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Omni-Man is a Viltrumite living on Earth. He is also known by his regular name: Nolan Grayson. As a way to make money, and to preserve his identity as Omni-Man, Nolan takes a job as an author for travel books.

When Nolan disappears from Earth after fighting Mark,

Cecil mentions that

"all his travel books always sold well, but sales will see a significant spike after his death."

This indicates that Nolan's death would drive up sales of his books even more, so he must be well known and pretty popular.

How is it that no one would recognise Nolan Grayson as the revered Omni-Man? Omni-Man didn't wear a mask, so it's incredibly easy to see his face. Was Nolan Grayson - The Author somehow different in appearance from Nolan Grayson - Omni-Man? Did no one ever make the connection?

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    Have you heard of... Superman?
    – Filip Mátl
    May 17, 2021 at 21:17
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    I'd imagine it's a case of "Hey, you look just like Omni-Man", "Yeah, a lot of people say that. I don't see it myself".
    – Valorum
    May 17, 2021 at 21:18
  • Lots of authors don't have a jacket photo. For example, feel free to tell me whether Greg Egan looks like Omni-Man
    – Valorum
    May 17, 2021 at 21:21
  • @Valorum - r.e. your last comment, if someone can prove that then it would be a solid answer
    – fez
    May 17, 2021 at 21:28
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    Cecil saying "all his travel books always sold well, but sales will see a significant spike after his death." is Cecil saying that his agency will pay the Graysons survivor's benefits by surreptitiously buying copies of Nolan's books in large quantities.
    – notovny
    Feb 5, 2022 at 13:45

1 Answer 1

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In the TV show it's simply hand-waved. Norms (and in this case, other supers) don't recognise supers in their day clothes, even when they've seen them in real life.

Mark: I never recognized you before.

Eve: No one does. It's a psychology thing. If you don't expect to see a superhero in your school, you don't see a superhero in your school.

In the comics, Atom Eve is extremely surprised that she's recognised, even by someone who knows her personally. Again, zero explanation is offered.

enter image description here
Invincible #004

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    And the best part is...this really works. There's tons of stories about celebrities who don't wear anything in the way of a disguise except for different clothes, changing their hair or yes, wearing glasses, who can be completely unrecognized. Shakira is a good example: she attended a semester at UCLA using her real name and flew completely under the radar because no one ever thought of internationally known singer Shakira attending classes.
    – Keith Morrison
    May 18, 2021 at 1:20
  • Also pretty much the reason no one spots Mark and Eve flying away from school - "no one looks up"
    – fez
    May 18, 2021 at 6:28

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