For more than a decade, the 35-year-old Chavez has undergone a series of procedures that have made his nose higher and slimmed down his thighs. He has had surgery on his cheeks, lips and chin, and injections to whiten his skin.
"Superman is my idol. I want to look like him," Chavez said. "That's why I copied his nose and the proportion of Superman's face."
Once a typical-looking Filipino, Chavez now has the firm-jawed face of Clark Kent. A curl of black hair falls on his forehead, and he occasionally sports the thick, black glasses of his idol's nerdier incarnation, mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent. He is planning an operation that will give him a more muscular abdomen and is looking at specialized surgery in Japan that will insert metal in his legs to make him taller. He has designed his own Superman costumes.
His admiration began when he was a child and watched Superman lifting a stack of cars on the big screen. He later began collecting Superman memorabilia, amassing a huge collection over the years. Now his house is packed with Superman cups, bed spreads, action figures and life-size Superman statues.
