The comic whose setup mirrors that of Heroes most closely is Rising Stars, written between 1999 and 2005 by J. Michael Straczynski. In the mythology of Rising Stars, a mysterious fireball lands in a small town, and the 100-plus children in utero at impact grow up with superpowers. Rising Stars follows these "Specials" into adulthood, where some become heroes, some become villains, but most never wear anything resembling a cape and tights.

In addition to sharing an interest in the impact superheroes have when they live among the rest of us, Rising Stars shares with Heroes a certain grandiosity. Those with a low tolerance for over-the-top scenes like the ones in the panels opposite—in which long-haired, trench-coat-wearing hero John Simon, "the Poet," calls his fellow Specials to action, during a thunderstorm, no less—should steer clear. But a little pompousness is hard to avoid in superhero stories; not much separates the Poet's pronouncement, after all, from "Save the cheerleader, save the world."