Thoughts on the Chameleon's return

I warn random search visitors in advance: I doubt you're looking at this the way I am. Also, SPOILERS for Amazing Spider-Man 602.

As I mentioned before, this week's issue of Amazing Spider-Man features the return of the Chameleon, who in the course of the issue manages to kidnap and impersonate Peter Parker as a ploy to get inside the high security of City Hall, wherein J Jonah Jameson is now serving as Mayor. At least, that's what we assume he's going to do, he hasn't done it yet.

The issue's writer, Fred van Lente, has done a really good job updating the character for the modern world. He's written in a creepy, quite chilling way; ruthless in what he does, clinical, professional... and to me, not entirely convincing.

One fairly major issue I have is this: I've never seen the Chameleon as a serial killer. In this issue he kills one bystander so he can take over their life, and then 'kills' (because, you know, I highly doubt Spider-Man himself is about to die off-panel) Peter Parker too. Without much concern for either death.

Now sure, we could argue that many people in this world wouldn't be missed, especially if after the Chameleon impersonates them, he makes arrangements for them to 'leave town'. And yes, I know it makes the character more threatening if he's willing to kill, and I also know it's just a story and no-one thinks these things through. I'm only giving it thought because frankly I've spent way too much time thinking about this character, as I'm sure you realise.

My take was always that if the Chameleon had to impersonate someone specific, he'd get them out of the way if needed, but only temporarily. He'd also quite often just go ahead and do it, and leave others to figure out why there were two people who looked exactly the same wandering around. This has been seen in previous comic appearances, too.

My other thought was that often, when the Chameleon chose a disguise, it'd be one that wasn't even based on a specific person; it was instead just a generic disguise, non-specific, but convincing. If after all you just need to blend into the crowd, how hard can that be?

Of course for us, as particular consumers of a particular fetish, it's the specific impersonation we crave. That's always more fun to read about. Which is why I found it quite thrilling to see the Chameleon impersonate Peter Parker - even though he's done this before (briefly). As you can see in this preview for next week's issue, he certainly gets away with it, to the extent that he actually manages to seduce Peter's roommate, Michelle - who in fact Peter's already slept with.

Which brings up an interesting point; some commenters on that preview have said that this is rape, because Michelle, while she consents to sex, isn't consenting to sex with Peter. Interesting argument, and I wonder how it'd hold up in the courts. If you think for all intents and purposes that the person you're sleeping with is who they say they are, is it rape? I expect the argument would hinge on consent regardless of who it is.

It is of course a downright sleazy and villainous thing to do - to take advantage like he certainly does - but hey, the Chameleon is a villain. And one thing this storyline seems to be doing is re-affirming his place as a Grade-A one, at that.

If that leads to more storylines, great. I've got to say, it's gotten me thinking about the Chameleon again as a character. How fickle am I, eh?

Update, sorta, and an idea

Hey, at least it's only been a month or so.

My 'big changes' are behind me now, well not entirely but they're mostly dealt with, so slowly I'm starting to try and write a bit more often. I'm nowhere near the output level that will yield new stuff any time soon though, so don't get over-excited.

One thing I have been kicking around in my head - in truth, for months now - is the possibility of a different superheroine series. I may have even mentioned it on here before actually, but to be honest I can't be bothered to go back and check my own archives. I'd like your thoughts on it.

Anyway my thinking is potentially it would be something involving a male-to-female transformation at the heart of the story; a man who turns into a woman to be a superheroine. (This, I should point out, would be a disguise, not a magic transformation. I think you know me well enough by now to realise that's not what I write, but I want to be clear.)

This actually isn't that original an idea - Holly Fairfa, if I remember right, did a short story with exactly that idea waaay back on the original MaskFiction.com.

My thinking on why I'd do this is several-fold as my thinking usually is:

1. It would, obviously, be massively kinky. Man disguised as woman disguised as superheroine? I think you can imagine all the kinds of fun I'd have.
   
2. It could be an original character, but still a superheroine. That means more potential for me - in all sorts of ways.
3. I'm getting just a teeny bit bored with Betty... but still want to write super-stuff. (What can I say, it's the spandex lover in me.)

I've also had a few thoughts on how this can roll out. The idea has been in my brain for a bit, after all:

1. An original story/series with all-new characters. I have the 'origin' plotted out, roughly. It makes some sort of sense, to me anyway...!
   
2. A spin-off series (or mini-series) featuring Batgirl, set after the Spider-Girl 'Crossover' arc... in other words (SPOILER!) with Dick Grayson under the mask(s).
3. My 'Project AC' concept, which... well alright, might as well spill, can be neatly summarised as 'Catwoman is actually a guy'. (There's more to it than that; a lot more in fact... but you get the idea.)

I'll be honest, on different days I think each idea is the best thing ever, but then I haven't sat down and tried any of them on paper. So which would you prefer? And here's the rub: why?

(Your answer would preferably run to more detail than 'Catwoman is the sexiest'.)

I will admit, if pressed, to having something of a preference for the first idea (the original series). Mostly because while I know it'd be easy for me to write Option 2, and fun to write Option 3, I keep telling myself that if I'm going to commit the inevitable amount of huge effort required to produce something, I should really do that for my own original creation, right?

Hmm. Oh by the way, I know a lot of you will shrug and say "Whatever, just write something, please God I need a fix" the more feedback I get in any particular direction, the more likely I am to... errr... do something.

Maybe...

Chameleon returning to comics

In case you don't follow comics like I tend to do, you might have missed this. This week's issue of Amazing Spider-Man, number 602, will feature the return of the Chameleon - and it looks like he's up to his old tricks:
That image, by the way, is part of a five-page preview you can see over at Newsarama.

What's really interesting (well, to me anyway) is that as you can see, he's back to using masks for his disguises. The Chameleon's appearances in comics are infrequent enough that I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but I'm pretty certain the last time he was seen, he was using 'face changing tech'. Or maybe I'm confused with the Spider-Man cartoons.

Anyway, for those of you, myself included, who are fans of this master of disguise... might be a good idea to get along to your local comic store. (This issue is the first in an arc to feature him, by the way. If we're really lucky, perhaps he'll try on a few of those female masks behind him, hmmm?)

Oh and fans of the Black Cat might be pleased to see this cover image for issue 607, which is coming in about five weeks or so (now that Amazing Spider-Man comes out three times a month):


... especially because if your mind works like mine does, it probably sparked a few Spider-Girl ideas...!

A search related addendum: By far, this is the highest traffic post on this blog. I can only assume it's some magic combination of 'Chameleon' and 'Marvel' going by the search terms, but then again, I find myself on page 10 of the Google results... so I have no idea what you're looking for.

On the off-chance that you, like me, find the Chameleon an intriguing and in fact exciting character; if the phrase 'master of disguise' does special things for you... then you might like my fan fiction series which features him heavily, especially in the first four issues. Read the first issue right here.