Chameleon Boy

Chameleon Boy (Reep Daggle), also known as Chameleon, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries.

Publication history

Chameleon Boy first appeared in '' Action Comics'' #267 (August 1960) 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. 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 and a female Durlan named Zhay. 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 a positive example to counter that prejudice and found that the Legion agreed with his aims on top of his talents to induct him. 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 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'' #696 shows that Chameleon Boy has been posing as Control, a young woman who assists in running the Science Police in the 21st Century. 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.''Doomsday Clock'' #12 (December 2019). DC Comics.

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 and 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.
* Chameleon Boy appears in the fourth season of '' Young Justice'', voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. His appearance is more reptilian in this series.

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.Hickey, Patrick Jr (March 23, 2013),
Review Fix Exclusive: Interview With ‘Resident Alien’ Creator Peter Hogan
, Review Fix (accessed March 29, 2016)

References

External links

{{Superman characters
DC Comics aliens
DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes
DC Comics superheroes
DC Comics characters who are shapeshifters
Fictional male detectives
Comics characters introduced in 1960
Characters created by Jerry Siegel
Characters created by Jim Mooney
Fictional characters who can stretch themselves
Fictional twins