The Creeper
Info
Name: Jack Ryder
A.K.A.: The Creeper
Occupation: Reporter
Known Relatives: NONE
Base of Operations: Gotham City, USA
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Blue (as Ryder) Black (as Creeper)
Hair: Black (as Ryder) Red (as Creeper)
Brief Background
Once he was simply Jack Ryder, the no-nonsense co-anchor of
Summer Gleeson's "Gotham
Insider." But the staid newsman's life was changed forever after an encounter with the Joker and his
lethal laughing toxin. When Jack tried to stop the abduction of a famous scientist, the Joker gassed
him and took him along. Deathly ill from the gas, Ryder was saved when the scientist infected him
with an experimental antidote. The shot saved Ryder's life but mutated him into a bizarre
super-human creature, the living embodiment of the wild personality he had kept buried inside him for
so long. Dubbed The Creeper by a terrified onlooker, the insane creature went on a wacky rampage
which resulted in him actually helping Batman to capture the Joker.
Though the wild imbalance of chemicals had caused a permanent change in Ryder's body, Batman
devised a specially treated skin patch that, when worn, keeps the Creeper subdued. But when there's
extreme danger, Ryder can remove the patch and let the zany, always unpredictable Creeper out to
join the fight.
THE CREEPER is a new ongoing series from the folks at DC Comics. Only a few issues into the
run, it's easy to see the series has potential. THE CREEPER brings Jack Ryder, and his maniacal
alter ego, the Creeper, back to the land of the living. Ignominiously killed along with members of the
Suicide Squad (no jokes please, it's too easy), the Creeper once again roams the streets. He's the
only character in comics to not only scare the wits out of the bad guys, but his own secret identity as
well.
The Creeper himself, is a venerable Steve Ditko creation (witness the unnecessary instant change into
his costume--Ditko always loved that). This new series shows a great love for the much
under-appreciated character. All of the Creeper's basics are still intact: the garish costume, the
horrifying laugh, the mention of the instant healing serum given to him by Professor Yatz, and the
subatomic transposition cascade effect thingie that transforms his clothing into his costume. Don't
forget... the injection of drugs into his bloodstream when said transformation thingie is
activated--pumping up his strength, reflexes, and (how do I put this delicately?) his personality.
Because you see dear reader, this isn't your daddy's superhero.
The Creeper
I don't mean funny crazy. I don't mean a little loony.
I mean insane.
Other heroes are uncomfortable around him, or at least should be. Street thugs soil themselves when
he bounds at them. A nightmare swirl of color, bouncing off of anything solid, the Creeper is
constantly in motion. His soundtrack is a cacophony of laughter that freezes the blood in your veins
(almost literally). It comes from everywhere, and never stops.
Even worse, the Creeper thinks he's a riot.
Writer Len Kaminski isn't just giving us a rehash of Ditko stuff; he's filling in the blanks for us. The
most noticeable is the Creeper's survival after being killed by DC "Villain Extrordinaire", Eclipso.
Under comic book law, since there was no body, the Creeper was a comeback waiting to happen
(well, they did find an arm, but the Creeper heals faster than Wolverine in the X-Men, so I wouldn't
be surprised to find that the arm grew a new Creeper...) But while we still don't know the details of
the Creeper's return to the streets, neither does his saner half, Jack Ryder. In fact, as we find Jack in
the first issue, he's in a session with his psychiatrist, Dr. Skolos, endeavoring to end his amnesia of
recent events (who can blame him) and to quell the disorder he feels in the back of his brain,
struggling for release.
This is possibly the best thing Kaminski has done with THE CREEPER: Jack Ryder, noted
tele-journalist and crusader for what's right, is so tightly wound that he must become the Creeper in
order to stay sane. His altruistic tendencies taken to the nth degree, Jack Ryder, as the Creeper, acts
out the part all of us keep repressed. Kaminski can pretty much do what he wants with the character;
aside from various guest appearances, he's pretty much a blank slate. As it stands, Len knows what
happened to the Creeper when he died... he's just not telling yet. That sense of mystery pervades
throughout THE CREEPER. It's a disturbing, unconventional book. But it has to be.
So far, the Creeper has just started a major conflict with what is probably his only super villain,
Proteus. I'm not sure how much super hero action THE CREEPER will embrace. Len Kaminski
seems quite content to explore the troubled inner workings of Jack Ryder's head. Either way, I'm
along for the foreseeable future.
The art, by Shawn Martinbrough and Sal Buscema, is dark, moody and jarring. Clean yet chaotic,
there's a hint of Ditko in a couple of panels. It took some getting used to on my part, and I'm still not
sold on it, but the end result is a book that looks like no other. I'm afraid my only disappointment is
that. Not the art, I mean. But the fact that THE CREEPER is so weird (to be a mainstream superhero
book), that I feel it won't last very long.
Unlike a STARMAN, that has a much more quiet, yet still unique feel to it, THE CREEPER is in
your face, jumping up and down trying to get your attention. There aren't many books like THE
CREEPER, and it's a shame that the grandest experiments are usually the quickest canceled titles.
I'd hate to see that happen, but I think the Creeper himself would just laugh it off.
Give it a shot!!
Breaking News
The Creeper
Dramatic Pause
Say I'm Crazy (Joker)
Weather Report
Well Here they are the pictures of the Creeper I have found places around the net!
