I feel the need to point out it wasn't personal politics that caused Ditko to leave Marvel. That is to stay it wasnt that Stan Lee was adding liberal themes into the stories. Ditko was very clear that it was because Lee wasnt giving him the credit as a writer of the stories that he drew. Lee changing the stories, according to Ditko, was an excuse to not credit Ditko as a writer. Yes Ditko thought the stories were worse because the liberal themes werent what he drew the story to be, nonetheless it was the lack of credit that caused Ditko to walk. Same reason the Kirby left years later. Kirby thought his loyalty would be rewarded, thats why he stayed longer than Ditko.
Oh yeah, as I said, the reasons why he left were many, and Stan taking credit for things he wasn’t involved in was definitely the biggest issue. Shortly after finishing this video I came across an article Ditko had written outlining his anger at Stan’s refusal to talk to him any more (Stan denied doing that, but others speculated it was down to Ditko’s politics) An example of this is one scene in Amazing Spider-Man where Spider-Man swung by a group of hippies protesting. Ditko intended the scene to have Spider-Man criticise them, but Lee changed the dialogue to have Spider-Man support them. I don’t know if that was the start of the breakdown in their relationship or just one instance of many, but it definitely played a part.
@@SerumLake I think we can all agree that, regardless of personal politics, changing a story in a way that goes against how someone drew it is a dick move.
@@zemox2534 Indeed, many years later. Have you ever seen the "In Search for Steve Ditko" documentary? That and the Comic Historian (not Comicstaorian, bless his soul) has an hour long interview with Ditko's brother and nephew. Both are worth a watch!
@@ianfinrir8724it's not that of a dick move if you are the editor. Editing stuff is your job. You can however credit the story to the original author even after editing it.
I like the idea of Creeper being a foil to The Joker’s philosophy. “One Bad Day” isn’t an excuse for villainy. Even if something changes your life and leaves you scarred… we see not just from the Creeper but several heroes in the DC universe that trauma can be overcome and even used as a motivation to do good and bring positive change.
While this is an interesting take I find it funny you apply it to the BTAS version where they don't really do the "One Bad Day" is what made the Joker crazy. BTAS version of the Joker was always a monster to begin with.
One bad day can change you. But not always for the worst. Sometimes it's for the better. Sometimes you feel the worst gut wrenching feeling imaginable, and you're so good and empathetic that you don't want others to feel that way. So you help people in any way that you can. Bruce had a bad day, but he didn't hurt people, he did the next semi-reasonable thing, donned a costume, and became someone who helps others in need. same thing with other heroes. Creeper is solidified proof that Joker's philosophy is false. With Creeper being an almost replica of Joker with similar origin stories. Except Creeper didn't say 'screw it and everyone around' he went and turned it around and became a hero. And unusual one, but a hero non the less.
It's not about the day, it's about what you choose to do in response. Joker chose to harm innocents, so he was never the victim. He's just a villain that got his excuse to hide behind
It’s a very common trend, if you’re a lesser known comic book character and you have a notable appearance in a piece of Batman media, you will forever be tied to being a Batman related character. Along with Creeper we have Solomon Grundy, Ragdoll Clock King, and Deathstroke
@@KhanhNguyen-mh5ecDeathstroke is a Titan villain but notice that he appears more like a Robin nemesis. And lately he is appears as generalist villain that is a foil to batman and has connections to the league of shadows. In young justice he even takes over the league of shadows.
The fact that Jeff Bennett's manic voice for Creeper sounds nothing like his voice for Joker in Batman the Brave and the Bold really just speaks for his amazing vocal range.
Fun fact: Freakazoid was initially pitched as a more typical superhero cartoon, in line with Bruce Timm's other work. The titular character more of an unhinged maniac. It would've had comedic elements but still otherwise been serious. Steven Spielberg didn't care for this approach and the show was reworked into a straightforward comedy, with Freakazoid softened into a childish goofball. According to Timm their depiction of Creeper in TNBA is very close to how Freakazoid was originally conceptualized.
Thank you for that. I remember I used to watch this and also the Tick which was a comedy but more focused on the superhero element and I used to reflect on the comparisons and contrasts
One funny think i keep having in mind when i think of the Creeper (New Batman Adventures version) is how he was a bootleg of the Joker, made by the Joker, who scares the Joker and is Better than the Joker. I like that guy.
It actually makes sense, when you think about it: Joker has NEVER been able to handle being the butt of the joke, but happily tries to make everyone else the victim of HIS 'humor'. So, when he creates his own 'bootleg Joker', he's playing by the same rules that everyone is fair game (even the Creeper himself. He takes everything pretty good naturedly) so Joker gets freaked out when he's the target.
9:30 Boy, do I love extremely stoic shopkeepers in stories. They've somehow seen it all, or they're too dulled by retail life to care anymore. Shoutouts to Burgerpants from Undertale: "I can't go to Hell, I'm out of vacation days."
I really wish that Creeper would show up in more media, I really like that character, and he is sadly underutilized in a lot of DC media. TNBA he only had a one-off episode, he was reduced to a couple of cameos in JL: Unlimited, and in Brave and the Bold, he was a reoccurring character who occasionally shows up to help Batman. Maybe My Adventures with Superman, Batman: Caped Crusader, or James Gunn's DC Universe can finally give this character the love he deserves.
There was also an episode of Justice League (infinity?) Where Actor Mark Hamill is kidnapped by Joker (Mark Hamill) and Creeper (Mark Hamill) and then was rescued by Swamp thing (Mark Hamill)
13:35 I noticed that the series inverted the concept in Harley's Holiday, where Batman points out that his "Bad Day" is the reason why he tried to help Harley throughout the episode.
I agree that the creeper really spits in the face of joker's "one bad day" bs.there are a number of super heroes who have "one bad day" that usually becomes the defining moment that leads to them getting their powers. But instead of becoming menaces to society they use their power and experiences for the greater good. Honestly, im not surprised we dont see a lot of the creeper. Gotham has been kept as a dark and brooding setting and most dc writers want to keep it that way. Someone as cartoonish as the creeper would "cramp their style".
@@thebigidea9659 That’s not an excuse to keep cartoonish characters off the table. The TNBA writers were open to playing with the tone of the stories, as explained in another video. For every dark and serious episode, there were was a more off-the-wall one. They planned to do more with the Creeper, but the show was canceled before they could do so. Not to mention, the Creeper wasn’t originally a Batman character. This is explicitly stated in the video. In other words, there’s no need to discard the character out of fear that he might “cramp their style,” not least because he’s not specifically tied to Gotham. Don’t mistake your inability to be open-minded in regards to tone for honesty.
what's funny is that I think creeper would really work as sort of a tick analog, somebody who is undeniably trying to do good but is just too whacked out to really be a reliable figure. It keeps that element of darkness while letting them be funny and strange in all of the ways the character needs to be.
I do agree Creeper was better used sparingly, he'd get tiring as a main character. But I do wish he had just a few more appearances. Maybe like in Nightfall where Superman pretends to be Batman, Creeper is being a huge help keeping the villains down but he just doesn't have the intellect to solve things, hence Robin and Superman.
The Lee/Ditko politics thing was big. There was even a panel of Spider-Man swinging over a protest shaking his fist: Ditko meant it as Spidey berating the protesters as deadbeats who should get a job, but Stan wrote Spidey cheering them on.
Not just any WB character, but Freakazoid. Creeper is basically him adapted for DC. Before the Spider-Man connection I saw Creeper as an attempt to create a 'good guy Joker'- someone with the madcap sense of humor everyone liked about Joker but without the hideous murders that make you feel ashamed for liking him. This would later resurface with a dimensional alter-ego the Jester though neither character caught on that much.
