Although numerous Steve Ditko characters got their own titles in the 1970s, like many other titles at the time, they got cancelled after only a few issues. This was unfortunately due to the incredibly low sales and the sheer amount of titles which flooded the market (a bit like today). Although Beware the Creeper was just one title that got cancelled, others like Shade the Changing Man (vol 1), Stalker (vol 1) and The Sandman (vol 1) were also cancelled. But this cancellation didn’t kill all of the characters that DC Comics had. Some were revived years later and some still featured in stories featuring in titles like Adventure Comics, Action Comics, Detective Comics and World’s Finest Comics. This was because back in the bronze age, these titles tended to feature more than one story in them. As the Creeper is main hero of focus for this review, it must be noted that the Creeper (after an appearance in 1st Issue Special) became a backup feature in World’s Finest. Although these stories are obviously shorter, thankfully Steve Ditko returned to draw (and even write) for the obscure crazy character.
In this review, I will be covering all the Steve Ditko Creeper stories after Beware the Creeper (vol 1) 6, which are:
Menace of the Human Firefly --- 1st Issue Special 7
Moon Lady and The Monster --- a story from World’s Finest Comics (vol 1) 249
Return of the Past --- a story from World’s Finest Comics (vol 1) 250
The Disruptor --- a story from World’s Finest Comics (vol 1) 251
The Keeper of Secrets is Death --- a story from World’s Finest Comics (vol 1) 252
The Wrecker --- a story from World’s Finest Comics (vol 1) 253
Beware Mr Wrinkles --- a story from World’s Finest Comics (vol 1) 254
Furious Fran and the Dagger Lady --- a story from World’s Finest Comics (vol 1) 255
Enter Dr Storme --- a story from Cancelled Comic Cavalcade 2
The 1st Issue Special 7 issue was released in October 1975 and the issues of World’s Finest (vol 1) 249-255) were released from February 1978 to March 1979 on a bi-monthly schedule. The Cancelled Comics Cavalcade limited edition (very very limited) issue came out in 1978, with the Creeper story originally planned to be published in Showcase (vol 1) 106, which the title never reached as it was cancelled with issue 104. Apart from one being written by Michael Fleisher, all stories are written by Steve Ditko and all of the art is done by Ditko, with some inks by Mike Royer on one occasion. I have read these stories in The Creeper by Steve Ditko hardcover book.
THE STORIES AND MY THOUGHTS
Menace of the Human Firefly --- Written by Michael Fleisher with art by Steve Ditko and Mike Royer
THE PLOT
Visiting Gotham City Penitentiary, reporter Jack Ryder are interviewing a prison warden with a TV crew. Ryder is introduced to numerous villains of Batman, one of whom is Garfield Lynns, Firefly. But when Ryder and everybody else are out of his sight, Lynns uses a secret device in his clothes to burn through the lock of his prison door. After attacking a guard, the warden is informed about the escape and this gives Ryder the chance to become the Creeper. He finds Lynns escaping the prison, but when he tries to attack the criminal, he is knocked out by the villain’s device. The Creeper later wakes up and escapes the prison guards as he is a wanted man before turning back to Ryder. Meanwhile, Lynns retrieves his villainous costume and becomes Firefly. He then locates two gangsters who he hires as henchmen. At the same time, Ryder has been forced to do a televised report to viewers about how dangerous the Creeper is (which he obviously disagrees with). But after the report, Ryder notices the roof of a building on fire. He climbs to the top of the building as the Creeper, but is attacked by Firefly, who is robbing the building and using the fire to mask his real intentions. The Creeper is knocked out by Firefly with his magnesium light power and he wakes up chained to a bed with the police. However, when they aren’t looking, he uses his strength to break through the chains and escapes to find Firefly and his goons, who are in a lighthouse. The Creeper attacks them there and manages to defeat his goons. The Creeper takes out Firefly by using the light from the lighthouse and shines it in his face, resulting in the villain falling off the lighthouse into the sea as the Creeper laughs loudly to himself.
