The Invisible Man... a myth or a reality?

I found an article in a local newspaper that really shocked me (and I'm sure it will shock you as well): Some American and Australian scientists created a substance than can make invisible any object covered with it, becoming the "invisibility mantle" according to the specialized magazine Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. It is made based in a complex optical principle created in 1968 by a Russian scientist named Victor Veselago. The actual substance is made mainly from soft crystal superlenses, and anything covered with it is totally invisible for human sight.
After knowing this, do you think that the invisible man was a myth? or maybe it was a character inspired in real, but hidden, facts?
It would be really interesting to read your opinion about this enigmatical topic.