Hanna Barbera 60's Super Heroes Proposed Sculpt Designs

Remember these? Space Ghost, Birdman, Mightor, and gang...

Aaarg... Avast there, matey!...Pirate event & signing in Florida!

I will be in Florida May 22nd through the 26th at the Pirates of the Caribbean event signing showcasing the latest Enesco pieces done for the POTC series based on the attraction at the parks... debuting "Pirate with Pigs" piece.

Hope to see you the-arrrh!

"YO-HO! yo ho, a pirates life for me..."

"Extra! Extra" Chameleon Man sighted again! Read all about it!"

Chameleon Man Legend and Reality

comments (on the left) are overheard around the city regarding the newspaper 'clippings' (on the right) about Chameleon Man. As the debate rages, the real CMan is trying out his cape and flying around the city tonight. (bottom sequence)

overheard at a criminal hideout:

"Yeah, that's what they're saying, fear the trees. He's out there, somewhere. Lurking in the shadows, hiding in the trees. I tell ya, boss, it ain't right....he could be anywhere, It's got us all so jumpy, we're on pins and needles with this thing. Who is this guy, anyway? I mean, the guys are looking behind doors and turning tables over, can't even get them to go do their jobs. Slows down the whole operation".

"That's bad for business, if you know what I mean. So we gotta fix this little problem, you see, bad for business and all. Hard part is we never even saw the guy. You can't get a bead on a shadow, ya can't plug an illusion".

"That brings up to this current position we're in. Yeah we're gunning for this Chameleon Man guy. A few of my crew are guys with hunting experience, so we'll see what happens when hunting season gets here. (Looks at his watch) Oh look! it's already Chameleon season, hahahhahaha.

Various comments overheard outside a factory in the industrial park as the morning shift crew gets coffee from the truck::

"I know he's real, he's not just a newspaper story. I know he's out there. I just know it. I feel him."

"Yeah, they're saying he's a fable, a made-up modern-day bogie man. Santa Claus with scales", one guy said.

:There's the other school, too. Those types who say things like "he's fiction. Made up to sell newspapers. If he didn't exist, we'd have to make him up". Urban legends have a life of their own sometimes. They got embellished over time and grow out of all proportion."

and on the seamier side of town, two guys who think they run the rackets locally are overheard to say:

"Give it a little time, it'll blow over and he'll be history. If he's still around, we'll figure and angle to get to him.
Maybe we'll stake out all the pet shops. Chameleon Man. Ridiculous."

Meanwhile, the real CMan is out this very night and as usual, nobody sees him.From a streetcorner late one night at the edge of the city, on the outskirts of the rougher neighborhoods. Two mugs loiter, smoking and just then they see something:

Mug #1: "Did I just see what I think I just saw?"

Mug #2: "You musta.....because I saw it, too."

Mug #1:"Where is it?"

Mug #2:"What kind of where is it? WHAT is it?"

Mug #1: "He's around here somewhere, I just know he is...... isn't he?"
"Look out, he's right behind you! Oh that's just your dog, sorry."
The two mugs are so spooked by every movement and shadow, they fail to see in the sky above them, there's something....
The eye moves upward, where the late night moon looms the way it does before it sets.
There's a speck up there, growing larger, taking shape, getting closer. A thing that I never believed and will never forget.
It's CMan and he's trying out his new camcape on it's first full test glide. We close in on his face and shoulders as the cape carries him, glider-like in the wind, on a ride.


Yet there's something else on the wind also, as softly a spoken verse is heard as we glide along with Chameleon Man as he shares a glide around the city .....
"What kind of night is this, that should come on the by and by?
What kind of life is this, so full of duality and trial?"
What kind of fight is this, and can truth and justice still make its way?
Will I find it to be worthwhile somehow, worth the duality and trial somehow
that long fight through the night that leads to a brighter day?


What kind of wrongs will I make right, and where is the right one for me?
Will I just be a crimefighter, or is there more to my destiny?
Where is my higher truth, my greater purpose, even more so than just fighting crime?
What kind of love will find me, as I balance two lives I find ...... that I can only share one at a time.

What kind of night is this, as I ponder this new world around me?
Where will I go, what will I see as i follow my heart's lead this time?
It makes me believe in life again, this night that came on the by and by....
I even believe, for the first time in my life, that a chameleon can fly.

What kind of night is this, as I ponder this new world around me?
Where will it take me, this life of fighting crime?
It makes me believe in life again, this night that came on the by and by...
I even believe, from this night forward, that this chameleon can fly.
---------------------------------------

From a streetcorner late one night at the edge of the city, on the outskirts of the rougher neighborhoods, the form of Chameleon Man disappears into the night.

"Chameleon Man Legend and Reality"
Dennis Rau 2006


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Chameleon Man more shadow than substance

Among those old wives tales like leprechauns and good fairies, the local good goblin is nicknamed, of all things, chameleon man.
Allegedly this crimefighter or whatever he's supposed to be lurks out there in the shadows, presumably waiting to pounce on evildoers.

Makes me want to make a note to ask the Bigfoot and sea serpent crowd how they pay their bills. They don't make much money making 24-hour long videos of Loch Ness, awaiting supposedly the rising at some point of the mythical monster, do they?

So either these Trekkie off-seasoners are independently wealthy or they get trust-fund checks to fund their midnite wienee roasts in "those areas known for activity". Either way, the 'evidence' they gather is never compelling or worthy of more than tabloid journalism.

I for one am glad that this newspaper has more sense than to publicize this local hokum.

Bill Kelly
Silver Springs

Local witness claims to see Chameleon Man

Centralville- When local pilot photographer Ed Simms went jogging late Saturday night, he was prepared for most things.
In case of any run-ins with dogs, he carries a small sonic alarm that instantly and humanely stops an attack. For muggers, a 5th dan black belt in Karate is always an on-the-spot last resort.

But what Simms says he encountered last Saturday night was something we wasn't prepared for....a seven foot lizard man.
"I saw this figure swooping noiselessly through the trees as I was jogging along. I stopped, shook my head, rubbed my eyes, even slapped myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't."

This at first appeared to be an animal, but it was a man also.
Maybe both, I don't know. I'm a professional photographer and there I am without my camera. I only saw it for a few seconds, but it was very unmistakably....something there.
Then I looked again and I couldn't see him any more, I lost him.

No police report filed, report came in today's mail, so the event is recorded here. One more thing in closing.
When photographer Ed Simms goes jogging again, he'll be carrying a camera.
Trevor James
special to the Newsline