MY THOUGHTS
For a story that was meant to revive the Creeper (possibly for him to get his own title again), this story works quite well. Steps were clearly taken by Fleisher to make the story feel more connected to Batman, like setting the story in Gotham and having Firefly as the villain. Aspects like this make the story have more depth and background, as if the Creeper could fit in his own comic title again. As usual, the character of the Creeper and Jack Ryder are both excellent and although Fleisher may not write Ryder as sarcastic or funny as he was when Dennis O’Neil was in charge, he is still witty and entertaining. While the main plot is quite normal and nothing out of the ordinary for a regular comic of its time, Firefly is a pretty silly villain in this story. The reason I like this aspect is because he is written as if he is this silly villain and quite honestly, he is a bit of a joke and Fleisher knows this, which I like. His bizarre clash with the Creeper actually fits well here as they are both quite silly characters that are similar and different in so many ways. The ending with the Creeper letting Firefly fall to his death was so different as heroes in comics never really let their villains die like that in this lighter era of comics (which was beginning to change around this time). Again, it makes the character and story feel different and it takes a big risk, which I think worked perfectly. Moreover, like in the issues of the main series, it is great that we see both the lives of Jack Ryder and the Creeper. This makes the story feel balanced and it makes both of his characters shine instead of just the one (like Superman and Clark Kent, who only one of is a bit better, I’ll let you work out who).
Although I get that the goons for Firefly were only really needed for a fight at the end and for some proper fighting, they just feel a bit randomly thrown in. I mean, they don’t add much and there isn’t anything unique about them as their character is just the same as every other common criminal in comics, which means that they are ruthless, but a bit stupid. Also, not only would I have liked to have seen more of other villains like Two Face, as this story is set in Gotham and there is a breakout of one of his foes, where is Batman in all of this. Yes, it is a Creeper story and he should be the main character, but you would have though that Batman would feature as it is Gotham City. Looking back, maybe it wasn’t such a great idea that the story was set in Gotham…
As usual, Ditko presents some of his great art. His use of anatomy, lighting and drama all make for an exciting story which looks visually interesting and appealing. The Creeper still has is usual great heroic look, but Ditko also makes him look evil and sometimes unhuman in some panels, which looks fantastic. Although it isn’t inked by Ditko, Mike Royer (who inked Jack Kirby on some of the Fourth World titles) does an excellent job of embellishing the retro artist. He is almost certainly more suited to
inking Ditko than Mike Peppe was (who inked Ditko on issues 5 and 6 of the Creeper’s title). Overall, like always, the art is great.
Story: 8/10
Art: 10/10
(For all of these next stories (with the exception of the one from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade 2, I will review the art (all of which is by Steve Ditko) at the end of the last World’s Finest story)
Moon Lady and The Monster --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
In the TV office, Jack Ryder finds a person who he works with known as the Moon Lady being attacked by somebody dressed like a monster. Ryder becomes the Creeper, but fails to defeat the monster, who runs off. Meanwhile, higher-ups from the TV company are watching one of their shows featuring Moon Lady, who they are proud and impressed with. But at the same time, protesters are complaining to the company that the Moon Lady’s movies should be removed as they are too scary. Later on, the Moon Lady is attacked again by the monster, but the Creeper manages to rescue her. The Creeper then decides to look for the monster, but he fails again. However, the monster returns later again, and the Creeper catches him and reveals his identity to be Abe Keeler, who the Moon Lady once worked with, but the two fell apart and Keeler couldn’t stand the fact that the Moon Lady was successful without him.
