{"id":34085,"date":"2025-11-02T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=34085"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:09:22","slug":"the-creeper-by-steve-ditko-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/11\/02\/the-creeper-by-steve-ditko-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Creeper by Steve Ditko"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Ditko<\/strong>, Don Segall<\/strong>, Denny O\u2019Neil<\/strong>, Michael Fleisher<\/strong>, Mike Peppe<\/strong>, Jack Sparling<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-2592-6 (HB)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Steve Ditko\u2019s 99th<\/sup> birthday today and I\u2019m not letting the fact that he\u2019s no longer with us stop us enjoying his wonders and celebrating his unique storytelling mastery…<\/em><\/p>\n

Steve Ditko was one of our industry\u2019s greatest and most influential talents and, during his lifetime, amongst America\u2019s least lauded. Always reclusive and reticent by inclination, his fervent desire was always just to get on with his job, tell stories the best way he can and let his work speak for him.<\/p>\n

Whilst the noblest of aspirations, that attitude was usually a minor consideration – and even an actual stumbling block – for the commercial interests which for so long controlled all comics production and still exert an overwhelming influence upon the mainstream bulk of the comic industry\u2019s output. After Ditko\u2019s legendary disagreements with Stan Lee led to his quitting Marvel – where his groundbreaking efforts made the reclusive genius (at least in comicbook terms) a household name – he found work at Warren Comics and resumed his long association with Charlton Comics.<\/p>\n

That company\u2019s laissez faire editorial attitudes had always offered him the most creative freedom, if not greatest financial reward, but in 1968 their w\u00fcnderkind editor Dick Giordano was poached by the rapidly-slipping industry leader and he took some of his bullpen of key creators with him to DC Comics. Whilst Jim Aparo, Steve Skeates, Frank McLaughlin and Denny O\u2019Neil found a new and regular home, Ditko began only a sporadic – if phenomenally productive – association with DC.<\/p>\n

It was during this heady if unsettled period that the first strips derived from Ditko\u2019s interpretation of the Objectivist philosophy of novelist Ayn Rand began appearing in fanzines and independent press publications like Witzend <\/strong>and The Collector<\/strong>, whilst for the \u201cover-ground\u201d publishing colossus he devised a brace of cult classics with The Hawk and the Dove<\/strong> and the superbly captivating concept re-presented here: Beware The Creeper<\/strong>. Later efforts would include Shade, the Changing Man<\/strong>, Stalker<\/strong> and The Odd Man<\/em>, plus truly unique interpretations of Man-Bat<\/strong>, the Legion of Super-Heroes<\/strong> and many more… including a wealth of horror, mystery and sci fi shorts reminiscent of his Charlton glory days.<\/p>\n

The auteur\u2019s comings and goings also allowed him to revisit past triumphs and none more so than with The Creeper<\/strong> – who kept periodically popping up like a mad, bad penny. This superb hardcover compilation – still tragically and inexplicably languishing with other classics DC hasn\u2019t got around to making available in digital formats – gathers every Ditko-drafted\/delineated Creeper classic from a delirious decade for your delight, and the spooky superhero spectacle kicks off with an effusive Introduction<\/em> from appreciative fan Steve (30 Days of Night<\/strong>) Niles.<\/p>\n

This collation curates tales from Showcase<\/strong> #73; Beware the Creeper<\/strong> #1-6; 1st<\/sup> Issue Special<\/strong> #7; World\u2019s Finest Comics <\/strong>#249-255 and Cancelled Comics Cavalcade<\/strong> #2\/Showcase<\/strong> #106 (collectively spanning March\/April 1968 to February\/March 1979), so settle in for a long ride…<\/p>\n

Like so many brilliant ideas before it, Ditko\u2019s bizarre DC visions first exploded off the newsstands in try-out title Showcase<\/strong>. Issue #73 heralded \u2018The Coming of the Creeper!!\u2019<\/em> with veteran comics & TV scripter Don Segall putting the words to Ditko\u2019s plot and illustrations. The moodily macabre tale introduces suicidally-outspoken TV host Jack Ryder<\/em>, whose attitude to his show\u2019s sponsors and cronies loses him his cushy job. His brazen attitude does, however, impress network security chief Bill Brane<\/em> and the gruff oldster offers him a job as an investigator and occasional bodyguard.<\/p>\n