There's also the Jokester from Earth 3 and the Jester from the other Earth 3. They planned a hero-Joker-type quite many times, but sadly they never continued with it. Also, when Steven Spielberg saw the Creeper in BTAS he immediatly new that THIS was the hero of his next show, Freakazoid.
Beware the Creeper is one of my favourite episodes from the new adventures. I love the antics of the Creeper and how he played off both Batman and the Joker (even joker thought he was a lunatic). I wish the character got another major appearance in tnba before it ended, buy I can see how he works better when used sparingly.
I just want to point out that The Question was created by Ditko to be a "softer" version of his other character Mr. A, shown at 1:28 Actually, Question's line of "A is A" in Justice League Unlimited is a direct reference to Mr. A.
Such is the Law of Identity. A shame it's fallible, what with good guy Luthors like the one in possible broad strokes JLU prequel Crisis on Two Earths existing.
@@ianfinrir8724 I've seen worser logic. Just look at Owlman thinking he would have ended the Multiverse by just destroying some Earth Prime... oh, little did he know that doing so would spawn universes where he failed, and what we've seen in Crisis on Two Earths was just one of his failures in hindsight. And don't get me started on other similar threats like Spider-Carnage in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
I see the BTAS creeper's origin as a living contrast to joker's usual "one bad day" routine. Ryder went through everything joker was talking about in one bad day, but he wasn't evil beforehand and wasn't changed by the accident to become evil either. He's walking proof that Joker is wrong
This idea of the Creeper being some sort of second personality in Ryder in the post Crisis time makes me think of the Hulk. Ditko was the one who came up with the idea of the Hulk changing when Banner got angery. Not quite the same concept here, Ditko wasn't even writing the new story, just a funny thing to happen.
Sorta random, but this was the episode where I realized that Joker's new henchmen were named Larry, Moe & Curly after the three stooges. I don't think they said anything before, but their voice and mannerisms made it very clear here.
8:00 I don’t feel it undermines that mentality. When most people think about “one bad day” they think of just general trauma bring overloaded with negatives but it could just be one thing it has to be at the wrong moment. That one small moment that breaks all the pillars of support your mind has holding it up
YELLOW SKINNED WACKY MAN IN THE HOUSE!!!!!! lol in all seriousness, im very fond of the character. Glad they ditched the oni interpretation from the New 52 (The original origin and the Kaminski retcon were my favorites)
Seeing creeper hit on harley just makes me think he could appear in the harley quinn show as a joke Creeper: hey harley hottie Harley: leave me alone creep, it was one time Shark: you know harley im startin to think youve got a type
Could come off as a little mean spirited to the Harley character though since the only time they interact in any media is Creeper harassing and chasing her while she never reciprocates
There was actually a JLU tie-in comic where Batman and the Creeper to take out a terrorist cell of lunatics, because Bats needed someone as insane as the terrorists
Yeah, I have it, but like most of those JLU comics I don’t remember it being particularly significant, but I’ll have to read it again just to make sure I didn’t forget anything
It's a shame Ryder never became The Creeper in the Arkham games. The Creeper's mentioned in his Asylum bio but those bios were based on the comic versions of the characters not the game versions. Vicki Vale also mentions Creeper in an interview with Quincy Sharp on her show in Arkham City. Apart from that Jack's just an obnoxious reporter obsessed with getting stories before Vicki and was nearly assassinated by Deadshot who Hugo Strange hired to kill Ryder for looking into how Strange brainwashed the people who became the Tyger guards. And in Knight he wrote about Batman saving him from Deadshot as if Ryder was the hero and Batman just helped.
Fun Fact : Remember the WB cartoon Freakazoid? Original draft, the show was going to be VERY different, and while Freakazoid himself was always going to be wacky, the world he lived in was going to be a lot more serious, and similar to the DCAU, with the rest of the cast being 'normal' . That got scrapped, Timm left the dev team, and we got the Freakazoid wd did, in a world full of cartoonish buffoons. When they made this episode, the concepts they designed for the first draft Freakazoid went into Creeper's concept.
Because of the Creeper, we got Freakazoid! Freakazoid started as an idea for a Creeper cartoon. I'm not sure of the details, but I always thought that was fun.
Btas creeper was a fun time, a reminder batman doesnt have to be boring violent grimdark humorless judge dredd, but cant swing the pendulum all the way away all the time. I liked the creeping out the joker part. Obviously not the creepy on Harley part. I wonder how he'd behave in her show😂
FUN FACT: The Creeper episode was supposed to be a pilot for their original vision of Freakazoid. But Steven Spielberg suggested they make it more like Animaniacs. And the rest is history.
@@aidanhever3369 I honestly can't exactly explain, but there's something about folks getting the wacky Freakazoid we know and love over the years and not a dour Creeper expy that just... feels right.
I wish we had got one or two more episodes with the Creeper. The idea of him as an anti-joker; similar creation, emphasis on silliness juxtaposed with dangerousness, green hair and too-wide grin... You could do a lot with him going up against Joker but being out of his depth due to how long Joker's been in the game by contrast, or how Joker's too used to fighting Batman so the Creeper's far more of a challenge that can actually vex the clown prince of crime. Lots of fun ideas you can bounce around with this guy. Looking forward to your next video, thanks for vid!
The comments comparing Animated Creeper with Freakazoid also kind of reminded me of a Plastic Man comic that showed how the stories worked in the Golden Age, where Plas was "The Only Sane Man" in a slapstick cartoony world was just how he saw things through the lens of his own craziness. In reality, he was indeed the madman in a fairly typical Superhero Setting. At least, by the logic of that particular story which, even more amusingly, I think was a crossover with either the Justice Society in general, or Captain Marvel/Shazam specifically.
I like The Creeper mostly because of this Show , but I did like his appearances in the early 90s Comics in comics like Eclipso the Darkness within & Eclipso Ongoing in 92/93 as a member of a team with peacemaker. I do like that their was a Vertgo series of the Creeper who was a Woman. I was happy to see the Creeper as a member of Justice League Unlimited and Batman Brave & the Bold . He's right up there with Etrigan, Lobo ,Circe , Livewire, The Question &: Harley Quinn as characters who have their own unique energy that's chaotic & humorous.
Really sad the the action figure of the dcau creeper was always sold for a very very cheap price in exchange shops, really shows how much he doesn’t have that much appreciaton
I remember reading a few years ago that Bruce Timm decided to fuse his origin in with the Joker as while designing Creeper for the show he kept redoing it as it just ended up being to much like the Joker. So in the end Bruce just said screw it and redid the origin. Honestly I think it was the right move. I do enjoy this episode as well as the character.
Yeah his original backstory was….something alright. His new 52 origin as some oni is just stupid. I think his TNBA origin is his best one and the way he’s characterized in his only episode in the DCAU is actually quite funny and enjoyable.
The Creepers episode is one of my favorites in the TNBA show, I wish he could've showed up more in the DCAu. He's basically the antithesis to the Joker.
As silly as he is, I like the Creeper. He's essentially Freakazoid, but a funny guy can be serious too, which could have been expanded upon further. And him being the foil to Joker's whole philosophy is great as well, along with another side contrast to the typical duo of Joker and Batman. He can certainly work within the Batman universe if used in moderation, and certainly can fit within the overall, admittedly wacky cast of DC comic characters. I mean, we do have Plastic Man and Mxy and they are certainly higher on the wackiness scale. Also, despite being a product of the times with his obsession with Harley, it was a more positive attraction as opposed to the abuse dished out by Joker, certainly stark contrast as you said. it should be toned back in modern times, for sure, but I also saw that he genuinely did care about her well being despite being spurned. It could be done in a way where it is clear how conditioned Harley is, that even when treated well is taking it as weird with the advances being funny and sweet and less like a "creeper" (haha).
