More article, photos and video at the Chicago Tribune; might have to sign up, but it's free. Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the Superman Next Door! Left: Frank Kasy poses in a Superman costume for artist Alex Ross. Center, right: Ross draws black and color renderings of Superman from Kasy's photo. (Courtesy Alex Ross / November 20, 2008) For nearly two decades, comic book creator Alex Ross has used friend and fellow graphic artist Frank Kasy as his model for Superman. Ross is best known for his lifelike depictions of superheroes in such comics as "Kingdom Come" and "Marvels." He just released a new title--"Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Superman"--with Kasy again stepping into the red boots. Alex Ross, 38, artist and writer, Glenview Ross first met Kasy in 1989 while both were artists at advertising agency Leo Burnett. At the time, Ross started painting the comic book series "Terminator: The Burning Earth," based on the popular movie franchise. But he was starting to dabble in superhero work too. "I had done a gag drawing of him as Superman using color markers," Ross remembers. "He threw it out, right in front of my face, by the way. I just did it to be funny. He scoffed at the idea of this being anything important to him." When Ross started working on the book "Marvels," which depicts historical versions of Marvel Comics superheroes, he started to rely on Kasy as his model for the Human Torch, among other characters. Ross chose Kasy because his face held a certain Clint Eastwood quality of the classic, pre- Christopher Reeve version of Superman, Ross says. Ross would go on to use Kasy as a model for Superman, Captain America, Aquaman, Giant Man and Thor. Frank Kasy, 50, artist and actor, Deer Park Do Kasy's neighbors know that, occasionally, he dresses up in tights for another man? "It's not the first thing I tell people," says Kasy, laughing. "My art comes first. I never call myself a model or anything. I just say I'm the face of Superman." He adds: "People usually don't believe me or understand until I show them." Not that he has many neighbors. Kasy works in a wooded fortress of solitude guarded by two Great Pyrenees dogs, themselves with superhero names: Maximus the Gladiator and Xena the Princess Warrior. They guard his home studio while he works on ads for Altoids, the Museum of Science and Industry, and recently, storyboards for the movie " The Lucky Ones..." (Cont.)