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Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #80

on-sale: Oct 14, 1969
Stan Lee | John Buscema

Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #80 cover

Story Name:

On The Trail of...the Chameleon!


Synopsis

Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #80 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Peter Parker is working on his web fluid in his apartment, when he suddenly hears Harry returning with company. He heads out to see that their guest is Flash Thompson, and Peter immediately gets angry at the very sight of Flash. Thinking he had taken Peter’s place in Gwen’s eyes, Peter angrily lifts Flash off the ground with one hand, before Flash hurriedly explains that Gwen was only meeting him to ask about Peter himself. Feeling like a royal idiot, Peter calls up Gwen and they make up, and Gwen invites Peter to go to a museum exhibit with her. Harry and Flash head out, and Peter swings over to the museum as Spider-Man, feeling like a million bucks now that things are good with Gwen once more!

Peter surprises Gwen at the museum, having arrived much quicker than she expected, and he drags her to a corner of the room where they can talk (and kiss). Captain Stacy walks by them just then and the two notice that he acted as if he didn’t even know them, while also alerting Peter’s spider-sense. Not long after, it’s discovered that the most valuable paintings have been stolen! After the police question everyone present, J. Jonah Jameson gives Peter and Gwen a lift back to Gwen’s place. There, they find a very confused Captain Stacy, who claims to have been drugged and has no memory of attending the museum. Even still, Captain Stacy is considered the main suspect in the paintings’ theft. Little does anyone know, it was really the Chameleon disguised as Stacy, as he gloats about his triumph back at his hideout.

As Peter mulls over the situation at home, refusing to believe that Captain Stacy is guilty, he suddenly comes to the realization that the Chameleon must be responsible, given that he’s a master impersonator. Fearing that Chameleon could easily just disappear without a trace, Spidey sets a plan to draw him out into the open. He heads to the Bugle and asks Joe Robertson to make a front page headline advertising a meeting about the transfer of valuable bearer bonds that’s upcoming, betting it’ll intrigue the Chameleon. The next day, Peter stalks out the meeting place with his camera, while keeping a watch for anyone that could be suspicious. He switches to Spider-Man and crawls through the vents until he’s over the meeting room. His spider-sense alerts him that Chameleon must be in the room in disguise.

Spidey jumps down and attempts to bluff that he knows which person there is really the Chameleon. This doesn’t work however, and he grabs one of the men randomly, who turns out to not be the Chameleon. Just then, Jameson and the cops arrive, causing Spider-Man to flee the building, as he looks like the guilty one. Spidey quickly heads outside to surveil anyone who’s leaving the building, figuring that Chameleon would likely have switched disguises to make his escape. He suddenly spots someone he knows has to be the Chameleon and swoops down, as Chameleon had the misfortune of trying to escape disguised as Peter Parker! The police jump on Spider-Man and Chameleon throws a grenade in his attempt to escape! Spidey webs up the grenade, and tips over the Chameleon’s car, finally unmasking him for everyone to see! Chameleon is arrested and Spidey swings off, while Jameson demands to know just how Spidey knew that the Chameleon wasn’t really Peter Parker!


Characters
Good (or All)
CAPSTACY
FLASHTHOMPSON
GSTACY
HARRYOS
JJJAMESON
ROBBIEROBERTSON
SPIDERMAN

Enemies
CHAMELEON

> Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) comic book info and issue index



This comic is in the following collection:
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Collecting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #68-85 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) #5.
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Main/1st Story Full Credits

John Buscema
John Buscema
Unknown
John Romita (Cover Penciler)
John Romita (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Layouts: John Buscema. Letterer: Sam Rosen.
Editor: Stan Lee.



Review / Commentaries


Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #80 Review by (April 9, 2025)

Review: Spider-Man’s oldest villain returns as the Chameleon strikes again! It’s been a long time since Spidey has encountered the Chameleon, one of the longest stretches since a villain’s last appearance (which the annotation gets wrong, on two accounts!). This was a pretty cool little issue, and a much better Chameleon story than his first outing. He’s still doing typical Chameleon things, disguising himself in order to steal things, but it’s presented in a more interesting way (and Spidey gets to be the one to actually catch him this time). The ending is particularly memorable, as the Chameleon just so happens to try escaping disguised as Peter Parker, allowing Spidey to instantly pick him out in the crowd! Sure, the chances are low that the Chameleon would just happen to pick Peter as his disguise, but it makes for quite a cool moment! I also found the moment towards the beginning of Peter lifting Flash up with one hand to be pretty memorable, though does no favors for his secret identity! Overall, a very solid issue!

Comments: An annotation incorrectly states that Spider-Man last encountered the Chameleon in ASM #2, when Chameleon actually appeared in ASM #1. This also ignores the fact that Chameleon also appeared alongside Kraven in his debut in ASM #15.





Thor

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