Kid Chameleon (comic strip)
Encyclopedia
Kid Chameleon was a weekly 2-page colour comic strip
appearing in the British
Comic Book
Cor!!
from its first issue in 1970 until 1972. It was written by Scott Goodall
and drawn by Joe Colquhoun
, both uncredited.
by a plane crash, a British
boy is raised by lizard
s as a feral child
, and weaves himself a skin-tight suit of transparent lizard scales which covers his entire body except the top of his head (to avoid the appearance of complete nudity
, he also wears a pair of flesh-coloured briefs
underneath). Only one strip shows how the suit comes off. It consists of two pieces: a top that opens at the front, and leggings. The suit allows him to camouflage
himself like a chameleon
by making the scales change colour, although how he does it is never explained.
When he reaches adolescence
he is told by his only human contact, an ancient Bushman
, that the wreckage of the plane contained the bodies of his parents, who had been shot. The only clue to the murder
er's identity was a silver skull brooch.
Subsequent strips trace Kid's journey across Africa
and beyond as he searches for his parents' killer and uses his camouflage to help people (often other teenagers in trouble) along the way. The actual effect of his camouflage is achieved by superimposing his black-line image on a coloured background, so that he appears semi-invisible
. As one correspondent pointed out, the main weakness in his camouflage
is his blond hair, which always remains visible, yet none of the other characters ever notices it.
The strip was cancelled in 1972 after almost two years. In the closing installments Kid finds the murderer and hands him over to the police
, before returning to the Kalahari to live with his reptilian friends.
Goodall also wrote Fishboy for Buster
, and there are some obvious similarities between the two strips. Fishboy is searching for his parents, while Kid Chameleon is searching for his parents' killer. However, while Fishboy was drawn in black and white, Kid Chameleon had to be drawn in colour in order to show the effects of Kid's camouflage.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
appearing in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Comic Book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Cor!!
Cor!!
Cor!!, a British comic book Was launched in June 1970 by IPC , their sixth new comic in just over a year. Cor!! was edited by Bob Paynter....
from its first issue in 1970 until 1972. It was written by Scott Goodall
Scott Goodall
-Career:Goodall created and wrote the character Fishboy and lesser-known characters such as Splash Gorton...
and drawn by Joe Colquhoun
Joe Colquhoun
Joe Colquhoun was a British comics artist best known for his work on Charley's War in Battle Picture Weekly. He was also the first artist to draw Roy of the Rovers.-Biography:...
, both uncredited.
Story
Stranded in the Kalahari DesertKalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
by a plane crash, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
boy is raised by lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s as a feral child
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...
, and weaves himself a skin-tight suit of transparent lizard scales which covers his entire body except the top of his head (to avoid the appearance of complete nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
, he also wears a pair of flesh-coloured briefs
Undergarment
Undergarments or underwear are clothes worn under other clothes, often next to the skin. They keep outer garments from being soiled by bodily secretions and discharges, shape the body, and provide support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional...
underneath). Only one strip shows how the suit comes off. It consists of two pieces: a top that opens at the front, and leggings. The suit allows him to camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
himself like a chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
by making the scales change colour, although how he does it is never explained.
When he reaches adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
he is told by his only human contact, an ancient Bushman
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
, that the wreckage of the plane contained the bodies of his parents, who had been shot. The only clue to the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
er's identity was a silver skull brooch.
Subsequent strips trace Kid's journey across Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and beyond as he searches for his parents' killer and uses his camouflage to help people (often other teenagers in trouble) along the way. The actual effect of his camouflage is achieved by superimposing his black-line image on a coloured background, so that he appears semi-invisible
Invisibility
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
. As one correspondent pointed out, the main weakness in his camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
is his blond hair, which always remains visible, yet none of the other characters ever notices it.
The strip was cancelled in 1972 after almost two years. In the closing installments Kid finds the murderer and hands him over to the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, before returning to the Kalahari to live with his reptilian friends.
Goodall also wrote Fishboy for Buster
Buster (comic)
Buster was a long-running British comic which carried a mixture of humour and adventure strips, although the former increasingly replaced the latter...
, and there are some obvious similarities between the two strips. Fishboy is searching for his parents, while Kid Chameleon is searching for his parents' killer. However, while Fishboy was drawn in black and white, Kid Chameleon had to be drawn in colour in order to show the effects of Kid's camouflage.