Adam Newman

The name adopted by a lifelike android -- created by Superman in his own image but rejected by the Man of Steel soon afterward because of its serious imperfections -- who, bitterly resentful over having been discarded, masterminds an elaborate scheme to wreak vengeance on Superman and end his super-hero career by tricking Clark Kent into believing that Adam Newman is the only real Superman and that all his own recollections of an action-filled life as Superman have been only symptoms of a pathetic delusion. Incredibly, the plot succeeds -- with Clark Kent actually convinced that he is only a mild-mannered reporter and that his entire life as Superman has been nothing by an insane hallucination -- until finally Adam Newman, mortally wounded while battling a runaway nuclear pile, confesses the details of his scheme to a startled Clark Kent so that, even though the android Superman must perish, the real Superman will be able to save Metropolis from disaster. (S No. 174/1, Jan 1965: pts. 1-2--"Clark Kent's Incredible Delusion!"; "The End of a Hero!").