Chaos Is — the Chameleon!

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN — Issue no. 186, August 1978

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man

Issue No.: 186

Published: August 8, 1978

Title: “Chaos Is — the Chameleon!”

Cover Price: 35¢

Format: Original paper copy

One of the fun things about reading all the comic books Marvel published in 1978, basically in order, is being in on the continuity in-jokes. If you’re reading Howard the Duck and there’s an editor’s note that refers to the (then) current issue of Captain America, you’ve either read that issue of Cap, or you will read it soon.

So imagine my surprise when an editor’s note in this issue of Amazing Spider-Man mentioned “Mayhem in Manhattan… the Spidey novel.” I was vaguely aware there was a Spider-Man novel published in the 1970s, but I didn’t know it came out in 1978. And I certainly didn’t know it was an in-continuity story!

All that is to say, my reading of Amazing Spider-Man no. 186 was interrupted by me going out to eBay to look for an affordable copy of a 45-year-old Spider-Man paperback. (While researching this Spidey novel, I found out there is also a Hulk novel that came out in October 1978, so I’ll have to track down that one as well. Also… how did I miss these Marvel novels when I was a kid? I guess it would have been the early 1980s before I got more into “grownup” books, but I expect a superhero novel above my reading level would have just encouraged me to learn to read faster.)

A panel from this issue showing Spider-Man punching the Chameleon. Spider-Man says, “… and I’ve got a bundle of tricks I’m just dying t’show you. Note my fist… never once do the fingers leave my hand. Now, d’ya wanna see how I saw a super-villain in half? ’Course, I’ve never perfected the reassembling part, but then, what the hey?” The Chameleon thinks, “No! He’s getting me… one hope… one last chance…” Sound effect for the punch is “swok.”

It’s a classic trope of Spider-Man stories that Spidey is always down on his luck. The twist in this issue is Spidey’s luck takes a turn. Spidey finds out that the police have cleared him of a couple of criminal charges against him. So for the first time in a long time, everybody sees Spider-Man for what he is — a hero. Well, not everybody. Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson still hates Spidey, of course.

The public goodwill is short-lived — about four pages later, the Chameleon (one of Spider-Man’s many arch-enemies) manages to re-ruin Spider-Man’s good name. But! This issue is basically a one-and-done, and Spidey manages to defeat the Chameleon and clear his name by the book’s end. But! (Yeah, this is a two-“but!” paragraph.) The story ends on a reveal that someone else was pulling the Chameleon’s strings. And that someone will likely send another super-villain to attack Spidey in Amazing Spider-Man no. 187.

Next time — Captain America, and my 1978 week 32 wrap-up!

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