Step1
Think about your character's face. Some stereotypical ideas can come into play. You want your heroine to be beautiful but strong. She cannot look weak, though you want her face to be appealing. For a man, you may want a square jaw, a dimple in the chin and dark eyes. Or you may want a more average-looking person, male or female, depending on who your hero is going to be and what his role will be in the world. Try out different hair and eye colors, bushy eyebrows or pencil-thin ones, to see which effect seems to "work" best for the hero you have in mind.
Step2
Construct your superhero body. When you draw the human body, you'll notice that the average adult body is about seven head lengths in height. You want your heroes to be imposing and powerful in appearance. For this reason, the pros often draw superheroes at least eight heads high, and sometimes nine. A nine-head figure works especially well for females, since it provides a way for the artist to accentuate long, slender legs, which adds height and potency to whatever pose the character is in.
Step3
Determine the powers that your character will have. Energy blasts? Super strength? Will the energy come from his hands or eyes? Will his body glow? If you make your hero too powerful, then you'll have problems giving her adequate challenges, so keep the powers to a minimum and add some weakness that can be relatively easily exploited by the villains she faces. Remember: a hero is a hero because of his character and his courage, not because of his powers.
Step4
Design a costume that reflects both her abilities and her character. After Superman appeared, almost every new hero wore his underwear on the outside of his pants. As the comic medium grew, artists began to experiment with uniform design. Read fashion magazines from around the world, and read up on historical and mythological gods and warriors; many of their typical costumes make for wonderful sources for your own imagination.
Step5
Plan out your character's background. Where did she grow up? What kind of childhood did he have? Does she have a lot of money with which to finance her superhero career, or does she have to fight through poverty? You should know everything you can about your characters. Invent life histories so that you can create convincing story lines later.
Step6
Motivate your character. Bruce Wayne lost his parents, so he looked for justice by dressing as a bat. Spiderman lost his uncle due, in part, to his selfish use of his powers, and he learned that with great power comes great responsibility. Choose some event or life-altering notion that the mass of humanity can relate to on a personal level, and you'll create a believable motivation that your readers will buy into.
Step7
Choose your hero's base of operations. From caves to high-rise apartment buildings, the possibilities are endless. Make sure that the place where your hero goes to work relates well to the type of person he is and the type of work he does. Give your character an interesting and relevant place in which to "hang his hat," or cowl or cape, as the case may be.
