jenny Sparks, and he and Midnighter later adopted her successor Jenny Quantum. The World's End event that would eventually bring a close to the original Wildstorm Universe made a dramatic impact on him, with the blotting out of the sun wreaking havoc on his powers and forcing him to live in the stratosphere.
The New 52 would reboot the Wildstorm characters, with Apollo and Midnighter being two of the most prominent of Widlstorm's creations to be reintroduced. His main role was on the rebooted Stormwatch, where he served alongside Midnighter, Jack Hawksmoor and even DC hero Martian Manhunter.
This emphasis will continue in the new Superman and the Authority book coming from Grant Morrison, Mikel Janín and Jordie Bellaire. Superman's older and more grisly appearance somewhat resembles both his Kingdom Come and DCYou look, and also helps him to fit in a bit better with the far darker Wildstorm characters. He'll still likely clash with the more violent "heroes" on his team, which will make it all the more interesting considering that it'll involve Superman likely coming to blows with a character directly inspired by him.
Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Mikel Janín, Superman and the Authority #1 goes on sale on July 20 from DC Comics.