Panel(s) of the Day #943 (Ditko!)

6 Comments

1. But Sandman and Norman have the same hairstyle! Everyone knows that if you have the same hairstyle as someone else, you’re probably related.

2. I definitely think the ‘brothers’ retcon was beneficial to Chameleon from a writing perspective, his backstory as a bullied younger brother with an inferiority complex added a lot to a character who was previously very one-note. His running to someone else to solve his problem here also quite nicely foreshadows him being written as a coward later on. The two do also at least have the prior connection of sharing this story together, so it’s not as random as Chapter One making Sandman into Norman Osborn’s cousin or anything like that.

3. @Andrew C – Actually I love this retcon as it makes sense when you look back at their early appearances like this – in this issue Chameleon is like a younger brother trying to get his cool older brother involved with something he’s doing. Also the revelation it leads to lots of great Chameleon stories and characterization.

4. @hornacek

   Making them half-brothers is one of those stupid, unnecessary twists that one tries to forget when thinking about Spidey lore lol.

5. ‘Old friend’… that’s a strange way to refer to your brother, Chameleon! I like the deeper relationship those two got given later, but it does mean that their pretty standard ‘two supervillains team up’ dynamic in this story feels a bit weird.

6. “No one is stupid enough to try and take down Spidey … wait, there is someone! My secret half-brother! He *is* that stupid enough!”