leper [lep-er]
noun
1. a person who has leprosy.
2. a person who has been rejected or ostracized for unacceptable behavior, opinions, character, or the like; outcast; anathema.
EX. The Silver Age of Comics had a lot of insane stories about Superman doing everything from being turned into an infant to draining the world's drinking water. "The Leper from Krypton" unintentionally brought to life the plight of peoples with incurable diseases across the world as young readers were forced to watch the most powerful man in the world succumb to the terrible illness.
Superman was not only sick but he was dying. Even worse, unlike real leprosy which is not actually contagious and can only be passed on genetically, his disease infected those unlucky enough to touch him. In the end, Superman was at death's door and to keep the disease from spreading he sealed himself in a spaceship/coffin for his own funeral before having the ship rocketed into space.
Of course, he was saved by some silly plot contrivance, in this case Bizarro throws a white krypton crystal at him, which kills off the virus. If you want to read a better story about Superman going terminal, read All-Star Superman as written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely, and inked by Jamie Grant.
