All the best-known superheroes spring from a formula that goes something like this:

Bizarre tragedy strikes good-at-heart man, endowing him with herculean powers that he uses to save the world from evil.

There are variations, of course. Wonder Woman was equipped with colossal abilities at birth and was, well, a woman.

But even she struggled with her dual identities and ran around in brightly colored underwear — just like Superman, Daredevil and Captain America.

However ridiculous or formulaic, though, superheroes and the comic-book worlds they inhabit seem to have a magnetic pull on lots of regular folks. A handful of Lawrence artists are exploring why in an exhibition that opens Thursday at Hobbs, 700 Mass.

“There’s probably a part of us that is a little envious of these people who are able to do these outrageous things that, clearly, people can’t do,” says Jason Dailey, a photographer who’s creating storyboard-style digital prints for the show.

In true superhero fashion, the artists will donate 30 percent of their proceeds to Van Go Mobile Arts, an arts-based social service agency that caters to high-needs and underserved youth in the Lawrence area.

Self-described comic book freak John Stamos, a freelance illustrator and part-time Hobbs employee, dreamed up the show with co-worker Chelsea Schlievert. The duo tossed around several ideas for a theme, but superheroes stuck with a resounding “thwak!”

“It was fun. It seems very colorful, very energetic. It fits in with Hobbs,” Schlievert says of the eclectic downtown retailer. “I think a lot of people will be able to connect with this theme. The idea of heroes is something that appeals to all age groups.

“Especially in this day and age, when things are kind of chaotic and complex, it’s nice to look up to somebody who uses their powers for good.”

‘Totally creative’

Despite their seemingly universal appeal, most of the artists have opted to steer clear of stereotypical portrayals of superheroes. Too easy, they say.

Instead, they’re investigating the TRAITS that elevate skivvy-clad nerds to world-saving objects of adoration. Those traits can be found in people who spend most of their time on the ground and can’t shoot lasers from their fingertips.

Kristen Ferrell sees superheroic qualities in mothers, for example.

“The pieces I’m doing are more geared toward seen-as-mundane behaviors, things that are just kind of ignored but that can be superhero qualities, like super endurance and emotional positivity — things that are everyday,” she says.

Ferrell, a 28-year-old Kansas University graduate with a degree in printmaking, takes cues from Renaissance-era painters and incorporates an array of symbols into her artwork: bunnies, fruit, chickens and severed fingers. They’re signs of relationships, motherhood and the simple stresses of daily life, says Ferrell, mother of a 6-year-old boy.

In one of her paintings for the Hobbs show, Ferrell depicts a baby chicken wearing a mask. A severed digit is strapped to its back.

“That’s kind of a maternal innocence combined with endurance because it’s carrying around this thing that’s twice its size,” explains Ferrell, who also works at Third Planet as a body jewelry buyer.

This untitled work by artist Kristen Ferrell will be on display at the Heroes exhibit at Hobbs, 700 Mass. The show opens Thursday and runs through April 7.

Although you might not guess it from her current interest in underground comics such as Eightball, Hate and Yummy Fur, Ferrell was a “girly girl” growing up.

“I loved Daisy Duke,” she says, laughing.

Now she’s getting an introduction to more classic heroes — mainly X-Men — through her son.

“I love the ideas behind it, the full-on good versus evil,” she says. “And the characters are fantastic. They’re totally creative.”

Real becomes surreal

Stamos, 25, feeds on that creativity and often incorporates what he considers the surrealist elements of comic books into his artwork.

“We have this normal world, like New York City or Gotham City, and the only difference between that world and our world is that they have these kind of superior beings that either protect us or try to destroy us,” says Stamos, who’s studying illustration at KU.

“I’ve always just kind of liked that reality with this very drastic difference thrown into the mix. I think that’s kind of how it’s always been with my work, where it’s always based in reality but then it has this kind of surreal abstraction within it somewhere.”

Stamos — an avid comic-book collector since age 8 — is using digital illustration techniques to “interpret his own superhero universe” for the Hobbs show.

Imagination required

Freelance photographer Jason Dailey, 33, is focusing on the dual identities of superheroes for his contributions to the exhibition. And although characters have leapt from the page to the movie screen in recent years, Dailey is going vintage and borrowing from the strip aesthetic for these pieces.

He’s been shooting live models and figurines from interesting angles. He’ll create multiple frames within each piece, with each frame containing a different photo.

“You may recognize some of the figures,” he says, “but I intentionally did not capture recognizable parts. I didn’t capture the whole. I captured pieces to keep with the whole hidden-identity theme.”

It’s that sense of subtlety in comic books — often viewed as garish and over-the-top — that Dailey appreciates. And his comments on the topic apply just as much to the art in the upcoming show as they do to the fantasy world that inspired it.

“I think that everybody needs an escape. You can go to movies for visual stimulation,” Dailey says. “But comics are not quite as ‘Here, it’s all laid out for you.’ You kind of have to put a little bit of your own imagination into it.”