Pixar Animation Studios' "The Incredibles" has all the earmarks of a comic book movie: It features superstrong Mr. Incredible, superflexible Elastigirl, superfast Dash and the forcefield-wielding Violet. A family of superheroes, they all face off against supervillains and pal around with superfriends.

But "The Incredibles," created by animator Brad Bird, is not based on a comic book. It represents a new wave of movies that derive their inspiration from comic book conventions but create universes that have never existed in a comic book imprint.

"The Incredibles," which has grossed $243 million domestically, is bulldozing the way for the developing subgenre.

Walt Disney Pictures has in production "Sky High," a movie directed by Mike Mitchell that revolves around teens at a high school for superheroes. Disney also is developing "Maxx Powers and the Love Triangle of Doom," Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger's script in which a woman dumps her superhero boyfriend to go out with an average guy. The project, being produced by Alex Berger, Stephanie Danan and Alain Chabat, was set up in January. Meanwhile, the script "Tonight He Comes" by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan has been attracting attention -- it features a Superman-type hero who drinks too much, has one-night stands and deals with loneliness, alienation and his destiny.

"People are now creating their own heroes," said Paramount executive vp production Brian Witten, who is overseeing the development of an adaptation of the Marvel Comic "Deathlok." Witten also oversaw the comic book movie "Spawn" while at New Line and was comic impresario Rob Liefeld's producing partner at Extreme Studios. "You don't necessarily need a comic as your source material anymore."

The boxoffice success of comic book-based movies has paved the way for the new wave of original superhero movies, though.

In the past five years -- largely because of the successful adaptations of several Marvel Comics titles -- comic book heroes have shown their boxoffice mettle. "X-Men," released in 2000, grossed $157.3 million domestically. It was followed by "Spider-Man" ($403.7 million), "Daredevil" ($102.5 million), "The Hulk" ($132.1 million), "X-Men 2" ($215 million) and, this summer, "Spider-Man 2" ($373 million). Those numbers have inspired Warner Bros. Pictures to move forward with long-gestating projects based on DC Comics characters Batman and Superman.

"It's been the post-'X-Men' comic book movie that's really kicked it off in terms of making it easier to do these self-referential superhero movies that aren't tied to pre-established licenses," New Line creative executive Jeff Katz said. "The archetypes and the traditional beats have become ingrained in American cinemagoers' consciousness."

"Sky High," the Andrew Gunn-produced Disney film starring Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston and a cast of newcomers, could be compared to a John Hughes teen movie filtered through the superhero lens.

Said its director, Mitchell: "When I describe what ('Sky High') is to my mom, she gets it. And my mom isn't into comic books or superheroes, but she knows what a sidekick is."

During the course of the project's development, there were discussions over whether it was necessary to include traditional comic book elements like an origin sequence.

"People weren't sure if it would work, just plopping down in this world," Mitchell said. "They wanted to know that a big meteor had landed and something radiated out and everyone got their powers. I just felt, aren't we past this? We've seen 'Spider-Man,' we've seen 'Superman.' We know how you get powers."

Teddy Newton, character designer on "The Incredibles," faced similar questions when fleshing out that film's characters -- especially when it came to designing the "I" logo that they wear.

"I didn't know how people would respond to the logo," he said. "Was that going to be something that was going to be confusing because they don't know what context it's in?"

Superhero conventions are becoming so familiar to audiences that they are even becoming ripe for parody. The team behind the hit horror lampoon "Scary Movie 3" -- David Zucker, Craig Mazin and Robert Weiss -- is developing a parody of superhero movies called "Superhero!"

While audiences are proving hip to the conventions in the new wave of superhero originals, it's not the first time Hollywood has tried to create original superheroes.

Starting in 1981, "The Greatest American Hero" took to the skies for two seasons on ABC. In that instance, "Hero" was riding on the familiarity its audience had with Superman thanks to the success of the Christopher Reeve-as-Superman movies that began in the '70s.

More recently, though, attempts to create original superheroes have been problematic.

M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable," released in 2000, was a realistic superhero movie that left many audiences scratching their heads. Many viewed its domestic gross of $95 million as a disappointment.

"Mystery Men," starring Ben Stiller, might as well have been a superhero original because the comedy was based on a relatively obscure comic. Playing satirical riffs on superhero conventions, it grossed a weak $29.7 million in 1999.

Even "Iron Giant," the film Bird made before "The Incredibles," struggled. Although the Warners release about a giant robot received critical praise, the 1999 release earned just $23.2 million.

"An argument could be made that 'Iron Giant' didn't succeed because it was a comic book movie too early," Katz said. "Same as 'Mystery Men.' Look at what's happened in the interim."

Still, the fact remains that since the early 1970s, when Wolverine was introduced into a redesigned X-Men team, no superhero has been created on print or onscreen that has reached the iconic stature of the likes of Spider-Man and Superman.

Designing a new generation of superhero movies does allow screenwriters and filmmakers to exercise their creativity within the realm of genre conventions.

"You can create your own world and start to have fun with it," Mitchell said.

And it also guarantees them access to superhero characters who don't come burdened with the licensing fees that must be paid to copyright holders.

But "The Incredibles" success notwithstanding, no one is predicting that the new crop of superhero originals will overshadow the stables of characters created over the years by the major comic book companies.

Marvel, for example, claims more than 4,700 characters in its library. So, well beyond "Spider-Man" and "X-Men," it should continue to do business with Hollywood even in the face of upstart challengers.

Of the original superheroes now moving to the fore, Marvel Studios' Avi Arad said, "It's a good compliment to our success. Imitation is the best form of flattery. These things are inspired by comics, people take advantage of trends, that's the business. That's cool, as long as they make good ones."

And while the superhero originals may look like the latest trend, Bird also puts them in historical context.

"I do think that superheroes are really old mythologies in Spandex," he said. "A lot of the Greek legends are about flawed gods that have great powers. They're arrogant, they're jealous, they're petty. It's a very old story that is constantly finding new ways to be told."