“Ryder accidentally hit a policeman,” WHAT HAPPENED TO PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, STEVE? If he didn’t want to become a target of the police, he shouldn’t have been out in a costume, he said sarcastically. Such a shame the co-creator of Spider-Man left Marvel to write right-wing cringe for DC. The brainrot of these people remains sixty years later.
A normal person going through One Bad Day, exactly what Joker went through before his transformation, but becoming a hero instead is an incredible idea and DC should have pushed Creeper way harder. Not to mention his outfit looks amazing. EDIT: Thinking it over, I think the big issue with the Creeper isn't so much anything particular about the Creeper himself but rather being apart of the Batman mythos in the first place. It's already crowded in Gotham and a wild character like the Creeper would have trouble fitting in with the setting, just like Serum Lake touched on in the video. It would be difficult to incorporate him correctly, let alone give him the push he deserves.
10:46 You didn't see this one coming, did you Batsy? HAHAHAHA This came out of nowhere and dismantled Bruce's serious pose. What I liked about this episode is that karma was so strong on Joker that he ended up bored and even grateful to return to Arkam Asylum. Poor Harley. She had a "Penelope" day because of the Creeper. And I can't help but notice how much the character Freakzoid has in common with the Creeper from the Batman Animated series.
Another Steve Ditko homage is seen in the Creeper's appearance in the tie-in comic. In the panel where the Ventriloquist is on stage addressing the assembled gangsters, front and center are Spider-Man villains Montana and Fancy Dan from the Enforcers, also designed by Ditko. To the right of them, the big bald chap looks suspiciously like the Kingpin, but he's a John Romita Sr. design.
The best part of the Creeper Episode was when Harley Quinn came out of the giant pie. They should def recreate that scene for the new Joker film. That’s something we’d all enjoy.
As someone who did not know about this episode or the Creeper in general before this video. I really enjoyed the idea of the character as Dark? Light? refection on the joker's backstory
When I first saw the Episode when I was super young I wasn't aware of the creeper in the comics and When Watching Jack Ryder laughing Uncontrollably and being thrown into the same vat of chemicals as the joker I was less expecting a Yellow man come out of waste (Though I did expect his personality being as crazy as what we saw) and more expecting something like a Joker 2, We have seen the same Chemicals used to kill Jokers victims in the 1989 movie so it wasn't far fetch to think of the chemicals doing the same thing that happen to Joker
Steve Ditko was an interesting, mysterious, talented man. May he rest in peace. The DCAU did a really good job at representing his characters. I liked this character before hand, but you just taught me more about him. Thanks. Another great video. Also, shoutout to Jeff Bennett's work. He made his mark despite playing The Creeper in just one episode.
I can see him showing up in James Gunn's upcoming DCU. Lots of lesser know odd obscure characters showing up. From Creeper to the Question, Rainbow Raider, Bouncing Boy, Matter Eater Lad, Calendar Man and many more. Lol.
Harley: Mr. J! Mr. J! Joker: You nearly blew us to Chattahoochee! Harley: You gotta save me, pudding. He’s after me. Joker: And who, precisely, would that be? (BOOM!!!) Creeper: Harley, I’m home! Harley: (points to Creeper) Him! Creeper: Wow, it does strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Harley: He's the creep who's stealing your act. Creeper: And that's not all, Mr. Happy. I'm stealing your girl, too. Harley: swear, Mr. J, I didn't encourage him. Joker: That's okay, pooh. I know you're a one-man loon. (Turns to Creeper) There's only room for one clown prince in this town. How would you like an all-expense paid trip to Metropolis? On Air-Niko?
I know he also was only in the one episode, but really hope you'll do a video on Maxie Zeus. He's not in the best episode, he's not the most formidable foe, and he doesn't have the best design, but as a kid who loved mythology he stood out for me when he debuted.
I like that the Creeper negates Joker’s “one bad day” thing. Similar circumstances and setting, but a wildly different endpoint. If it was me I’d play more with the Creeper fully being the Id (like a drag-persona, exaggerated mannerism and hyper colourful outlandish outfit) -he’s stuffy mildly asexual intj tv reporter by day, but becomes a scantly-clad drag-clown by night. and when given the cure, he tosses it because he enjoys letting it out
I also find it funny that he got all of the benefits of Joker venom (the mania, the loss of inhibition) and none of the homicidal tendencies that usually come from exposure. And that loss of inhibition made him brave enough to fight crime
Not gonna lie, had it not been turned into the comedy variety show it ended up as, I legit think the beta/early draft version of Freakazoid was pretty much a "(The?) Creeper the Animated Series" DCAU show. Cause I'm not gonna lie, I think the DCAU origin for him feels like a good definitive version of his origin. Also not gonna lie, had he'd been able to not be as clingy/"personal space ignoring" in his Creeper form (and/or Harley possibly be more appreciative of his attention by comparison of Joker's), I could see a world where the current Harley could maybe go out with Jack as a better alternative to the Joker. Will admit I never thought of it until I saw some fan art of it and I think I'm a fan of the pairing.
the black pussycat that Pepe Le pew is always after is named Penelope Pussycat. honestly it makes a lot of sense that the creeper is having a great time he was put throught the same chemical bath as joker except that Jack was suffering from joker toxin which means he's high as a kite.
The foray into talking about Steve Ditko, then Lock-Up and the screenshot of a Mr. A page now has me really wishing we could have gotten a Mr. A/Batman crossover. I'll probably have to content myself by looking for a crossover using The Question before Denny O'Neil had his run on the character.
As someone who did their master's thesis on Ayn Rand, whose ideology Steve Ditko followed: I can't stand the man. For those not aware, Ayn Rand is a "political philosopher" whose ideology has influenced American capitalism, promoting that greed and selfishness are the most admirable human traits and anyone not working for their own greed and self-gratification be damned, depicting them as mentally stunted or just insane in her works like Atlas Shrugged (the worst book I've ever read). Basically she preached that a capitalist can do whatever they want regardless of morality since all that matters is making a profit for themselves, including selling potentially dangerous products, foregoing any worker safety regulations, health or environmental concerns of regulation. People like Alan Greenspan are well-known for having followed her ideals. In short, she regards the industrial villains of the DCAU like Roland Dagget as heroes while actual heroes like Batman/Bruce Wayne are just aiding whom Ayn Rand called "parasites" (namely the poor, the ostracized, the disabled, etc.), operating on the "just get over it" mentality. This is particularly hilarious how she was against Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal to help people recover from the Great Depression, but then she ended up using its herself. She was also infamous for extramarital affairs, like one where she had a lover who was cheating on his spouse with her, and when this man decided to end it and managed to reconcile with his actual wife, Rand started mocking him endlessly. She was also infamously misogynistic towards women. This all stemmed due to her father losing their business to the Soviet government following Lenin's nationalization of everything under the communist regime so it'd seem Ayn Rand was just emotionally scarred by an agreeably horrific childhood experience of growing up in the Soviet Union (she escaped by claiming she was seeing relatives in the U.S. and just never returned) and just took her trauma out on the world.
yeah, seeing him untethered to espouse his views with the comic 'Mr. A' was eye opening for the kind of person he was. It's a shame that the man behind so many very beloved characters was a bit of a raging prick.
Characters like the Creeper, Lobo, and Freakazoid are better DC versions of Deadpool than Harley Quinn is yet DC refuses to use those characters in a legit comedy run.
