When Eddie was born he was diagnosed with a palsied right arm. When he was growing up he didn't really get along with other children who feared and ridiculed him because of his arm. So he mainly read books and stayed out of sight. In college, Eddie was approached by a man calling himself the Black Marvel offering him a proposal he couldn't refuse. He was recruited into a new superhero team named the Slingers. He also was given Spider-Man’s old Hornet costume. He later made some modifications to the suit so that a normal non-superpowered human could wear it, hiding his handicap.
He soon met the other members of the team and started to train with them. On one of these training exercises Dusk fell to her death from a roof. Hornet, who had feelings for the girl was devastated by what had happened, but was ordered by Prodigy to leave her.
Sometime later the Slingers were told to do some scouting in a construction yard that they though to be Maggia's cover operation. Eddie and Ricochet were ordered to do some scouting. They sneaked in the construction yard by a underground passageways and accidentally found nuclear waste barrels under the building. As they reported this to Prodigy giant mutated rats attacked them. As they tried to escape the rats Ricochet accidentally made the tunnel collapse and Hornet got buried under the ruble. Hornet was knocked unconscious and next thing he noticed was that he was standing in front of weeping Ricochet, who already thought that Eddie had perished under the rocks. They then set to found a way back to the surface. They didn’t have lot of time to relax when Spider-Man appeared with questions about their costumes. When they tried to escape Spider-Man they accidentally caused a traffic accident knocking a truck on its side. Hornet and Spider-Man worked together to save the driver and Hornet flew him to safety. In the commotion Hornet and Ricochet managed to elude Spider-Man.
When Eddie got back to his dorm he decided to research his benefactor some more. He got to the library and went trough some old newspapers articles and found an old article of Grand Royale Hotel's fire that Black Marvel was involved in. He realized that Black Marvel wasn't completely honest with them. When he got back to his room there was old acquaintance waiting him. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Dusk standing alive in his room. Eddie dropped on his knees and started to ask forgiveness for not saving her back then, but when he raised his head Dusk was gone.
Eddie then recollected himself and contacted Ricochet and went with him to stop Black Marvel. When they got to the hotel they saw Prodigy on the roof. They tried to convince him that Black Marvel didn't tell them everything, but Prodigy didn't believe them and attacked Hornet. In the heat of the battle Ricochet fell from the balcony. Hornet tried to jump after him, but Prodigy stopped him and hurled him trough a window. Hornet was severely injured and managed to tell Prodigy that he was in the wrong place and that something was about to happen in the basement. Then some Maggia goons appeared and opened fire at the heroes. Hornet dove to cover while Prodigy threw a table at them; he then snatched one of them and almost killed him but was stopped by Hornet. Prodigy then went through the floor and headed toward the basement. Hornet then collapsed on the floor still thinking that Ricochet fell to his death, but he appeared with Dusk who saved him. They didn’t have time to questions when first of the several bombs Black Marvel planted on the building exploded. Hornet flew outside fast Ricochet hanging on him when they landed on the roof it collapsed around them and Dusk saved them by teleporting them to the ballroom where Black Marvel was. Prodigy soon arrived there too siding with Black Marvel. Their conversation was cut short when Dusk informed them that there were still people in the hotel. Prodigy was going to go help, but Black Marvel tried to convince him to his side. Just before Hornet and others teleported away Ricochet yelled to Prodigy that Black Marvel was behind all this. Black Marvel threatened Prodigy as a last effort of controlling him, but Prodigy took a swing at him. Black Marvel managed to avoid the blow and escaped leaving Prodigy alone in the ballroom. Soon Hornet noticed that a child was trapped in a burning elevator. The boy was climbing down the elevator shaft when a bomb in the elevator exploded hurling him down and hitting Hornet in the chest. Hornet crashed to the bottom of the elevator shaft saving the boy but would have been crushed under the collapsing building if Prodigy had not stopped the derbies. Prodigy then told Hornet to get out of there to save the kid. When all the others except Prodigy were out of the building it collapsed burying him alive. Hornet couldn't do anything else than stand there in shock.
Some days after the mission Hornet saw Dusk giving Ricochet a kiss. He didn't do anything even if the scene really hurt him, because his feelings towards Dusk and did still feel guilt over her death. Soon after that Eddie was abducted by Griz. A human who was mutated by the toxic waste in the tunnels and was now controlling the giant mutated rats they encountered earlier. When Ricochet and Dusk noticed they went after him. They managed to found the Griz's lair and arrived just in time to stop him from killing Hornet. They freed Hornet and fought Griz. Ricochet was hurt in the fight and Dusk teleported him away leaving Hornet to fight Griz alone. After Ricochet and Dusk returned, Ricochet managed to push Griz in a sewage treatment tank dimembering Griz.
Just when Prodigy revealed himself not to be dead and united with the team Mephisto pulled them in to his kingdom to give them a chance to save Black Marvel's soul. Ricochet told Mephisto that he didn't care what happens to Black Marvel and that he deserves what he gets, but Hornet tried to convince him that even Black Marvel doesn't deserve that. Mephisto grew tired of this quibbling and teleported them away. Next thing Hornet saw was a flock of ravens coming at him. He used his lasers to destroy the birds, but he couldn't stop falling down. When he crash-landed his suit started to disappear and he felt so alone. Prodigy and Ricochet saved him and Dusk from these illusions. Mephisto noticed that his plan didn't work and ordered his horde to attack them. Dusk amazed everybody by taking out several minions with just one attack. They fought for a while and managed to free Black Marvel's soul. They were then transported back to earth to the roof were it all started. Prodigy soon left apologizing for everything he made them go trough. Dusk also informed Hornet and Ricochet that she was leaving to find the answers to what she had become. Eddie asked her if he would see her again and she answered that they only have hope and vanished leaving him crying on the roof. Before leaving, Johnny and Eddie spray-painted on a billboard on the roof "Slingers were here".
Hornet resurfaced when a mind controlled Wolverine attacked Stark International with Hydra. He tried to stop Wolverine, but was brutally killed by him. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents later found his body in the rubble of Stark International. They first assumed him to be Spider-Man, but they were corrected by Nick Fury after he saw that it was not Spider-Man.
