There's another 4-issue Ditko series, THE DESTRUCTOR, from the short-lived Seaboard Atlas line, that very closely mimmicks Spider-Man.


I loved SHOWCASE 73 and BEWARE THE CREEPER 1-6 (I had one hell of a time in those pre-internet days from roughly 1975 to 1988 or so, assembling those 6 issues!). And around the time I first discovered the series, Ditko produced another Creeper story in FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL 7 (1975), which for me was like a 7th issue of the previous 6-issue series! Then a few years later Ditko did a Creeper backup series in WORLD'S FINEST.

There are similarities between Ditko's SPIDER-MAN and Ditko's CREEPER, such as Peter Parker and Jack Ryder both working in journalism, but I see them as fundamentally different characters. While Spider-man was always a playful banter-while-fighting type character, I saw the Creeper as (while his powers were explained scientifically) projecting more of a supernatural appearance to those he fought. Those first 6 issues were among the first DC stories scripted by Dennis O'Neil, and have an intensely personal struggle with the character Proteus, who Ryder regards as a friend who betrayed him.

It was Ditko's conservatism that caused him to quit DC because he felt out-voted on the direction of his own creation by liberals O'Neil (writer) and Giordano (editor) on HAWK AND THE DOVE, that compelled him (in 1969) to leave DC, and he left the BEWARE THE CREEPER series as well, leaving the 6th and final issue to be completed by other hands.

But I've heard before that Ditko saw the Creeper as Spider-Man re-invented and done his way (and not Stan Lee's way). It kind of makes sense that Ditko left Spider-man unresolved, and therefore wanted to re-live the character in a version more true to his original vision. Although in between he spent 2 years or so at Charleton creating The Question, Blue Beetle and other characters. The Creeper is a compelling character in his own right as well. I love the Ditko version, but despite Creeper not being a breakout success, I also love the way he was developed in other hands in scattered appearances across BRAVE & THE BOLD 80 (by Haney/Adams/Giordano), DETECTIVE 418 (by O'Neil, Novick/Giordano), DETECTIVE 447-448 (O'Neil, Chan/Giordano), THE JOKER 3 (O'Neil, Chan/Garcia-Lopez),and JUSTICE LEAGUE 5-6(Giffen/Dematteis, Maguire), to name a few.