Not sure if this is a popular opinion (wouldnt know as I havent seen anyone else talk about this), but I dont really like Creepers past origins. His first origin is... a bit much. It starts okay, guy dresses up in makeup and a costume. Then its "oh, now he has a sci fi gadget that switches him between civilian and Creeper clothes" and "Oh, now he has a super soldier serum" And its just... stop. His rebooted origin is better, but still not my preference. His BTAS origin is great though. News reporter gets gassed and dunked in chemicals. And gets a weird costume and fights crime because of his unrestrained psyche. Also, great design. Easily one of my favorite new designs to come out of the New Adventures.
Fantastic videos always! I actually enjoyed the creepers appearance in Batman and loved his new origin story! I always got a credit to show for grabbing obscure DC characters and making them work and such a continuity that anybody could jump on board! I really impressed with Jeff Bennett who funny enough, actually does play a very calm straight character and his other voice acting! Usually he's Owen from gargoyles or even brooklyn, but now he gets to be as wacky and crazy as freakazoid! We wouldn't see this side of Jeff too much except for the few times he's in other cartoons and especially Batman the brave and the bold as the Joker!
9:17 I don't know, why but I could imagine the question actually standing in for a display mannequin just to get some extra money sometimes, or when he's going after robbers or crooks who's robbing clothing stores.
8:05: I mean, it helps that the original story that brought up this idea. Intended for the joker to be full of it, given how his plans ultimately fail.
To anyone confused about the "Liberal And Conservative" of Lee and Ditko, bear in mind that the terms Liberal and Conservative change radically from time to time and place to place. There was a time where something like basic human rights would have been considered extremely liberal. Liberal is literally just changing things to a new way, and conservativism is changing things back to how they were. What made an American conservative in the 1960s-90s is very different from current American conservativism.
Ryder: So this antidote patch is the only thing between me and a room in Arkham. Batman: It’s only temporary. I’ll need to make more. Ryder: Thanks, but I might as well have dissolved in that vat. My career- Batman: Is salvageable. No one else knows you were the Creeper. Keep wearing the patch and it'll stay that way. (Batman and Robin leaves) Ryder: A little piece of cotton. Hard to believe.😏
That's also part of it, yeah. Steve Ditko published an article explaining that the main reason he became so disgruntled was because Stan stopped talking to him and so he decided there was no point in the two of them working together any more.
Random point but i think the Ace company owning both the chemical plant and disposal industry probably implies Ace disposes of their chemicals in unethical ways
Speaking of The PowerPuff Girls, that green wearing brunette shopkeeper in "Beware the Creeper" is voiced by E.G. Daily, a.k.a. the green wearing brunette Buttercup.
Imagine if the creeper pops up in joker 3. Or if the creeper piped up in the Christopher Nolan trilogy. He’s actually near perfect as one of the mock batsmen that were rooming Gotham during the events of the dark knight and then decided to keep helping in a creeper sort of way that in the third movie.
@SerumLake I'd like to add that it's kinda reductionist & nonsensical to equate his beliefs in objectivism to that of a "less murderous lock up". Lock up's issue against criminals & his contempt for what he perceived to be a failing system wasn't his problem, it was that he was abusive without purpose outside of his own anger which has nothing to do with an objective morality. He had no principles that he demanded be followed nor did he criticize any moral relativeism as the conflict from his actions was unethical treatment of people we all know are bad anyway.
As a side note to the brunt of this video, it's interesting how the follow-up video will tie into the concept behind this one. Great job Serum! And I believe that the BTAS writers were well aware that "one bad day" was more akin to "the straw that broke the camel's back!" Which is why villains had their back stories revisited. Or in Creeper and Two-Face's cases, were seen several episodes before their alias introductions.
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I feel the need to point out it wasn't personal politics that caused Ditko to leave Marvel. That is to stay it wasnt that Stan Lee was adding liberal themes into the stories. Ditko was very clear that it was because Lee wasnt giving him the credit as a writer of the stories that he drew. Lee changing the stories, according to Ditko, was an excuse to not credit Ditko as a writer. Yes Ditko thought the stories were worse because the liberal themes werent what he drew the story to be, nonetheless it was the lack of credit that caused Ditko to walk. Same reason the Kirby left years later. Kirby thought his loyalty would be rewarded, thats why he stayed longer than Ditko.
Oh yeah, as I said, the reasons why he left were many, and Stan taking credit for things he wasn’t involved in was definitely the biggest issue.
Shortly after finishing this video I came across an article Ditko had written outlining his anger at Stan’s refusal to talk to him any more (Stan denied doing that, but others speculated it was down to Ditko’s politics)
An example of this is one scene in Amazing Spider-Man where Spider-Man swung by a group of hippies protesting. Ditko intended the scene to have Spider-Man criticise them, but Lee changed the dialogue to have Spider-Man support them. I don’t know if that was the start of the breakdown in their relationship or just one instance of many, but it definitely played a part.
@@SerumLake I think we can all agree that, regardless of personal politics, changing a story in a way that goes against how someone drew it is a dick move.
Lee did admit he felt bad and tried to give Ditko credit years later
@@zemox2534 Indeed, many years later. Have you ever seen the "In Search for Steve Ditko" documentary? That and the Comic Historian (not Comicstaorian, bless his soul) has an hour long interview with Ditko's brother and nephew. Both are worth a watch!
@@ianfinrir8724it's not that of a dick move if you are the editor. Editing stuff is your job. You can however credit the story to the original author even after editing it.
I like the idea of Creeper being a foil to The Joker’s philosophy. “One Bad Day” isn’t an excuse for villainy. Even if something changes your life and leaves you scarred… we see not just from the Creeper but several heroes in the DC universe that trauma can be overcome and even used as a motivation to do good and bring positive change.
*SPOILER ALERT FOR BATMAN RETURNS*
That's the clear character arc lesson to be learnt from The Penguin in that film.
While this is an interesting take I find it funny you apply it to the BTAS version where they don't really do the "One Bad Day" is what made the Joker crazy. BTAS version of the Joker was always a monster to begin with.
You're right. A lot of heroes were born from "One Bad Day."
One bad day can change you. But not always for the worst. Sometimes it's for the better. Sometimes you feel the worst gut wrenching feeling imaginable, and you're so good and empathetic that you don't want others to feel that way. So you help people in any way that you can.
Bruce had a bad day, but he didn't hurt people, he did the next semi-reasonable thing, donned a costume, and became someone who helps others in need. same thing with other heroes.
Creeper is solidified proof that Joker's philosophy is false. With Creeper being an almost replica of Joker with similar origin stories. Except Creeper didn't say 'screw it and everyone around' he went and turned it around and became a hero. And unusual one, but a hero non the less.
It's not about the day, it's about what you choose to do in response. Joker chose to harm innocents, so he was never the victim. He's just a villain that got his excuse to hide behind
It’s a very common trend, if you’re a lesser known comic book character and you have a notable appearance in a piece of Batman media, you will forever be tied to being a Batman related character. Along with Creeper we have Solomon Grundy, Ragdoll Clock King, and Deathstroke
Yeah, very true!
yeah
Zatanna & Etrigan as well.
Wait wait wait, Isn’t death stroke a teen titans villain?
@@KhanhNguyen-mh5ecDeathstroke is a Titan villain but notice that he appears more like a Robin nemesis. And lately he is appears as generalist villain that is a foil to batman and has connections to the league of shadows. In young justice he even takes over the league of shadows.
The fact that Jeff Bennett's manic voice for Creeper sounds nothing like his voice for Joker in Batman the Brave and the Bold really just speaks for his amazing vocal range.
I still find it funny reminding myself he is also Johnny Bravo.
A shame I'm not that into TbatB's Joker much.
