Reep Daggle
Chameleon Boy (Reep Daggle), also known as Chameleon, is a DC Comics superhero, a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries.[1]
| Chameleon Boy | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Action Comics #267 (August 1960) |
| Created by | Jerry Siegel Jim Mooney |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Reep Daggle |
| Species | Durlan |
| Place of origin | Durla |
| Team affiliations | Legion of Super-Heroes |
| Notable aliases | Chameleon, Cham, |
| Abilities | Shapeshifting |
Publication history
Chameleon Boy first appeared in Action Comics #267 (August 1960)[2] and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney.
Fictional character biography
Reep Daggle is from the planet Durla, whose inhabitants are shapeshifters to adapt to an environment destroyed by a thermonuclear war.[3] He has orange skin, pointed ears and antennae, and has no hair in his usual humanoid form. In pre-Zero Hour continuity, he was the son of Legion financer R. J. Brande, a Durlan who had become frozen in human form after contracting a disease[4] and a female Durlan named Zhay.[5][6] Reep did not learn that Brande was his father for many years; he and his twin sibling Liggt were raised by their maternal aunt Ji. As Durlans were viewed with suspicion by natives of Earth, Reep applied for membership in the Legion to set an positive example to counter that prejudice and found that the Legion agreed with his aims on top of his talents to induct him .[7] Thanks in part to his exceptional deductive skills he is named the permanent head of the Legion's Espionage Squad.
Chameleon Boy was sentenced to incarceration on the prison world Takron-Galtos for his espionage activities against the Khunds, and was released after his heroics in the Great Darkness Saga.
Zero Hour Reboot
Post-Zero Hour, Reep was known simply as 'Chameleon' and was not related to R. J. Brande. This time, he was the son of Durla's spiritual leader and heir to that title, though he long refused to accept it, believing he served his people better as part of the Legion.
2005 "Threeboot"
In the 2005 reimagining/reboot of the Legion, the character was still referred to as Chameleon, but is now an androgynous humanoid. Chameleon can still shapeshift and is still a master detective. A minor difference to prior versions of the character is that his default form does not usually have visible antennae, although he produces them to analyze unfamiliar objects.
Post-Infinite Crisis
In the Infinite Crisis Chameleon Boy is included in the Legion, but is considered "missing"; Superman (vol. 1) #696 shows that Chameleon Boy has been posing as Control, a young woman who assists in running the Science Police in the 21st Century.[8] As revealed in Adventure Comics (vol. 2) #8, Chameleon Boy is part of a secret team sent to the 21st century by the late RJ Brande to save the future in the Last Stand of New Krypton storyline.
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock," Chameleon Boy is among the Legion of Super-Heroes members that appear in the present after Doctor Manhattan undid the experiment that erased the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Justice Society of America.[9]
Powers and abilities
Chameleon Boy has the same shape-shifting ability that is innate among all his people. They can take the form of any object or organism their body can 'scan' with their antennae and morph into it within seconds. Reep is able to shift into forms both larger and smaller than he is, creating or disregarding mass at whim. He can also elongate parts of his body with this excess mass creation, as well as rearrange his internal organs and tissue such as his eyes, nose, heart, etc. He is a skilled voice imitator to go along with his disguises. Because of these feats he is considered one of the most powerful and versatile Durlan shape-shifters.
Equipment
As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes he is provided a Legion Flight Ring. It allows him to fly and protects him from the vacuum of space and other dangerous environments.
In other media
Television
- Chameleon Boy appeared in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "New Kids in Town", voiced by Jason Priestley.
- Chameleon Boy later appeared in an episode of Justice League Unlimited titled "Far From Home".
- Chameleon Boy appears in the second season of Legion of Super Heroes, voiced by Alexander Polinsky. In this series, Chameleon Boy is characterized as a generally humorous and wise-cracking character, similar to Beast Boy in the Teen Titans series, although he can be serious if necessary, and is prepared to defy Legion rules if he thinks they are unjust. Also like Beast Boy, he appears to be younger than his comic book counterpart and mostly turns into animals. In his first appearance he commented "My dad's rich, remember?" and later episodes confirmed that this was a reference to R. J. Brande.
- In The CW series Supergirl, Chameleon is mentioned in the third season episode "Shelter From the Storm" as a member of the Legion of Superheroes who was stricken by the Blight.
Miscellaneous
Chameleon Boy is featured in the Smallville Season 11 digital comic based on the TV series.
Cultural impact
As a boy, comic writer Peter Hogan liked the design aesthetic of Chameleon Boy. When he and artist Steve Parkhouse were creating Resident Alien, Hogan specifically requested Parkhouse base the main character's appearance on the DC hero.[10]
References
- Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- Jimenez, Phil (2008). "Chameleon". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 77. ISBN 0-7566-4119-5. OCLC 213309017.
- Fleisher, Michael L. (2007). The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Three: Superman. DC Comics. p. 41. ISBN 1-4012-1389-8.
- Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #3, March 1981.
- Legion of Super-Heroes #263, May 1980.
- Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
- Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #1, January 1981.
- Robinson, James (w), Chang, Bernard, Pina, Javier (a). "Man of Valor, Part Three" Superman (comic book) 696 (March 2010), DC Comics
- Doomsday Clock #12 (December 2019). DC Comics.
- Hickey, Patrick Jr (March 23, 2013), "Review Fix Exclusive: Interview With ‘Resident Alien’ Creator Peter Hogan," Review Fix (accessed March 29, 2016)