Jack\u2019s first case involves tracking down recent Soviet defector Professor Yatz<\/em> who has gone missing. The CIA suspect has been abducted by gangster Angel Devilin<\/em> and sold to Red agent Major Smej<\/em>. Displaying a natural affinity for detective work, Ryder tracks a lead to Devilin\u2019s grand house and interrupts a costume party designed as a cover to make the trade. Promptly kicked out by thugs, Ryder heads for a costume shop but can only find a box of garish odds and ends… and lots of makeup.<\/p>\n

Kitted out in a strange melange of psychedelic attire and accoutrements, he breaks back in but is caught and stabbed before being thrown into a cell with the missing Yatz. The scientist – also grievously wounded – is determined to keep his inventions out of the hands of evil men. These creations comprise an instant-healing serum and a Molecular Transmuter, able to shunt whatever a person is wearing or carrying into and out of our universe. A fully equipped army could enter a country as harmless tourists and materialise a complete armoury before launching sneak attacks…<\/p>\n

To preserve them, Yatz lodges the Transmuter inside Ryder\u2019s knife wound before injecting him with the untested serum. The effect is instantaneous and doesn\u2019t even leave a scar. The investigator is also suddenly faster, stronger and more agile…<\/p>\n

When Jack presses a handheld activator, he is instantly naked, and experimentation shows that he can make his motley costume appear and disappear just by touching a button. Of course, now, whenever it is activated, neither makeup nor wig, bodystocking, boots or gloves will come off. It\u2019s like the crazy outfit has become his second skin…<\/p>\n

When the gangsters come for their captives, Yatz is burning his notes. In the fracas that follows he catches a fatal bullet and, furious, guilt-ridden and strangely euphoric, Ryder goes after the thugs and spies. By the time the cops arrive he finds himself (or at least his canary yellow alter ego) blamed by Devilin for the chaos and even a burglary. The mobster has even given him a name – The Creeper<\/em>…
\n\"\"
\nAs soon as the furore dies down vengeful Ryder returns to exact justice for the professor and discovers his uncanny physical prowess and macabre, incessant unnerving laughter give him an unbeatable edge whilst winning him a supernatural reputation…<\/p>\n

After that single yarn the haunting hero hurtled straight into his own bimonthly series. Beware the Creeper<\/strong> #1 debuted with a May\/June cover-date. Behind one of the most evocative covers of the decade – or indeed, ever – \u2018Where Lurks the Menace?\u2019<\/em> (scripted by Denny O\u2019Neil under his occasional pen-name Sergius O\u2019Shaughnessy) finds Ryder and the Creeper hunting an acrobatic killer beating to death numerous shady types in a savage effort to take over the city\u2019s gangs. Sadly, Jack\u2019s relentless pursuit of \u201cthe Terror\u201d and careful piecing together of many disparate clues to his identity is hindered by the introduction of publicity-hungry, obnoxious glamour-puss \u2018Vera Sweet\u2019. <\/em>The TV weathergirl thinks she has the right to monopolise Ryder\u2019s time and attention, even when he\u2019s ducking fists and bullets…<\/p>\n

The remainder of the far-too-brief run featured a classic duel of opposites as a chameleonic criminal mastermind insinuated himself into the lives of Jack and the Brane bunch. It all began with \u2018The Many Faces of Proteus!\u2019<\/em> in BtC<\/strong> #2 (by Ditko & O\u2019Shaughnessy) wherein a pompous do-gooder\u2019s TV campaign against The Creeper is abruptly curtailed after the Golden Grotesque shows up at the studio and throws bombs.<\/p>\n