As much as I like his Joker in Brave and the Bold, I thought he sounded too much like Dexter's dad.
Fun fact: Freakazoid was initially pitched as a more typical superhero cartoon, in line with Bruce Timm's other work. The titular character more of an unhinged maniac. It would've had comedic elements but still otherwise been serious. Steven Spielberg didn't care for this approach and the show was reworked into a straightforward comedy, with Freakazoid softened into a childish goofball. According to Timm their depiction of Creeper in TNBA is very close to how Freakazoid was originally conceptualized.
Thank you for that. I remember I used to watch this and also the Tick which was a comedy but more focused on the superhero element and I used to reflect on the comparisons and contrasts
Either way, the changes seem to have benefitted The Tick and Freakazoid in the long run.
Freakazoid was prescient in representing an internet-charged superhero as being nothing more than an adhd manchild.
They also used some scrapped designs for the Batman series for the Freekazoid characters, Caveguy, Huntsman, etc.
While that would have been interesting, I've grown to love what Freakazoid became that I just couldn't see it done any other way.
The BTAS Creeper just feels like the crew wanted to write for Freakazoid.
This was originally how Freakazoid was suppose to be portrayed, before show got reworked into a comedy.
And honestly, I'm fine with how Freakazoid became even with those executive meddlings.
Super-dude extraordinaire!
@@mariatelos I was literally just about to post that myself. Bruce Timm even said as much on a special feature on the Freakazoid season 1 DVD.
Works for me.
One funny think i keep having in mind when i think of the Creeper (New Batman Adventures version)
is how he was a bootleg of the Joker, made by the Joker, who scares the Joker and is Better than the Joker.
I like that guy.
And a fine example of proving the Joker wrong, as stated by Serum Lake.
It actually makes sense, when you think about it: Joker has NEVER been able to handle being the butt of the joke, but happily tries to make everyone else the victim of HIS 'humor'.
So, when he creates his own 'bootleg Joker', he's playing by the same rules that everyone is fair game (even the Creeper himself. He takes everything pretty good naturedly) so Joker gets freaked out when he's the target.
can you imagine if Creeper stuck with the Bat-family?
9:30 Boy, do I love extremely stoic shopkeepers in stories. They've somehow seen it all, or they're too dulled by retail life to care anymore.
Shoutouts to Burgerpants from Undertale: "I can't go to Hell, I'm out of vacation days."
_Runs around in underwear, Creeper-zoid, Creeper-zoid_
I got that hahaha he's invading your city
Driving everybody completely crazy
"Rescues Gotham City,
Creeper-zoid! Creeper-zoid!
Unless there's something better on Harley,
Creeper-zoid, Creeper-zoid!"
"His brain's overloading,
It has a chocolate coating,
Textbook case for Sigmund Freud,
Creepazoid! Creepazoid!"
this feels like it could have been a usenet post
I really wish that Creeper would show up in more media, I really like that character, and he is sadly underutilized in a lot of DC media. TNBA he only had a one-off episode, he was reduced to a couple of cameos in JL: Unlimited, and in Brave and the Bold, he was a reoccurring character who occasionally shows up to help Batman. Maybe My Adventures with Superman, Batman: Caped Crusader, or James Gunn's DC Universe can finally give this character the love he deserves.
I don't know, him appearing in CC feels off, and why would he appear in MAWS, Vicki Vale notwithstanding?
@@michaelandreipalon359because maybe adding the Creeper will get the "Batman when?" people to shut up and let Big Blue have his own show.
There was also an episode of Justice League (infinity?) Where Actor Mark Hamill is kidnapped by Joker (Mark Hamill) and Creeper (Mark Hamill) and then was rescued by Swamp thing (Mark Hamill)
It was a short for Justice League Action.
It was Trickster not Creeper
The only thing missing is Firelord Ozai!
Seeing The Creeper standing alongside the Bat Family is a sight. I'm thinking of it like Plastic Man and Batman from Brave and the Bold.
13:35 I noticed that the series inverted the concept in Harley's Holiday, where Batman points out that his "Bad Day" is the reason why he tried to help Harley throughout the episode.
Joker: "He's a lunatic!"
Well shit even for him creeper
Chaotic aura too much to comprehend
Better that than a *monster* like the Joker.
The Creeper: "TO ME, CRAZY CARS ARE JUST NORMAL CARS, AHAHAHAHAH"
Batman: Now you know how I feel 😒😮💨
Pot calling the kettle black.
I agree that the creeper really spits in the face of joker's "one bad day" bs.there are a number of super heroes who have "one bad day" that usually becomes the defining moment that leads to them getting their powers. But instead of becoming menaces to society they use their power and experiences for the greater good.
Honestly, im not surprised we dont see a lot of the creeper. Gotham has been kept as a dark and brooding setting and most dc writers want to keep it that way. Someone as cartoonish as the creeper would "cramp their style".
"Once, I had a bad day too." -Batman
To be honest, I wish they'd use the Jokester again. As insane and dark as Joker, but still on the good side.
@@thebigidea9659 That’s not an excuse to keep cartoonish characters off the table. The TNBA writers were open to playing with the tone of the stories, as explained in another video. For every dark and serious episode, there were was a more off-the-wall one. They planned to do more with the Creeper, but the show was canceled before they could do so. Not to mention, the Creeper wasn’t originally a Batman character. This is explicitly stated in the video. In other words, there’s no need to discard the character out of fear that he might “cramp their style,” not least because he’s not specifically tied to Gotham. Don’t mistake your inability to be open-minded in regards to tone for honesty.
what's funny is that I think creeper would really work as sort of a tick analog, somebody who is undeniably trying to do good but is just too whacked out to really be a reliable figure. It keeps that element of darkness while letting them be funny and strange in all of the ways the character needs to be.
I do agree Creeper was better used sparingly, he'd get tiring as a main character. But I do wish he had just a few more appearances. Maybe like in Nightfall where Superman pretends to be Batman, Creeper is being a huge help keeping the villains down but he just doesn't have the intellect to solve things, hence Robin and Superman.
The Lee/Ditko politics thing was big. There was even a panel of Spider-Man swinging over a protest shaking his fist: Ditko meant it as Spidey berating the protesters as deadbeats who should get a job, but Stan wrote Spidey cheering them on.
Not just any WB character, but Freakazoid. Creeper is basically him adapted for DC. Before the Spider-Man connection I saw Creeper as an attempt to create a 'good guy Joker'- someone with the madcap sense of humor everyone liked about Joker but without the hideous murders that make you feel ashamed for liking him. This would later resurface with a dimensional alter-ego the Jester though neither character caught on that much.
The Creeper reminds me of The Mask too. Both of them use something to bring out their crazy side and cause havoc.
There's also the Jokester from Earth 3 and the Jester from the other Earth 3. They planned a hero-Joker-type quite many times, but sadly they never continued with it.
Also, when Steven Spielberg saw the Creeper in BTAS he immediatly new that THIS was the hero of his next show, Freakazoid.
Jeff Bennett's most underrated performance.
Beware the Creeper is one of my favourite episodes from the new adventures. I love the antics of the Creeper and how he played off both Batman and the Joker (even joker thought he was a lunatic). I wish the character got another major appearance in tnba before it ended, buy I can see how he works better when used sparingly.
Would have loved a JLU spotlight ep too. Same with folks like Mr. Mxyzptlk.
I just want to point out that The Question was created by Ditko to be a "softer" version of his other character Mr. A, shown at 1:28 Actually, Question's line of "A is A" in Justice League Unlimited is a direct reference to Mr. A.
Such is the Law of Identity. A shame it's fallible, what with good guy Luthors like the one in possible broad strokes JLU prequel Crisis on Two Earths existing.
