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On your right is a page from AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN #1 (Mar '63), featuring THE CHAMELEON. Truly, he is
the first real villain Spider-Man ever encountered. But had we 'encountered'
him before? On your left is a page from Charlton's
OUT OF THIS WORLD #6 (Nov '57)
featuring a rather familiar face. Yes, it is a Spymaster, stealing secrets
for foreign powers, just like the Chameleon. And, like the Chameleon, he is
a master of disguise. "I am a man of a thousand faces! No one will ever be
able to point an accusing finger at me!" says our Spymaster from 1957,
a good six years before the Chameleon ("Nothing can stop the Chameleon!
With the right disguise, I can steal anything, from anywhere!"). To
really emphasize how Ditko would use visual templates from the past,
check out the montages of masks on each page (Panel 1 and 3 from 1957 -
Panel 5 from 1963). DID Ditko bring the CONCEPTUAL template of the
Chameleon to Spider-Man, AS WELL AS the visual?
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