As Yatz then destroys the evidence of his work, Devlin's men arrive and shoot him dead. In costume, Ryder escapes Devlin's party, but is blamed for the chaos. Police arrive and one of the cops refers to the yellow-costumed intruder as a "creeper." Deciding he likes the name, Ryder later attacks and defeats Devlin's gang. He then reverts to his civilian guise and informs Brane and the police of Devlin's involvement in Yatz's death. Ryder then decides to continue secretly operating as the Creeper whenever he needs to fight crime. In his private life, he continues acting as a WHAM-TV network security investigator for Brane. A month after first becoming the Creeper, Ryder is assigned to help WHAM-TV weather correspondent Vera Sweet, who has been threatened. The two initially dislike each other, but over time they develop a flirtatious relationship.