@@michaelandreipalon359That was the flaw in Question's logic, he didn't stop to think that identity varies from universe to universe.
@@ianfinrir8724 I've seen worser logic. Just look at Owlman thinking he would have ended the Multiverse by just destroying some Earth Prime... oh, little did he know that doing so would spawn universes where he failed, and what we've seen in Crisis on Two Earths was just one of his failures in hindsight.
And don't get me started on other similar threats like Spider-Carnage in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
I see the BTAS creeper's origin as a living contrast to joker's usual "one bad day" routine. Ryder went through everything joker was talking about in one bad day, but he wasn't evil beforehand and wasn't changed by the accident to become evil either. He's walking proof that Joker is wrong
This idea of the Creeper being some sort of second personality in Ryder in the post Crisis time makes me think of the Hulk. Ditko was the one who came up with the idea of the Hulk changing when Banner got angery. Not quite the same concept here, Ditko wasn't even writing the new story, just a funny thing to happen.
AYYYYY! It’s everybody’s favorite YELLOW SKINNED WACKY MAN!
... but he prefers "The Creeper".
I didn't think I'd like the creeper but his debute episode was so good and such a welcome departure from the usual doom and gloom
Him and Freakazoid would've gotten on like a house on fire 😏
Too perfect they will be annoyed the universe with style
I don't think a world could handle both of them together. They would probably destroy it, though not intentionally.
Lets also not forget that the creeper acted as a semi-pilot tryout of sorts for a later cartoon about a wacky superhero, Freakazoid.
Pity that the creeper isn’t used that much nowadays because the few times he does appear it’s always have been memorable.
Sorta random, but this was the episode where I realized that Joker's new henchmen were named Larry, Moe & Curly after the three stooges. I don't think they said anything before, but their voice and mannerisms made it very clear here.
8:00 I don’t feel it undermines that mentality. When most people think about “one bad day” they think of just general trauma bring overloaded with negatives but it could just be one thing it has to be at the wrong moment. That one small moment that breaks all the pillars of support your mind has holding it up
I always thought of him as just a proto Freakazoid
YELLOW SKINNED WACKY MAN IN THE HOUSE!!!!!! lol in all seriousness, im very fond of the character. Glad they ditched the oni interpretation from the New 52 (The original origin and the Kaminski retcon were my favorites)
Seeing creeper hit on harley just makes me think he could appear in the harley quinn show as a joke
Creeper: hey harley hottie
Harley: leave me alone creep, it was one time
Shark: you know harley im startin to think youve got a type
Could come off as a little mean spirited to the Harley character though since the only time they interact in any media is Creeper harassing and chasing her while she never reciprocates
Too bad they didn't do much with The Creeper when they added him to the extended Justice League in Unlimited.
True, but it's still cool that he's part of the JLU.
There is the JLU Adventures comics, but even then, they feel childish compared to the likes of The Batman Adventures and Superman Adventures.
@michaelandreipalon359 Well DCAU is targeted at all ages including children.
There was actually a JLU tie-in comic where Batman and the Creeper to take out a terrorist cell of lunatics, because Bats needed someone as insane as the terrorists
Right, issue 10 of the JLU Adventures comics.
Yeah, I have it, but like most of those JLU comics I don’t remember it being particularly significant, but I’ll have to read it again just to make sure I didn’t forget anything
I get the feeling that The Creeper is a lot like Plastic Man, "Just be glad he's on our side."
It's a shame Ryder never became The Creeper in the Arkham games. The Creeper's mentioned in his Asylum bio but those bios were based on the comic versions of the characters not the game versions. Vicki Vale also mentions Creeper in an interview with Quincy Sharp on her show in Arkham City. Apart from that Jack's just an obnoxious reporter obsessed with getting stories before Vicki and was nearly assassinated by Deadshot who Hugo Strange hired to kill Ryder for looking into how Strange brainwashed the people who became the Tyger guards. And in Knight he wrote about Batman saving him from Deadshot as if Ryder was the hero and Batman just helped.
Fun Fact : Remember the WB cartoon Freakazoid? Original draft, the show was going to be VERY different, and while Freakazoid himself was always going to be wacky, the world he lived in was going to be a lot more serious, and similar to the DCAU, with the rest of the cast being 'normal' . That got scrapped, Timm left the dev team, and we got the Freakazoid wd did, in a world full of cartoonish buffoons.
When they made this episode, the concepts they designed for the first draft Freakazoid went into Creeper's concept.
Because of the Creeper, we got Freakazoid! Freakazoid started as an idea for a Creeper cartoon. I'm not sure of the details, but I always thought that was fun.
Btas creeper was a fun time, a reminder batman doesnt have to be boring violent grimdark humorless judge dredd, but cant swing the pendulum all the way away all the time. I liked the creeping out the joker part. Obviously not the creepy on Harley part. I wonder how he'd behave in her show😂
FUN FACT: The Creeper episode was supposed to be a pilot for their original vision of Freakazoid. But Steven Spielberg suggested they make it more like Animaniacs. And the rest is history.
Good call from Spielberg though.
@@michaelandreipalon359 Can you explain me ?
@@aidanhever3369 I honestly can't exactly explain, but there's something about folks getting the wacky Freakazoid we know and love over the years and not a dour Creeper expy that just... feels right.
I wish we had got one or two more episodes with the Creeper. The idea of him as an anti-joker; similar creation, emphasis on silliness juxtaposed with dangerousness, green hair and too-wide grin... You could do a lot with him going up against Joker but being out of his depth due to how long Joker's been in the game by contrast, or how Joker's too used to fighting Batman so the Creeper's far more of a challenge that can actually vex the clown prince of crime. Lots of fun ideas you can bounce around with this guy.
Looking forward to your next video, thanks for vid!
Man, I barely remember this guy. He's got some real Freakazoid energy to him.
The comments comparing Animated Creeper with Freakazoid also kind of reminded me of a Plastic Man comic that showed how the stories worked in the Golden Age, where Plas was "The Only Sane Man" in a slapstick cartoony world was just how he saw things through the lens of his own craziness.
In reality, he was indeed the madman in a fairly typical Superhero Setting. At least, by the logic of that particular story which, even more amusingly, I think was a crossover with either the Justice Society in general, or Captain Marvel/Shazam specifically.
I like The Creeper mostly because of this Show , but I did like his appearances in the early 90s Comics in comics like Eclipso the Darkness within & Eclipso Ongoing in 92/93 as a member of a team with peacemaker.
I do like that their was a Vertgo series of the Creeper who was a Woman.
I was happy to see the Creeper as a member of Justice League Unlimited and Batman Brave & the Bold .
He's right up there with Etrigan, Lobo ,Circe , Livewire, The Question &: Harley Quinn as characters who have their own unique energy that's chaotic & humorous.
Really sad the the action figure of the dcau creeper was always sold for a very very cheap price in exchange shops, really shows how much he doesn’t have that much appreciaton
I don't know, being cheap seems a boon compared to expensive antiques.
I remember reading a few years ago that Bruce Timm decided to fuse his origin in with the Joker as while designing Creeper for the show he kept redoing it as it just ended up being to much like the Joker. So in the end Bruce just said screw it and redid the origin. Honestly I think it was the right move. I do enjoy this episode as well as the character.
Yeah his original backstory was….something alright. His new 52 origin as some oni is just stupid. I think his TNBA origin is his best one and the way he’s characterized in his only episode in the DCAU is actually quite funny and enjoyable.
I like the Brave and the Bold's Creeper that looks and acts like extremely campy and flamboyant theatre kid
The Creepers episode is one of my favorites in the TNBA show, I wish he could've showed up more in the DCAu. He's basically the antithesis to the Joker.