MY THOUGHTS
For a short story, this is an appealing detective story. The monster who is attacking the Moon Lady is quite ridiculous, but it does make you curious to who the monster really is. The monster is definitely the highlight of this story, as overall, it is pretty dull. This features a problem with most of these Creeper backups by Ditko, which is that most of them are repetitive and the plots tend to be the same. Sure, some can be quite exciting, but this isn’t one of those occasions. That being said, there are aspects of this story which don’t really go anywhere. For example, the protests about the Moon Lady don’t really go anywhere and it gets forgotten about quite quickly. The big revelation of who the monster is isn’t very exciting, but at least he isn’t in the story much, which doesn’t make it as obvious. Plus, I don’t get why Ryder has to be head of security for literally everyone. He is a journalist, not a guard. For a TV station that is raided by criminals, you’d think that they would hire some proper security.
Story: 4/10
Art: 9.5/10
Return of the Past --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
A reporter known as Ben Briely is beaten up by gangsters for trying to spy on them and he is sent to hospital. He tells Jack Ryder that the gangster he was looking into was Deviln. Ryder leaves and realises that Deviln was the first villain he ever faced that caused him to become the Creeper (read about it here from my review). After recalling the events, The Creeper finds Deviln who has just shot a judge, who is then taken to hospital. Some time later, Deviln and his goons find the Creeper and shoot him, but it is a dummy. The real Creeper then appears and takes out Deviln and the criminals. But, Briely is at the scene still injured and he is taken back to hospital where he learns that Deviln is on the news, making him happy that the investigation he started was successful.
MY THOUGHTS
Although this story is pretty much a reminder or retelling of the Creeper’s origin from Showcase (vol 1) 73, there is enough new content and ideas which make the story worthwhile. This story is where we are introduced to Ben Briely, who is a less annoying and funnier version of Jimmy Olsen in the Superman titles. His is way too dramatic and he adds for some comedic moments in the story. The retelling of the origin is actually done well and thankfully isn’t just the same text, but the main problem to me is the lack of character for Deviln, who not only has a bad name (considering his half devil costume), but he is incredibly dull. It does add for some form of drama, which works well for the limited amount of time that this story has. Plus, that Briely guy is f*cking dedicated in his job, I mean, possibly a little too much…
Story: 8/10
Art: 10/10
The Disruptor --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
In an abandoned building in Gotham, The Creeper is held at gunpoint by multiple goons whose master is named the Disruptor. Although the Creeper manages to escape, he is knocked unconscious from a gas bomb thrown by the Disruptor. Later on, at the TV office, Ryder finds that the Disruptor has been sending gas threats to the office and will stop if given one million dollars. The security team of the studio say that if the Disruptor’s next attack succeeds, then they will pay him. Then as expected, the Disruptor arrives and with the security team, Ryder takes out all of the goons. But the Disruptor escapes again. This isn’t for long as Ryder becomes the Creeper and finds the Disruptor unmasked as an executive of the company. The Creeper chases him, and he is caught by security.
MY THOUGHTS
If you have read the Moon Lady story, then the plot and contents of this story is pretty much the same. The only positive difference between the two is that this one is a bit funnier. For instance, there are times where Ryder just annoys his co-workers, which adds a more human and realistic element to the story. The Disruptor character is pretty much the same Delvin and the Monster character from the first story. I think that the story would have been much better if the executive who is the Disruptor would have been a recurring character that has appeared in previous Creeper stories. This would have made the story feel more impactful as the story doesn’t really have anything in it which is what I’d call shocking. Like the first story, this is incredibly repetitive, which doesn’t make this a particularly entertaining read.
Story: 4.5/10
Art: 9.5/10
The Keeper of Secrets is Death --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
In a broadcast by Ben Briely, he says that he has information from a woman named Doctor Joanne Russel who knows the real identity of the Creeper. Jack Ryder (who told Joanne his secret) visits her and finds that she has been murdered. The police then arrive and arrest Ryder on suspicion of murder. Joanne’s secretary then wakes up and says that the Doctor was fascinated by the Creeper. The police let Ryder go and he becomes the Creeper and finds the killers. But they escape and the police arrive again. He is warned to stay out of the case. The same thing happens again but with a criminal related to the murder of Joanne, who was talking about her blackmail scheme. After finding the real source of the information about the Creeper from Briely, Ryder becomes the Creeper and finds somebody pretending to be Joanne. After a chase, she escapes, and the police arrive to arrest Ryder. But he pulls the mask off of “Joanne” and it is revealed to be her secretary, who killed her boss after she found her stealing confidential files on patients. Plus, there are some bad dialogue choices, with some speeches not even making sense.
