Share this
A Beginner’s Guide To ‘Prowler’
The Reveal This Week
Not only did we have another winner this week, but we think this is the first back to back winner of the entire series! Congratulations to @Longbox_Entertainment, who again had the correct answer first this week with his guess of Prowler.
For The Previous Article In This Series, Click Here
Character Bio
Stan Lee, John Buscema and Jim Mooney created The Prowler, aka. Hobie Brown. He made his first comic book appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #78 back in 1969.
A Rough Start
Hobie started out as a super intelligent and talented young man, who no one would give the time of day. The more things went wrong in his life, the angrier he became until he reached a breaking point and hatched a plan. Using his skill for invention, he created his Prowler persona, in order to steal the payroll of The Daily Bugle. Planning to return the payroll later as Hobie, and make himself out to be the hero. He hoped this would bring him the attention and recognition he felt he was due.
His attempts to start a career in crime ended in failure, being caught in the act of stealing the payroll by an out of costume Peter Parker. During the interaction, Hobie accidentally sends Peter flying out of the window. Parker was of course able to save himself using his powers, however, Hobie was left thinking he had just committed a murder.
Redemption
As a way to try an redeem himself for this supposed killing, Prowler lures Spider-Man into a fight at a jewelry store hoping to get the better of wall crawler. He fails in this task. After the fight, Spider-Man removes Prowler’s mask to reveal Hobie underneath. He listens to Hobie’s story and reasons for doing what he was doing, and with this in mind, Spider-Man lets him go, assuming this has scared him off of the criminal life.
Spider-Man later on actually seeks out Hobie to ask for his help keeping his identity secret from his friends. During a bad fever, Peter Parker had accidentally revealed his true identity to some of his closest friends. Now he was trying to convince them that this confession was actually just a delusion brought on by his fever. Hobie dresses up as Spider-Man, to deliver a message to Peter Parker in public, so that he could convince his friends that Peter couldn’t possibly be Spider-Man.
Granted, Hobie doesn’t always make the best choices. At the end of the, however, The Prowler really just wants to be seen and appreciated.
New Content For ‘Buffy’ Fans, Click Here For More
Reading Recommendations
Number 1
The logical first place to start, is with The Prowler’s first appearance! The first appearance of Prowler happened in The Amazing Spider-Man issues #78 and #79 back in 1969. This two part story arc is where we first meet Hobie Brown.
In addition to a subplot of teenage angst between Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Peter’s rival Flash, we meet introduced to Hobie Brown. Hobie is a young, brilliant inventor working as a window washer, that no one seems to believe in. Even when presenting ideas for new safety equipment to his boss, he is told to get back to washing his windows.
After loosing his girlfriend, as well as having his work rejected yet again, and quitting his job due to mistreatment, he decides to commit to a life of crime. Using his intellect and spare parts, he develops a special suit and tech meant for pulling of a robbery of The Daily Bugle’s payroll. The plan is to then return the money, making himself out to be the hero. Hobie Brown would return the money stolen by his new alter ego, The Prowler, and attain the fame and support he so desperately craved. That was the plan that is, but did he pull it off? Read and find out!
Number 2
Second up is the self titled mini series from 1994, “Prowler” by Bill Reinhold. At this point in his life, Hobie is now considered an occasional ally to Spider-Man, rather than a villain. In this series, Hobie must take stock of his life, and figure out exactly what his true priorities are.
At the same time, an imposter claiming to be The Prowler is now wanted for murder. The problem is that no one else knows that this is in fact an imposter and not the real Hobie Brown. Furthermore, The Vulture is back to cause problems for our leading man.
All of this content packed into an easy to read 4 issue mini series. Solo runs for The Prowler are few and far between, making this a must read for any fan.
Number 3
Third on the list rounding out our recommendations today, is another self titled series called “The Prowler”, this time from 2016. The mini series is a tie in to the “Clone Conspiracy” event that was happening in Marvel at the time.
At some point in everyone’s life, they fall in to a routine that can become dull rather quickly. This is no different, apparently, for superheroes. We see the big fights, the forging of new mighty weapons, and deaths and resurrections of characters all the time. We don’t see the gear checking, the saving of cats from trees, or reporting to their boss The Jackal. Well ok, so maybe that last part isn’t so common for other heroes.
Madame Web has come back to life. Hobie Brown is working for The Jackal. What has The Prowler done that may have landed him around this group of “interesting” characters? You’ll have to check out the series to find out!
Can You Guess The Next Character?
This is ‘Who’s That Comic Character?’, the series where I give you a silhouette of a comic book character, and you try to figure out who it is! The video posts to all major social media platforms, so no matter your preferred app, you can find this series!
Rules Of The Game
- You only get one guess per person
- Check comment sections to ensure your guess has not already been taken by another player. Only the FIRST person with the right answer on each platform will get the shoutout
- Be specific with your guess! For example: If you guess “Green Lantern” you need to specify WHICH Green Lantern you mean. Hal Jordan? Alan Scott? John Stewart? Be Specific
Check Out The Latest Episode Of The Comic Press Podcast
So always take a good long look at the silhouette provided, because they can get very tricky. The first person on any given platform to guess the character correctly, gets a shout out in the reveal video and the article that goes with it!
Good luck everyone, and as always Be Safe, Be Kind, and Take It Easy!