As silly as he is, I like the Creeper. He's essentially Freakazoid, but a funny guy can be serious too, which could have been expanded upon further. And him being the foil to Joker's whole philosophy is great as well, along with another side contrast to the typical duo of Joker and Batman. He can certainly work within the Batman universe if used in moderation, and certainly can fit within the overall, admittedly wacky cast of DC comic characters. I mean, we do have Plastic Man and Mxy and they are certainly higher on the wackiness scale.
Also, despite being a product of the times with his obsession with Harley, it was a more positive attraction as opposed to the abuse dished out by Joker, certainly stark contrast as you said. it should be toned back in modern times, for sure, but I also saw that he genuinely did care about her well being despite being spurned. It could be done in a way where it is clear how conditioned Harley is, that even when treated well is taking it as weird with the advances being funny and sweet and less like a "creeper" (haha).
“Ryder accidentally hit a policeman,” WHAT HAPPENED TO PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, STEVE? If he didn’t want to become a target of the police, he shouldn’t have been out in a costume, he said sarcastically.
Such a shame the co-creator of Spider-Man left Marvel to write right-wing cringe for DC. The brainrot of these people remains sixty years later.
9:32 People in Gotham are used to weird costumed people breaking into places.
I've seen you on damn near every DC comment section in even the most obscure videos
I absolutely ADORE your videos and The Creeper is one of my favorite DC characters so I’m soooo happy you made this video !!! 🩷🩷
Glad you enjoyed it!
A normal person going through One Bad Day, exactly what Joker went through before his transformation, but becoming a hero instead is an incredible idea and DC should have pushed Creeper way harder. Not to mention his outfit looks amazing.
EDIT: Thinking it over, I think the big issue with the Creeper isn't so much anything particular about the Creeper himself but rather being apart of the Batman mythos in the first place. It's already crowded in Gotham and a wild character like the Creeper would have trouble fitting in with the setting, just like Serum Lake touched on in the video. It would be difficult to incorporate him correctly, let alone give him the push he deserves.
10:46 You didn't see this one coming, did you Batsy? HAHAHAHA This came out of nowhere and dismantled Bruce's serious pose.
What I liked about this episode is that karma was so strong on Joker that he ended up bored and even grateful to return to Arkam Asylum.
Poor Harley. She had a "Penelope" day because of the Creeper. And I can't help but notice how much the character Freakzoid has in common with the Creeper from the Batman Animated series.
The Creeper as a whole kinda reminds me of the tale of Jekyll and Hyde
But with a zanier spin of optimism.
Same
Another Steve Ditko homage is seen in the Creeper's appearance in the tie-in comic. In the panel where the Ventriloquist is on stage addressing the assembled gangsters, front and center are Spider-Man villains Montana and Fancy Dan from the Enforcers, also designed by Ditko. To the right of them, the big bald chap looks suspiciously like the Kingpin, but he's a John Romita Sr. design.
Steve Ditko also created Blue Beetle, or well the second man to take the mantle of Blue Beetle, Ted Kord
Ted Kord and Booster Gold were like the definition of "sharing a braincell"
@@ianfinrir8724 despite one of them being a genius millionaire XD
"Mom, can I go watch Freakazoid at my friend's place?"
"No, we have Freakazoid at home."
*The "Freakazoid" at home:*
The best part of the Creeper Episode was when Harley Quinn came out of the giant pie.
They should def recreate that scene for the new Joker film. That’s something we’d all enjoy.
...Nah, I think the comedy works better in animation, not live action.
I don’t know if that scene was really for comedy
As someone who did not know about this episode or the Creeper in general before this video. I really enjoyed the idea of the character as Dark? Light? refection on the joker's backstory
When I first saw the Episode when I was super young I wasn't aware of the creeper in the comics and When Watching Jack Ryder laughing Uncontrollably and being thrown into the same vat of chemicals as the joker I was less expecting a Yellow man come out of waste (Though I did expect his personality being as crazy as what we saw) and more expecting something like a Joker 2, We have seen the same Chemicals used to kill Jokers victims in the 1989 movie so it wasn't far fetch to think of the chemicals doing the same thing that happen to Joker
Steve Ditko was an interesting, mysterious, talented man. May he rest in peace. The DCAU did a really good job at representing his characters. I liked this character before hand, but you just taught me more about him. Thanks. Another great video. Also, shoutout to Jeff Bennett's work. He made his mark despite playing The Creeper in just one episode.
It took the whole video for it to click but the reason I always loved the BAS version of the creeper was because he is just Freakszoid.
I can see him showing up in James Gunn's upcoming DCU. Lots of lesser know odd obscure characters showing up. From Creeper to the Question, Rainbow Raider, Bouncing Boy, Matter Eater Lad, Calendar Man and many more. Lol.
Harley: Mr. J! Mr. J!
Joker: You nearly blew us to Chattahoochee!
Harley: You gotta save me, pudding. He’s after me.
Joker: And who, precisely, would that be?
(BOOM!!!)
Creeper: Harley, I’m home!
Harley: (points to Creeper) Him!
Creeper: Wow, it does strike fear
into the hearts of criminals.
Harley: He's the creep who's stealing your act.
Creeper: And that's not all, Mr. Happy. I'm stealing your girl, too.
Harley: swear, Mr. J, I didn't encourage him.
Joker: That's okay, pooh. I know you're a one-man loon. (Turns to Creeper) There's only room for one clown prince in this town. How would you like an all-expense paid trip to Metropolis? On Air-Niko?
The Creeper walked (weirdly) so Freakazoid could run.
I know he also was only in the one episode, but really hope you'll do a video on Maxie Zeus. He's not in the best episode, he's not the most formidable foe, and he doesn't have the best design, but as a kid who loved mythology he stood out for me when he debuted.
Then you have Jack Ryder in Arkham whose just a smarmy reporter you keep having to rescue. Where's our Creeper payoff, Rocksteady?
You’d think they’d start putting lids on those vats of acid or something. Seems like people are falling into them all the time
I like that the Creeper negates Joker’s “one bad day” thing. Similar circumstances and setting, but a wildly different endpoint.
If it was me I’d play more with the Creeper fully being the Id (like a drag-persona, exaggerated mannerism and hyper colourful outlandish outfit)
-he’s stuffy mildly asexual intj tv reporter by day, but becomes a scantly-clad drag-clown by night.
and when given the cure, he tosses it because he enjoys letting it out
I also find it funny that he got all of the benefits of Joker venom (the mania, the loss of inhibition) and none of the homicidal tendencies that usually come from exposure. And that loss of inhibition made him brave enough to fight crime
@@robstein1313 AND he's made of iron to boot
I first learned about The Creeper via the Amalgam character Nightcreeper, where they made the odd choice of fusing him with Nightcrawler.
Not gonna lie, had it not been turned into the comedy variety show it ended up as, I legit think the beta/early draft version of Freakazoid was pretty much a "(The?) Creeper the Animated Series" DCAU show. Cause I'm not gonna lie, I think the DCAU origin for him feels like a good definitive version of his origin.
Also not gonna lie, had he'd been able to not be as clingy/"personal space ignoring" in his Creeper form (and/or Harley possibly be more appreciative of his attention by comparison of Joker's), I could see a world where the current Harley could maybe go out with Jack as a better alternative to the Joker. Will admit I never thought of it until I saw some fan art of it and I think I'm a fan of the pairing.
Its always a freakazoid feel fron the creeper
You would think ACE chemicals would have learned their lesson the first time they made a supervillan and put safety nets over their chemical vats
the black pussycat that Pepe Le pew is always after is named Penelope Pussycat. honestly it makes a lot of sense that the creeper is having a great time he was put throught the same chemical bath as joker except that Jack was suffering from joker toxin which means he's high as a kite.
