Who has Green Hair, wears Yellow Skin Tights with Green Striped Underwear, Red Boots and Gloves, and tops it all off with a Furry Red Cape?

The Creeper... a trippy Steve Ditko creation from 1968, is arguably the most bizarre character to emerge from DC Comic's Silver Age, next to Brother Power the Geek!

The Creeper first appeared in the pages of Showcase No. 73. With one of the oddest and most improbable origin stories of any comic book superhero, the Creeper is not your atypical DC costumed hero. Jack Ryder, a Gotham City TV Talk Show Host who pushes the boundaries of investigative journalism one too many times... is fired... but immediately lands a new job in all things... security? Unable to shake-off his investigative make-up, he attempts the rescue of a kidnapped scientist, Dr. Yatz, from the clutches of mobsters bent on selling his "serum" to the Soviets (this was, after-all, just five years removed from the height of the Cold War). During the attempted rescue, Jack Ryder is mortally wounded by the mobsters. In order to save his life, Dr. Yatz injects Jack Ryder with the serum which immediately gives him not only abnormal strength and agility, but a super-healing factor. Dr. Yatz also implants a device into the gunshot wound which has the added-effect of causing his costume to "appear and disappear" at will with the aid of an activator.

How wacky is all that?

But not to be outdone....

...my first exposure to The Creeper was 30 years ago in 1983, when the Copper Age Jack Ryder served as a back-up feature to Barry Allen in the pages of The Flash: 318 -- 323. That run featured Jack Ryder and his alter ego the Creeper, investigating a drug cartel selling a strange narcotic which changes young addicts into reptilian-like homicidal maniacs.

What appeals to me the most about the Creeper is how uniquely different he is from most mainstream heroes. Because of his oddball quality, I knew I had to seek out his first appearance and add it to my CGC collection. I guess I'm a sucker for the strange, freakish, horrific and grotesque. Just look at my comic collection and the "tale of the tape" says it all.

Now I will admit, to most comic fans, the Creeper isn't their cup of tea. And I don't blame them. For the most part, the writing, art, and the continuity of the Creeper character has been rather uneven. But if you never read a Creeper story, and you're willing to give it a shot... I recommend starting off with the 2006, six-issue series written by Steven Niles (30 Days of Night). It's available as a TPB: The Creeper: Welcome to Creepsville.

There is of course, the collected reprints of Steve Ditko's work on the green haired character appearing in the 2010 hardcover book: The Creeper by Steve Ditko. which includes the Showcase 73 debut, the Creeper's first six issues in his eponymous title, and a never before published work.

As for my Showcase 73... this 44 year old little beauty, with an old blue label proclaiming it's near mint grade of 9.4 with White Pages, comes by way of Pedigree Comics.

Thanks for reading and as always Happy Collecting!

SW3D

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