[1] Standard comic book mutant hysteria type stuff. But in the game world, there's a whole slew of semi-common sources of paranormal abilities, not to mention the expected one-of-a-kind events. All people with unusual abilities are referred to simply as "supers."
[2] I'm sure you long time pro-wresting fans will recognize the legendary Virgil Runnels II, AKA Dusty Rhodes. This was both a tribute and an inside joke, just to see who would recognize the name. I'm not a huge wrestling fan, but I understand his son is wrestling currently wrestling in the WWF under the name "Goldust."
[3] If you need a picture, take a look at King Kong Bundy, another pro wrestler.
[4] Sadly, this was a short lived campaign. I never found out exactly what happened. I wrote the convenient 13 month gap into the background, leaving the GM to figure out the drama behind it. Oh well.
[5] I probably owe anyone out there who really does have a problem with alchohol an apology. I'll be the first to admit that the only exposure I have to it is through the media. I'll refer you to my thoughts and reasoning on this from the Alex Rogan diary notes.

In this case, though, there is an additional reason, unique to the superhero comics world. One of my favorite comic book characters is Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. Part of the reason for this is that he's just an ordinary man. A genius, to be sure, but he has feet of clay like anyone else. In his case, he's an alchoholic. And it's something that he's struggled against, been defeated by, and conquered throughout his comic book tenure. In part, this aspect of Alex Morgan is a tribute to Tony Stark. Lawnmower Man was another tribute, this time to his more positive aspects. Neither could hope to do him justice.

[6] Meyer and the Busted Flush are references to Travis McGee, a terrific series of books by John D. MacDonald. I was in the middle of re-reading the series when this was originally written. I can't recommend them highly enough.
[7] No, it's not styrofoam. The best explanation we ever came up with in-game was it is a chemical generated as a waste product of Alex's altered musculature. Tentatively, we assumed it was some kind of mad-scientist experiment during the 13 month gap. We never really got around to defining what the actual chemical nature was, but we did decide it's general properties. It dissolved in strong solvents (such as acetone or gasoline), similar to conventional styrofoam, so we guessed it must be some form of long-chain molecule. It is stored as a liquid under Alex's skin, and expands rapidly on contact with air. It's lighter than water. It hardens very quickly. We had great plans to expand the powers base, by allowing him to throw globs of foam for various effects (low end energy blasts, entangling effects, and so on), but alas the campaign ended all too quickly. Oh well.
[8] From a Dirk Pitt novel. I was never a fan, but someone told me about it. They're basically action/adventure novels about an adventuring deep sea diver. In one of them, Dirk fills the hull of the Titanic with a form of styrofoam, and floats it back to the surface. I figure this would be the kind of book Alex would read.
[9] John Talfort, "Money's my super power!" Basically, a hotshot billionaire who wanted to have his own pet superhero team. We later found out that he just wanted a flashy, intimidating team of bodyguards. But, he didn't seem to mind doing some incidental good for society in general as a side effect.
[10] Alex could stay awake for as long as three days without ill effects. Not a particularly flashy superpower, but it did come in handy.