The foray into talking about Steve Ditko, then Lock-Up and the screenshot of a Mr. A page now has me really wishing we could have gotten a Mr. A/Batman crossover.
I'll probably have to content myself by looking for a crossover using The Question before Denny O'Neil had his run on the character.
As someone who did their master's thesis on Ayn Rand, whose ideology Steve Ditko followed: I can't stand the man. For those not aware, Ayn Rand is a "political philosopher" whose ideology has influenced American capitalism, promoting that greed and selfishness are the most admirable human traits and anyone not working for their own greed and self-gratification be damned, depicting them as mentally stunted or just insane in her works like Atlas Shrugged (the worst book I've ever read). Basically she preached that a capitalist can do whatever they want regardless of morality since all that matters is making a profit for themselves, including selling potentially dangerous products, foregoing any worker safety regulations, health or environmental concerns of regulation. People like Alan Greenspan are well-known for having followed her ideals.
In short, she regards the industrial villains of the DCAU like Roland Dagget as heroes while actual heroes like Batman/Bruce Wayne are just aiding whom Ayn Rand called "parasites" (namely the poor, the ostracized, the disabled, etc.), operating on the "just get over it" mentality. This is particularly hilarious how she was against Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal to help people recover from the Great Depression, but then she ended up using its herself. She was also infamous for extramarital affairs, like one where she had a lover who was cheating on his spouse with her, and when this man decided to end it and managed to reconcile with his actual wife, Rand started mocking him endlessly. She was also infamously misogynistic towards women.
This all stemmed due to her father losing their business to the Soviet government following Lenin's nationalization of everything under the communist regime so it'd seem Ayn Rand was just emotionally scarred by an agreeably horrific childhood experience of growing up in the Soviet Union (she escaped by claiming she was seeing relatives in the U.S. and just never returned) and just took her trauma out on the world.
yeah, seeing him untethered to espouse his views with the comic 'Mr. A' was eye opening for the kind of person he was. It's a shame that the man behind so many very beloved characters was a bit of a raging prick.
The Creeper should have been given he's own series in the dcau, that episode should have become a backdoor pilot!
Characters like the Creeper, Lobo, and Freakazoid are better DC versions of Deadpool than Harley Quinn is yet DC refuses to use those characters in a legit comedy run.
Not sure if this is a popular opinion (wouldnt know as I havent seen anyone else talk about this), but I dont really like Creepers past origins.
His first origin is... a bit much. It starts okay, guy dresses up in makeup and a costume. Then its "oh, now he has a sci fi gadget that switches him between civilian and Creeper clothes" and "Oh, now he has a super soldier serum"
And its just... stop. His rebooted origin is better, but still not my preference.
His BTAS origin is great though. News reporter gets gassed and dunked in chemicals. And gets a weird costume and fights crime because of his unrestrained psyche.
Also, great design. Easily one of my favorite new designs to come out of the New Adventures.
Fantastic videos always! I actually enjoyed the creepers appearance in Batman and loved his new origin story! I always got a credit to show for grabbing obscure DC characters and making them work and such a continuity that anybody could jump on board! I really impressed with Jeff Bennett who funny enough, actually does play a very calm straight character and his other voice acting! Usually he's Owen from gargoyles or even brooklyn, but now he gets to be as wacky and crazy as freakazoid! We wouldn't see this side of Jeff too much except for the few times he's in other cartoons and especially Batman the brave and the bold as the Joker!
9:17 I don't know, why but I could imagine the question actually standing in for a display mannequin just to get some extra money sometimes, or when he's going after robbers or crooks who's robbing clothing stores.
Batman Beyond was so underrated... It was my childhood, and my first take on Batman. I miss when he was cool, and had vilens like this. 😢
This version of The Creeper was the inspiration for Freakazoid since he, too, is a wacky, cartoony superhero!
Sounds like a Batman version of Freakazoid.
Exactly what I was thinking!
Creeper is legitimately my favorite character in all of DC, my dream is to bring him back into the spotlight.
(Also, come on, he’s hot)
God Creeper is such a chad of a character I love how he gets on Joker's nerves
8:05: I mean, it helps that the original story that brought up this idea.
Intended for the joker to be full of it, given how his plans ultimately fail.
To anyone confused about the "Liberal And Conservative" of Lee and Ditko, bear in mind that the terms Liberal and Conservative change radically from time to time and place to place. There was a time where something like basic human rights would have been considered extremely liberal. Liberal is literally just changing things to a new way, and conservativism is changing things back to how they were. What made an American conservative in the 1960s-90s is very different from current American conservativism.
Today's conservatives are yesterday's liberals.
@@chriskoeder1229 It might be better to say that today's liberal platform is tomorrow's conservative platform.
@@FirstLast-cg2nk A lot of truth to that as well.
@@FirstLast-cg2nkSpot on.
Ryder: So this antidote patch is the only thing between me and a room in Arkham.
Batman: It’s only temporary. I’ll need to make more.
Ryder: Thanks, but I might as well
have dissolved in that vat. My career-
Batman: Is salvageable. No one else knows you were the Creeper. Keep wearing the patch and it'll stay that way.
(Batman and Robin leaves)
Ryder: A little piece of cotton. Hard to believe.😏
Yea I herd it was because Stan Lee did not want Dikto to have full credit.so Dikto left in anger
That's also part of it, yeah. Steve Ditko published an article explaining that the main reason he became so disgruntled was because Stan stopped talking to him and so he decided there was no point in the two of them working together any more.
Random point but i think the Ace company owning both the chemical plant and disposal industry probably implies Ace disposes of their chemicals in unethical ways
You gotta wonder what they're cooking at Ace Chemicals to make weirdos like The Joker and The Creeper
Prototypes of the Big Bang stuff from Static Shock?
Oooooo. Creeper episode
DCAU Creeper is, ngl, kinda hot. But he reminds me of Him from Powerpuff Girls.
Speaking of The PowerPuff Girls, that green wearing brunette shopkeeper in "Beware the Creeper" is voiced by E.G. Daily, a.k.a. the green wearing brunette Buttercup.
Imagine if the creeper pops up in joker 3. Or if the creeper piped up in the Christopher Nolan trilogy. He’s actually near perfect as one of the mock batsmen that were rooming Gotham during the events of the dark knight and then decided to keep helping in a creeper sort of way that in the third movie.
Small thing, Stan Lee's belief system was "Objectivism", not "Objectionism". No big deal, just thought I should mention it.
Whoops, good catch! I had the right term in my script (see the subtitles) but it seems I was speaking too quickly for my brain...
@SerumLake I'd like to add that it's kinda reductionist & nonsensical to equate his beliefs in objectivism to that of a "less murderous lock up". Lock up's issue against criminals & his contempt for what he perceived to be a failing system wasn't his problem, it was that he was abusive without purpose outside of his own anger which has nothing to do with an objective morality. He had no principles that he demanded be followed nor did he criticize any moral relativeism as the conflict from his actions was unethical treatment of people we all know are bad anyway.
As a side note to the brunt of this video, it's interesting how the follow-up video will tie into the concept behind this one. Great job Serum!
And I believe that the BTAS writers were well aware that "one bad day" was more akin to "the straw that broke the camel's back!" Which is why villains had their back stories revisited. Or in Creeper and Two-Face's cases, were seen several episodes before their alias introductions.
Kreeper almost killing joker
Joker: HE'S A LUNATIC!?
Me: never in my life did I ever think I would hear joker admitting someone was crazier than him.