Caught in the blast is baffled and battered Jack Ryder, and he\u2019s even more bewildered when Brane informs him that a tip has come in confirming the Creeper is working for gambler gangboss Legs Larsen<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Dodging Vera, whose latest scheme involves a fake engagement, the real Creeper reaches Larsen\u2019s gaming house in time to see a faceless man put a bullet into the prime suspect. In the ensuing panic the Laughing Terror transforms back into Ryder and strolls out with Larsen\u2019s files, unaware that the faceless man is watching him leave and putting a few clues together himself…<\/p>\n

The documents reveal a lone player slowly consolidating a grip on the city\u2019s underworld but discloses no concrete information, so the Creeper goes on a very public rampage against all criminals in hopes of drawing Proteus out. The gambit works perfectly as a number of close friends try to kill Ryder, but only after frantically fending off flamethrower-wielding Vera in his own apartment does the Creeper realise that Proteus is far more than a madman with a makeup kit. A spectacular rooftop duel ends in a collapsed building and apparent end of the protean plunderer… but there\u2019s no body to be found in the rubble…
\n\"\"
\nBeware the Creeper<\/strong> #3 has our outr\u00e9 hero tearing the city\u2019s thugs apart looking for Proteus, but his one-man spook-show is curtailed when Brane sends Ryder to find Vera. Little Miss Wonderful is determined to be the first to interview an island society cut off from the world for over a century, but all contact has been lost since she arrived. Tracking her to \u2018The Isle of Fear\u2019<\/em> Jack finds her in the hands of a death cult. More important to Ryder, however, is the fact that the Supreme One<\/em> leading the maniacs is actually a top criminal offering sanctuary to Proteus flunkies he\u2019s been scouring the city for…<\/p>\n

Back in civilisation again, \u2018Which Face Hides My Enemy?\u2019<\/em> sees Ryder expose High Society guru and criminal mesmerist Yogi Birzerk<\/em>\u2019s unsuspected connection to Proteus. The cops drive The Creeper away before he can get anything from the charlatan, and when he dejectedly returns home Jack walks into an explosive booby trap in his new apartment. The \u201cwarning\u201d from Proteus heralds the arrival of Asian troubleshooters Bulldog Bird<\/em> and Sumo<\/em> who claim to be also pursuing the faceless villain. They reveal he was a high-ranking member of the government of Offalia<\/em> who stole a chemical which alters the molecular composition of flesh, before suggesting they all team up. Heading back to Bizerk\u2019s place, it soon becomes clear that they are actually working for Proteus and that the faceless fiend knows Ryder\u2019s other identity…<\/p>\n

With #5, inker Mike Peppe joined Ditko & O\u2019Neil as the epic swung into high gear with \u2018The Color of Rain is Death!\u2019<\/em> Proteus makes his closing moves, attacking Jack\u2019s associates and framing him again whilst preparing for a criminal masterstroke which will win him much of the city\u2019s wealth. Luring the Creeper into the sewers as a major storm threatens to deluge the city, the face-shifter reveals a scheme to blow up the drainage system and cause catastrophic flooding. After a brutal battle, he also leaves The Creeper tied to a grating to drown…<\/p>\n

The stunning saga closed with final issue Beware the Creeper<\/strong> #6 (March\/April 1969), by which time Ditko had all but abandoned his creation. \u2018A Time to Die\u2019<\/em> saw tireless, reliable everyman artist Jack Sparling pencil most of the story as the Howling Hero escapes his death-trap, deciphers the wily villain\u2019s true gameplan and delivers a crushing final defeat. It was fun and thrilling and – unlike many series which folded at that troubled time – even provided an actual conclusion, but it somehow it wasn\u2019t satisfactory and it wasn\u2019t what we wanted.<\/p>\n

This was a time when superheroes went into another steep decline with supernatural and genre material rapidly gaining prominence throughout the industry. With Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights comics folding all over, Ditko concentrated again on Charlton\u2019s mystery line, an occasional horror piece for Warren and his own projects…<\/p>\n