MY THOUGHTS
Out of all of the stories, this is the one which is packed and filled with plot and it isn’t as repetitive. I repeat, as repetitive. The main piece of dull repetition in this story is the amount of times that Ryder is arrested and, in some cases, there isn’t even any charge for arrest, even the police officer admits that. But, the plot and intention of the story is dark, and it certainly feels different. The plot is detailed and packed, making it one of the most interesting and best Creeper backups by Ditko. My only main problems are that I don’t get why the secretary dresses as her boss, especially after she is dead and as the police know of her death, then surely the media would know, and it would be all over the newspapers. Also, I think that it would have been wise for Ditko to have had the character of Joanne Russel appear in some of the previous backups as for people who haven’t read her original appearance (in Adventure Comics with the Creeper (not by Ditko)). This would have made the story make a bit more sense, but overall it is actually pretty good.
Story: 9/10
Art: 10/10
The Wrecker --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
After playing some jokes on his colleagues at the TV office, Jack Ryder and his staff are told of a bomb threat at a place known as the Kass building. Meanwhile near the building, a man with a baby in a pram is walking around and he is speaking of his idea to destroy the Kass building. The man sneaks into the building and instead of a baby in the pram, he has a device in it known as Rollo the Wrecker, which is a demolition machine. He activates the machine just as Ryder arrives, who becomes the Creeper. But, once the Creeper is defeated by the machine, the man who made it knocks out him out. He later wakes up and using sand, dust, powder and a fire extinguisher (which the other people from the TV studio help the Creeper with), the machine is destroyed, not before it accidently kills the man who activated it.
MY THOUGHTS
Like the previous story, this one feels unique and it is nowhere near as formulised or boring as some of the past stories. While the background surrounding the Wrecker is quite silly and laughable (in a good way), it makes for a strong villain and enemy which feels much more like a real threat compared to villains beforehand. Apart from that, there isn’t anything really special about this story that makes it memorable. As I said, it is memorable as a story. Let me rephrase that. It is memorable for a Creeper story. As I said before, the villains of Creeper stories tend to be gangsters and crime lords. But, villains in other comics and particularly in one-off issues tend to be enemies like the Wrecker. Overall, it is a good story, but nothing special, even if the villain is bizarre and pretty entertaining. Plus, by the looks of it, he gets an incredibly violent death, which hadn’t really been seen in Creeper stories until this point.
Story: 7.5/10
Art: 9.5/10
Beware Mr Wrinkles --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
An old man buys children’s clothes and transforms himself into a child. He then goes to a gangster known as Atlas and takes control of his gang using his powers to age people physically, making them all weaker. Later on, reporter Ben Briely vists the gang to speak to Altas, but when Jack Ryder finds him, he is an old man. Briely begs
for Ryder to get the story about Altas and he becomes the Creeper. But when he enters the gangster’s hideout, the child known as Mr Wrinkles ages him, but the Creeper manages to escape and turns back to Ryder, making him young again. Meanwhile, Briely had aged back again and the Creeper decides to visit Mr Wrinkles again but disguised as himself when he was older. The disguise works and the Creeper finds the device hidden on Mr Wrinkles which ages people. This turns Mr Wrinkles back to an old man and the Creeper takes his disguise off to appear as the normal young Creeper, who then takes out Mr Wrinkles and his gang.
