Kid Chameleon beats a Gang of Child Kidnappers (13 weeks from 3rd July, 1971 until 25th September, 1971, issue
Nos. 57 – 69)
By
now Kid Chameleon has reached the outskirts of a big industrial town in East
Africa. He tries to seek shelter from a dust storm and ends up on board a cargo
airplane. Kid resists the pilots’ efforts to seize the stowaway. In the course
of the fight the boy tumbles on the instruments panel and smashes half of it to
pieces. The plane crash-lands in Egypt and Kid loses his pursuers by climbing
over a wall of a posh oriental residence. He meets Musti Fatah, owner of the
house. Upon hearing that the intruder is wanted by authorities for running off
after the plane crash, Musti Fatah realises that Kid’s presence endangers his
own plans. To prevent his house from being searched, the wealthy merchant decides
to hand Kid over to the authorities and throws him into his dungeon. There Kid finds
himself in the company of an Arab boy who is held captive. The boy’s name is
Ali Hassan, he is son of a wealthy Bedouin Sheik. Ali tells Kid that Musti Fatah
plans to take him across the desert to Cairo and demand a high ransom. Fatah
overhears them talking and realises that Kid now knows the truth and has to be
disposed of as soon as they reach the desert. The thugs roll the boys up in
carpets and load them onto camels. The lizard boy manages to escape and follows
the caravan at safe distance in order to try and rescue Ali. He suffers an
accident and is picked up by some Bedouin camel riders led by Sheikh Hassan,
father of Ali. Kid tells him about the trouble that his son is in and the
Bedouins ride towards the oasis of El Kabir to look for the snivelling snake-eyed
merchant Fatah, unaware that he and his men had dug a deadly trap for any
unwanted pursuers. A fight breaks out.
Fatah escapes carrying Ali away with him:
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From COR!! issue dated 11th September, 1971 (No. 67) |
The Sheikh is prepared to yield to
the black-hearted merchant’s demands for a ransom of two million piasters for
Ali’s safe return but Kid Chameleon thinks of a clever plan and finally foils
the kidnapper’s evil plot assisted by his reptilian friends. The Sheikh reunites
with his son and Bedouins capture the merchant who will now meet the justice
that he deserves. Kid continues his long and wearying quest for the man who
shot his parents.
Kid Chameleon helps American Oilmen Deal with Arab Terrorist
Rebels (7 weeks from 2nd October,
1971 until 13th November, 1971, issue Nos. 70 - 76)
Kid
is now in Egypt, walking along an oil pipeline that runs along the river Nile. Suddenly
he is seized by some jeep-riding angry American “lily-skins”. The Americans
tell him that for months now a bunch of rebels has been sabotaging their rigs
and pipelines and they believe that Kid is one of them. Kid realises he is
being blamed wrongly. The lizard boy uses his talents and makes a rough escape.
As the oilmen drive off, their jeep gets bombed. Kid rushes to the scene and
sees two men with guns who are going to finish the Americans off. Kid intervenes
and the would-be assassins run for their lives. An ambulance comes from the oil
rig. The two oilmen accuse Kid of blowing their jeep and Kid can’t escape this
time. They take him to their camp and lock him up in the paint store. A
mysterious figure with a stocking mask unlocks his door and starts shooting at
him with a catapult. A messy fight breaks out and Kid soon finds out that his attacker
is a red-haired girl by the name of Mary-Lou McGraw who has come to get even
with him for what he did to her Dad. Kid escapes from the store and takes the
girl with him so that she can’t raise alarm until he is far away. Suddenly he
sees the same two men who tried to kill the girl’s father breaking into the
camp. Kid is going to capture them by climbing onto a derrick and dropping on
them with force but it turns out that the derrick is the Arabs’ target and they
blow it up:
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From COR!! issue dated 30th October, 1971 (No. 74) |
Kid’s fall is broken by water in the fractured tank. The girl sees
the villainous Arabs as well and she now believes Kid's innocence. But her
Dad and the other drillers who are trapped in a bunkhouse must be saved. Kid
calls his lizard friends for help; they dig a tunnel under the flames and Kid
wiggles into the bunkhouse where the situation is becoming desperate. The men
crawl to safety through the tunnel. Mary-Lou tells them about Kid and they realise he had nothing to do with the rebels. Kid is determined to bring the terrorists to
justice. He picks up the villains’ trail and soon catches up with them. The
Arabs are driving to Alexandria to get some sleep. Camouflaged, Kid uses a
signpost to pin the two rebels down.
Kid Chameleon’s First Encounter with the Man Who Murdered his
Parents (6 weeks from 20th
November, 1971 until 25th December, 1971, issue Nos. 77 – 82)
Kid
is now in Alexandria, Egypt. He sees two men fighting and Kid scares the
attacker off. The robbed man tells Kid that no one knows the thief’s identity
but every time he strikes he leaves a strange sign as his trademark of crime.
The sign is exactly like the badge of Kid’s parents’ killer. The scent leads
Kid to the port where a big passenger liner is about to depart and he knows
that the wicked man is on board. Kid sneaks into the liner. He realises it
won’t be so easy to spot the villain in the crowd of passengers. He decides to
try the dining saloon and thinks chandelier is the best vantage point. Kid
burns himself on hot light bulbs, crashes down and causes a mess:
|
From COR!! issue dated 4th December, 1971 (No. 79) |
Waiters grab Kid
and take him to the captain who never did like stowaways very much. Captain
orders to lock Kid up until they dock in Italy. Upon arrival Italian
authorities are ready to take him ashore. Suddenly Kid sees the skull and
dagger emblem on the bag of one of the disembarking passengers and realises
that at long last he is staring into the face of the man who had shot his
parents. Kid escapes from his guards and then the dock area. Camouflaged, he
runs through the streets of the city where Christmas activities are taking
place but the man disappears in the crowd and the quest has to begin all over
again.
The
next and final post dedicated to Kid
Chameleon will cover the last three stories of the saga: Kid
Chameleon and the Mystery of the Old Gondola; Kid Chameleon Enters for the
European Cross-Country Race and Kid Chameleon Brings the Murderer to
Justice, plus two stories from the annuals.
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