In the years his own title was dormant, the Creeper enjoyed many guest shots in other comics and it was established that the city he prowled was in fact Gotham. When Ditko returned to DC in the mid-1970s, try-out series 1st <\/sup>Issue Special<\/strong> was alternating new concepts with revivals of old characters. Issue #7 (October 1975) gave the quirky crusader another shot at stardom in \u2018Menace of the Human Firefly\u2019<\/em> – written by Michael Fleisher & inked by Mike Royer. Here restored TV journalist Jack Ryder is inspecting the fantastic felons in Gotham Penitentiary just as manic lifer Garfield Lynns<\/em> breaks jail to resume his interrupted costumed career as the master of lighting effects. By the time the rogue\u2019s brief but brilliant rampage is over, the Creeper has discovered something extremely disturbing about his own ever-evolving abilities…
\n\"\"
\nThe story wasn\u2019t enough to restart the rollercoaster, but some years later DC instituted a policy of giant-sized anthologies, and the extra page counts allowed a number of lesser lights to secure back-up slots and shine again. For World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #249-255 (cover-dated February\/March 1978 to February\/March 1979) Ditko was invited to produce a series of 8-page vignettes starring his most iconic DC creation. This time he wrote as well as illustrated and the results are pure eccentric excellence. The sequence begins with \u2018Moon Lady and the Monster\u2019 <\/em>as Ryder – once again a security operative for Cosmic Broadcasting Network – must ferret out a grotesque brute stalking a late-night horror-movie hostess, after which #250\u2019s \u2018Return of the Past\u2019<\/em> reprises the origin as Angel Devilin gets out of jail and goes looking for revenge…
\n\"\"
\nIn WFC<\/strong> #251, \u2018The Disruptor\u2019<\/em> proves to be a blackmailer attempting to extort CBN by sabotaging programmes whilst \u2018The Keeper of Secrets is Death!\u2019<\/em> in #252 follows the tragic murder of Dr. Joanne Russell<\/em> who was accused on a sensationalistic TV show of knowing the Creeper\u2019s secret identity. Next issue \u2018The Wrecker\u2019<\/em> offers an actual grudge-bearing mad scientist who has built a most unconventional robot, whilst \u2018Beware Mr. Wrinkles!\u2019<\/em> in #254 debuts a villain with the power to age his victims. Neither, however, are a match for the tireless, spring-heeled Technicolor Tornado, whose too-short return culminates in a lethal duel with a knife-throwing jewel thief in #255\u2019s \u2018Furious Fran and the Dagger Lady\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Until this volume, that was it for Ditko devotees and Creeper collectors, but as the final delight in this splendid compendium reveals, there was more. An ill-considered expansion was followed by 1978\u2019s infamous \u201cDC Implosion\u201d, when a number of titles were shut down or cancelled before release. One of those was Showcase<\/strong> #106 which would have featured a new all-Ditko Creeper tale.<\/p>\n

It was collected – with sundry other lost treasures – in a copyright-securing, monochrome, minimum print-run internal publication entitled Cancelled Comics Cavalcade<\/strong>. Here, from CCC <\/strong>#2 (1978) and presented in stark black & white, fans can see the Garish Gallant\u2019s last Ditko-devised hurrah as \u2018Enter Dr. Storme\u2019<\/em> pits the Creeper (and cameo crimebuster The Odd Man<\/em>) against a deranged weatherman turned climatic conqueror able to manipulate the elements.<\/p>\n

Fast, fight-filled, furiously fun and devastatingly dynamic, Beware the Creeper<\/strong> was a high-point in skewed superhero sagas and this is a compendium no lovers of the genre can do without.
\n\u00a9 1968, 1969, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

Today in 1926 Harvey Comics star and Anthro<\/strong> originator Howie Post<\/strong> was born, followed a year later by the mighty Steve Ditko<\/strong>. Just scroll back up or look anywhere on this blog, dude!<\/p>\n

Sadly, it\u2019s also the anniversary of Wally Wood<\/strong>\u2019s death in 1981. We last looked closely at Ditko\u2019s frequent collaborator in Cannon<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ditko, Don Segall, Denny O\u2019Neil, Michael Fleisher, Mike Peppe, Jack Sparling & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-2592-6 (HB) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. It\u2019s Steve Ditko\u2019s 99th birthday today and I\u2019m not letting the fact that he\u2019s no longer with us stop us enjoying his wonders and celebrating his … <\/p>\n

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