MY THOUGHTS
This is a ridiculous story… Oh. You want more on that? Well, let me just say a few things. Not only is the name of the villain ridiculous, strange and weird, but his power is actually quite strong. But he uses it stupidly and he is looking like a child to make himself younger. This does make sense, but it is just so stupid and so unfitting for a character. You can’t hate this story in any way, but you have to admit that it is silly and stupid. It does have its entertainment value, but it can be hard to read due to the dialogue, which is certainly not Ditko’s strong point. It just makes some of the characters incredibly dumb, especially Mr Wrinkles himself.
Story: 5/10
Art: 9/10
Furious Fran and the Dagger Lady --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
Jack Ryder and Fran (who Ryder works with at the TV company) are told to spy and follow their newest star, Lulu, as her agent claims she is being blackmailed. After following Lulu into a warehouse, Fran is attacked by a woman throwing knives known as the Dagger Lady and after Ryder becomes the Creeper and fails to catch her, both Ryder and Fran speak to Lulu about this Dagger Lady. Later on, after Ryder and Fran offer to help Lulu, she is sent instructions from the Dagger Lady to hand over some gems. But Ryder becomes the Creeper and takes out some of the Dagger Lady’s thugs as Fran defends herself from the knives thrown at her. The Dagger Lady first chooses to escape, but then comes back later to get the gems. The Creeper, Fran and Lulu take her out. Afterwards, Fran then complains to Ryder that he keeps putting her in danger.
MY THOUGHTS
Out of all of the backup stories, this one is by far the worst of them all. Not only does this story feature the same old repetition, but the main characters just plain suck. Now, Fran is a recurring character who is appears regularly in the Creeper stories, but she is only really in the story for light comedy. However. Lulu is just so boring and dull. She is pretty pointless in the main plot of the story and it would have been better if Fran was the main side character here. Not only that, but the main plot is stupid, and I don’t know why the Dagger Lady would want to get gems off Lulu as how would she get the gems and why can’t the Dagger Lady just steal them? There are loads of plot holes like that and they just make this story hard going.
Story: 3/10
Art: 8.5/10
Overall for the art in the Creeper stories from World’s Finest (vol 1) 249-255, Ditko draws these stories excellently and incredibly well, even if the plots of some are not so good. Ditko tells some of the dullest and least exciting moments in such a dynamic and clever way, which take lighting and drama into account. For instance, in the story featuring Deviln, the origin of the Creeper is told again. But instead of simply just reprinting the original story, Ditko retells it in an interesting manor and the art looks great. This is an example to me of how Ditko can make stories (whether they are good or bad) look excellent and every panel has so much in it which adds to the overall feel of a story, conveying the points and emotions that the writer wants the reader to feel and enjoy.
Enter Dr Storme --- Written and drawn by Steve Ditko
THE PLOT
One day when walking around the TV offices with his colleagues, Jack Ryder becomes the Creeper on one half of his body and the other half remains the same without any input from him. He hides from his colleagues on the celling and then runs away. He t
hen finds a man calling himself Doctor Storme firing his magical staff in a room that soaks the room and everyone in it. Dr Storme escapes. Meanwhile, the weatherman of the TV station named Al Wheyly says that the day will be sunny, but it turns out to be raining. Then another reporter comes on named Sunny, who entertains the viewers of the station after Wheyly’s failure. Afterwards, Wheyly becomes Dr Storme to wreak havoc again. The same thing happens to Ryder again and his Creeper persona is unleashed again, but just one half again. He decides to hide on a film set (with a cameo from Odd Man) but is attacked again by Dr Storme with his staff that unleashes rain. He then disappears again, and Ryder is back to normal again. But he is shocked to find his co-worker Fran flying above him partly invisible. When she turns back to normal again, Ryder catches her. Some time later, Dr Storme returns yet again with his intense rain and wind, but as the Creeper, Ryder manages to destroy the staff, resulting in Dr Storme turning back to Wheyly, who has died from dehydration. Ryder then hides away and reveals that he wore a second Creeper costume over his normal clothes to disguise himself completely for when he was fighting Dr Storme.
