how do you catch a supervillain when you
don’t even know what he looks like
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we
will explore the comic book origins of
the chameleon this is the chameleon a
deadly stop at nothing hitman as with
most comic book characters they’re often
reimagining and different versions to a
character’s past we’ve chosen to
primarily follow the storyline which
unfolded in 1963 s amazing spider-man
number 1 which was expanded upon in 1964
amazing spider-man number 15 1988 s
amazing spider-man number 307 and 1997 s
spectacular spider-man numbers 243 to
245 the super villain known as the
chameleon first tangled with marbles
favorite web slinger back in the amazing
spider-man number 1 thus earning the
title of spider-man’s first super foe as
shown in this issue the chameleon was
originally nothing more than a very
skillful master of disguise used his
quick-change artistry and finely honed
mimicry skills to pass himself off as a
wide range of other people a criminal
spy intent on stealing top-secret plans
to sell to Iron Curtain countries the
chameleon needed a fall guy to take the
blame for his thefts so he disguised
himself as spider-man and lured the real
Spidey to the scene of the crime he
almost got away with his scheme until an
alert police officer foiled him several
months later the chameleon decided that
he needed to take care of spider-man
permanently with this in mind the
chameleon contacted someone who he
called an old friend Kraven the hunter
to track down spider-man as usual in
these circumstances the plan didn’t
quite pan out as expected by 1988 a
major change had come over the chameleon
whose real name had been revealed as
Dimitri smart Yakov as related in a
flashback
the chameleon had been originally a spy
who became used to an elevated lifestyle
and then turned to criminal activity for
his own personal game with his
ill-gotten wealth
Smerdyakov financed the development of a
serum which enabled him to physically
alter his physical appearance without
the aid of masks wigs or makeup he also
recommitted himself to his original goal
destruction of the United States finally
in 1987 readers learned more about the
chameleons past including how he came to
know Kraven the hunter Smerdyakov had
escaped from a mental institution and
had used the techniques he had learned
there to try to convince spider-man that
his career as a superhero was all a
delusional fantasy when that failed
Smerdyakov escaped spider-man but came
face to face with Kraven who supposedly
had committed suicide a short time
earlier Kraven locked the chameleons
failure and revealed that the two knew
each other as small children on the
brink of a breakdown
the chameleon teetered between praising
Kraven as a friend and excoriating him
for torturing him as they fought Kraven
revealed that as children Smerdyakov had
been his servant but that the chameleon
and Kraven shared the same father with
this knowledge at last freed from his
subconscious the chameleon felt that he
had found his true identity and at last
gained strength and confidence from this
knowledge enough to beat spider-man
temporarily with his newfound sense of
identity
the chameleon put in motion a plan to
destroy the woman spider-man loved only
to be humiliatingly beaten by Mary Jane
a mere human with a baseball bat
the chameleon has appeared several times
on television both on spider-man the
animated series and the spectacular
spider-man the one and only got it of
course with his ability to disguise
himself as any other person he may have
turned up many more times without anyone
knowing it wait you don’t understand
stop look at fury
the eye patch it’s on the wrong eye are
you a fan of the shady shapeshifter for
more comic book origins be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com
sleep tight chameleons
don’t even know what he looks like
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we
will explore the comic book origins of
the chameleon this is the chameleon a
deadly stop at nothing hitman as with
most comic book characters they’re often
reimagining and different versions to a
character’s past we’ve chosen to
primarily follow the storyline which
unfolded in 1963 s amazing spider-man
number 1 which was expanded upon in 1964
amazing spider-man number 15 1988 s
amazing spider-man number 307 and 1997 s
spectacular spider-man numbers 243 to
245 the super villain known as the
chameleon first tangled with marbles
favorite web slinger back in the amazing
spider-man number 1 thus earning the
title of spider-man’s first super foe as
shown in this issue the chameleon was
originally nothing more than a very
skillful master of disguise used his
quick-change artistry and finely honed
mimicry skills to pass himself off as a
wide range of other people a criminal
spy intent on stealing top-secret plans
to sell to Iron Curtain countries the
chameleon needed a fall guy to take the
blame for his thefts so he disguised
himself as spider-man and lured the real
Spidey to the scene of the crime he
almost got away with his scheme until an
alert police officer foiled him several
months later the chameleon decided that
he needed to take care of spider-man
permanently with this in mind the
chameleon contacted someone who he
called an old friend Kraven the hunter
to track down spider-man as usual in
these circumstances the plan didn’t
quite pan out as expected by 1988 a
major change had come over the chameleon
whose real name had been revealed as
Dimitri smart Yakov as related in a
flashback
the chameleon had been originally a spy
who became used to an elevated lifestyle
and then turned to criminal activity for
his own personal game with his
ill-gotten wealth
Smerdyakov financed the development of a
serum which enabled him to physically
alter his physical appearance without
the aid of masks wigs or makeup he also
recommitted himself to his original goal
destruction of the United States finally
in 1987 readers learned more about the
chameleons past including how he came to
know Kraven the hunter Smerdyakov had
escaped from a mental institution and
had used the techniques he had learned
there to try to convince spider-man that
his career as a superhero was all a
delusional fantasy when that failed
Smerdyakov escaped spider-man but came
face to face with Kraven who supposedly
had committed suicide a short time
earlier Kraven locked the chameleons
failure and revealed that the two knew
each other as small children on the
brink of a breakdown
the chameleon teetered between praising
Kraven as a friend and excoriating him
for torturing him as they fought Kraven
revealed that as children Smerdyakov had
been his servant but that the chameleon
and Kraven shared the same father with
this knowledge at last freed from his
subconscious the chameleon felt that he
had found his true identity and at last
gained strength and confidence from this
knowledge enough to beat spider-man
temporarily with his newfound sense of
identity
the chameleon put in motion a plan to
destroy the woman spider-man loved only
to be humiliatingly beaten by Mary Jane
a mere human with a baseball bat
the chameleon has appeared several times
on television both on spider-man the
animated series and the spectacular
spider-man the one and only got it of
course with his ability to disguise
himself as any other person he may have
turned up many more times without anyone
knowing it wait you don’t understand
stop look at fury
the eye patch it’s on the wrong eye are
you a fan of the shady shapeshifter for
more comic book origins be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com
sleep tight chameleons
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