Justice League Dark 23.1
Special “Villains Month” Title: The Creeper 1
Dan DiDio, Ann Nocenti, Chris Cross, Fabrizio Fiorentino, Tom Derenick
Forever Evil Crossover
Spoiler alert! You have been warned!
So other than the fact that this comic has way too many creators attached to it and it’s not really a Justice League Dark comic, at all (it looks like it’s more of a Katana tie-in actually), it successfully proved to me that The Creeper needs his own (obviously less confusing) ongoing series. He’s a fun character and by making him an immortal demon in the New 52, he could have some fun potential for past host stories and current (or even future, if they are so brazen) tales of general chaos and wackiness.
The issue is a little confusing, but only because I’m not currently reading Katana and don’t really know who the Creeper is in the New 52. But now I do. And after a lot of thinking, I really like him. I know a lot of people are going to say that “nothing happened” in this issue, but I think it was actually just the opposite. Too much happened. We get the origin (kind of) of the demon itself, then a partial origin for one of his past hosts, and some weird Katana story recap, and then the introduction (I’m assuming) to Jack Ryder, the host that I am used to. The Creeper in the old DC universe was a little bit crazy, yes, but I never really saw him as a villain. In this new incarnation, though, he is very much a bad guy. I find it interesting that the hosts don’t know they’re the demon when he takes over. I also find it potentially a fun idea that he essentially just exists to cause chaos and kill a whole bunch of people. Add that to the fact that Jack Ryder is a functioning alcoholic who is also a very professional (not to mention, openly returned-from-the-dead) and well-respected reporter, and you’ve got a recipe for success.
Needless to say, I’ll be picking up back issues of Katana now, just like Trinity War event did for Constantine with me. I’m interested in this title now, when I had originally written it off as a terrible idea to diversify for diversity’s sake. Job well done, Villains Month. Even though I think this should have just been one artist and one writer, it was quite a lofty tale indeed. Well worth the extra dollar for the awesome cover. Go pick it up now, because your local comic shop probably didn’t order very heavy on this one.
My Rating: 3/5