MY THOUGHTS
Although this story was never actually officially published in an issue, I still think it is worth reviewing and discussing as it was nearly completed and it is by Steve Ditko, making this as official as any other story featuring the Creeper in my eyes. In terms of the plot, it is just downright bizarre and utterly strange. Unlike some of the backup stories in World’s Finest, this story features some surprises and shocking turns that I couldn’t see coming. For example, Ryder becoming the Creeper randomly in public and the disturbing death of Dr Storme. Aspects like this make the story feel hard hitting and it doesn’t follow a generic formula for how comics should be told, which I think is excellent. The death of the villain is actually pretty graphic and disturbing (maybe it is better that the story isn’t coloured…). It shows the dark and twisted sense of almost humour and entertainment that Ditko had as a writer. In some cases, as a writer, there are aspects of his works being very similar to those who changed the way story telling was done in comics, like Alan Moore, Frank Miller and Grant Morrison. Similarly, to Moore and Morrison (not so much Miller), there is so much humour in this story and although it can go overboard on some occasions, it works well. The story is actually pretty light and silly when thinking about it, but you can’t help but love it in some strange way. As usual, Ditko writes the characters faithfully and well, which makes the story feel concrete as it has a sturdy structure. And for the main villain, Dr Storme, I have to applaud Ditko! Sure, we had Weather Wizard, but this villain feels incredibly unique. The problem I had with the villains in previous Creeper stories (with the exception of Proteus) is that none of them felt special or unique in any real way. Here, the villain has some evil side to him as you’d expect, but there is also a sense of sadness, which makes the character feel much more developed and concentrated, even if his origin is quite stupid. Also, great cameo by the Odd Man, another Ditko creation.
As I said a bit before, I love this story for its strangeness, but one thing I must say is that it is incredibly f*cking repetitive. I mean, the amount of times that Dr Storme comes back is ridiculous. Also, I don’t get why his magical staff makes Fran turn see-through and all floaty. I thought it just changed the weather, but apparently it has other abilities…
As a huge fan of Steve Ditko as an artist, this story features some amazing art as usual, along with some unique and superbly designed two-page spreads, which Ditko has never really done before. Also, his use of lighting is top notch here as it always is. My only problem (and it’s a big problem) is that this story isn’t coloured. I don’t know why DC couldn’t have just hired a colourist for the original version or even for this reprinted version, but the story just loses so much when it isn’t coloured. Some parts can be hard to work out what is going on and the colour really helps in some scenes, particularly for dramatic tension and lighting. I repeat, I love Ditko’s art. But here, it desperately needs a colourist, even if Ditko’s inks look perfect and smooth.
Story: 8.5/10
Art: 8/10
VERDICT
Overall, the Creeper Oddities by Steve Ditko are certainly interesting. The story from 1st Issue Special is told very well, and it fits the Creeper brilliantly. Although some of the stories in the World’s Finest issues can be dull or in some instances quite woeful, there is still a sense of great enjoyment from them, particularly in terms of the stunning artwork. I think the problem with those stories is that they are just too short and there isn't really enough time or space for a concrete plot, which is a shame. Lastly, it is saddening that Showcase was cancelled before the Creeper could have his return as the story from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade did some real good for the character and made him even more interesting. Although these were the last times that Ditko ever wrote or drew his Creeper character, they remain some of (continues after image)
his most famous work for DC Comics and the Creeper was never forgotten…
Stories: 7.5/10
Art: 9/10
Highlighted Character: The Creeper (Jack Ryder)
Next Review: Green Arrow: Black Arrow (Green Arrow (vol 2) 29-39. Written by Mike Grell with art by Dan Jurgens, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, Grant Miehm, Mark Jones, Rick Hoberg, Bill Wray, Denys Cowan and Shea Anton Pensa. Expected to be published by 14/07/2019.
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