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"Beware the Creeper" is an episode from season four of the animated television series The New Batman Adventures. It marks the first filmed appearance of The Creeper, created by Steve Ditko.
Plot
Jack Ryder, anchoring a live TV special on the career of the Joker from the very factory where the Joker had his life-changing encounter with a vat of chemicals, is interrupted by the Joker himself, who doesn't appreciate the attention. The Joker doses Ryder with his trademark lethal laughing gas and then, to distract the newly arrived Batman and Robin, pushes him into the same vat of chemicals. The gas and the chemicals react strangely; Ryder survives, but is transformed into an extraordinarily strong and agile maniac with yellow skin, green hair, and a rictus grin, who helps Batman and Robin apprehend the Joker and his gang, both in revenge for what Joker did, and also because he develops an intense attraction to Harley Quinn. Although his mania is benign, his methods are so extremely wild and frantic that even The Joker begs to be arrested to escape them, saying, about the Creeper: "He's a lunatic!".
At the end of the episode, Ryder is returned to his normal self by a treatment that counteracts the chemicals, in the form of a skin patch; but it is suggested that the treatment is only temporary, and that if Ryder takes the patch off he will soon become the Creeper again. In the final seconds he stares at the patch, saying "A little piece of cotton — hard to believe." The view then changes to outside his apartment with a silhouette of him at the window. There is the sound of paper being torn, followed by the silhouette of Ryder laughing in the manner of the Creeper.
Trivia
- The thrift store is called Ditko's Vintage Clothing, and The Question, another of Steve Ditko's characters is seen in the background as a mannequin.
- This is the final appearance of Robin in the New Batman Adventures. He would later reappear in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
- The title of this episode comes from the Creeper's original solo series from the 1960s, Beware the Creeper.
- The Creeper reapears in several episodes of the animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, including the very last episode where he is seen running down the stairs with many other superheroes. Though his cameos are silent, the obvious implication is that he became a superhero himself and joined the league.
- The dramatized Batman in Ryder's documentary look similar to Batman in his very first appearance inDetecive Comics #27.
- Joker's gang in this episode - Moe, Lar, and Cur - very closely resemble Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerry "Curly" Howard - The Three Stooges. Previous gang members also resembled the Stooges, but only vaguely.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy | Batman/Bruce Wayne |
| Mathew Valencia | Robin/Tim Drake |
| Efrem Zimbalist Jr. | Alfred Pennyworth |
| Jeff Bennett | The Creeper / Jack Ryder |
| Mark Hamill | The Joker |
| Arleen Sorkin | Harley Quinn |
| E.G. Daily | Thrift Store Manager |
| Billy West | Cur, Lar & Mo |