Beware the Creeper is the name of twocomic book series published byDC Comics. The first series debuted in1968 and starred theCreeper. Thisseries was cancelled after six issues. The second was a five-issuelimited series published in2003 by DC under theirVertigoimprint.
Beware the Creeper began in the March/April dated,Showcase #73 in 1968, in a story plotted and drawn bySteve Ditko, with Don Segall assisting with the dialog. DC's policy at the time was to give a character a single appearance inShowcase as an introduction before launching their series.[1] Two months later, the first issue ofBeware the Creeper was released with a cover date of June 1968.
Beware the Creeper was cancelled after six issues, the victim, per columnist and artistFred Hembeck, of "bean-counters [who] were a little quick to yank the rug out from underneath a new series during that particular stage of DC's history...."[2]
The storyline started in the six issues ofBeware the Creeper would eventually be concluded seven years later inSuper-Team Family #2, published in1975.
With no obvious connection to the original series (though with subtle ties toDC Universe continuity), DC releasedBeware the Creeper, a five issue limited series, under their Vertigo imprint in2003.
Set in 1925Paris,Beware the Creeper tells the story of Judith and Madeline Benoir, twin sisters, one asurrealist painter, the other a playwright.
After Judith is beaten by Mathieu Arbogast, a man from a rich upper-class family, a woman calling herself the Creeper begins to terrorize the Arbogast family. The Creeper uses methods that appear to be based out of the surrealist movement.
The situation quickly spirals out of control as the Arbogasts begin to seek revenge in turn, and lives are eventually lost.
There is also a major sub-plot involving Ric Allain, the inspector in charge of the Creeper investigation. He is in love with Judith based on letters sent to him while he was fighting in theGreat War. Unbeknownst to him, Madeline wrote the letters but was too shy to sign them, instead having Judith sign them for her.