A pneumatics expert takes his inventions to new heights and becomes the stealth mercenary known as Prowler, all to stop criminals in their tracks.
A Plan Gone Awry
When his family moves from a San Francisco ghetto, Hobie Brown is born and raised in the Bronx, New York as the youngest of nine children. His father “Tiger” Brown leaves when Hobie is a baby, and his distraught mother becomes an alcoholic as such. When Tiger is killed in military action in Cambodia, Hobie’s eldest brother Abe leaves home, returning to San Francisco, eventually becoming a martial arts expert and Sons of the Tiger member but leaves Hobie unprotected growing up. Following high school, Hobie becomes a window washer, hired by a racist boss to fill a quota. When he’s knocked off his platform by Wilbur Day, AKA Stilt-Man, and saved by Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, Hobie becomes inspired to design safety equipment.
His girlfriend Mindy McPherson urges him to bring the devices to work, but when he shows diagrams of belt harnesses and toggle hooks to his boss, he is curtly dismissed. Fed up with further slurs and mistrust from his employer, Hobie angrily quits. Intent on gaining publicity for his inventions, Hobie incorporates his designs into a costume and becomes the Prowler.
Planning to commit a crime as the Prowler and later return the money as Hobie, he chooses the Daily Bugle’s payroll as his target in order to garner immediate press attention; however, Peter Parker stumbles upon the Prowler’s robbery and when J. Jonah Jameson also walks in, Peter intentionally topples out a window in order to change into Spider-Man. With Jameson accusing him of murder, the guilt-ridden Prowler abandons the payroll and flees, running into Spider-Man, from whom he escapes using gas sprayed from his boot bracelet. Frantic for a way to clear his name, Hobie later attacks Spider-Man, hoping to deliver him to the police, but he is easily defeated instead. Upon learning Hobie’s story, however, and realizing that the Prowler is not a criminal, Spider-Man releases him.
Pneumatics Expert
An expert in pneumatics, Hobie invents pneumatic propulsion devices for window washing that he incorporates into his Prowler costume. His wrist and ankle bracelets contain chambers of compressed air that can shoot cleaning fluid, gas, explosive pellets, high-velocity drug-tipped metal darts (“flechettes”) and a grappling hook with built-in winch. A blast of the compressed air alone is enough to shatter a three-inch wood plank.
The Prowler wears steel-tipped gloves strong enough to penetrate stone, enabling him to climb walls. His special-insulated boots absorb the impact of a two-story fall. He carries a mini-flare that emits a blinding magnesium light and a laser-listening device for eavesdropping. Pneumatic filaments in his cape allow him to glide. His suit is also designed for stealth—from his wrist he can enable a subtle magnetic force to unlock windows and control the temperature settings of his suit to avoid detection from thermal sensors.
The Prowler has no superhuman abilities, although he has become a skilled hand-to-hand combatant with a green belt in Tae Kwon Do and has learned how to pick any lock. Red, as the Prowler, used Belladonna’s gas, which dissolves Spider-Man’s webs. Rick Lawson used a fingertip glass cutter.
As the Hornet, his upgraded suit is activated by a button on his collar, making it easy to transition from street clothes to Super Hero duds. The suit is equipped with wrist gauntlets similar to his Prowler bracelets. He also possesses wings that attach around his shoulders, which offer him flight capabilities.
Den of Thieves and Threats
Prowler goes up against and defeats Charles Weiser, an employee at Hammer Industries who steals Prowler’s prototype compact glider. He’s not the last either to steal from the Prowler, Red, AKA Cat Burglar, and Rick Lawson take his costume and use it for their own nefarious ends.
When Prowler goes up against an enraged Brunnhilde, AKA Valkyrie, and loses, he quits his heroics for a time. During this time, his wife Mindy gets framed for some shady stock deals carried out by her employer Transcorp New York and he dons the uniform to clear her name.
During his heroics, he faces El Toro Negro but in a battle he suffers a fall that leaves him paralyzed for a time. He later has a serious scuffle with Francine Faye, AKA Electro, who nearly kills him after he discovers the experiment that endows her with her former boyfriend Max Dillon’s powers, but he is saved by Ben Reilly as the Jackal.
Tenuous Allies and Alliances
Hobie as Prowler often assists Spider-Man in helping him protect his secret identity, and Spider-Man does the same for Hobie. Though they are often allies, Hobie does Spider-Man a favor that goes so awry that he leaves their relationship behind for a time.
Mindy S. McPherson is Hobie’s long-term girlfriend and eventual wife, who is supportive of his inventions. She later discovers his secret identity as Prowler and leaves him, but returns after he suffers a terrible fall.
Hobie’s brother Abraham “Abe” Brown is skilled in martial arts and as such Hobie trains with him on occasion. Even though Abe defeats Hobie as the White Ninja, as ordered to do by Silver Sablinova, AKA Silver Sable, to teach him a lesson in humility, Abe and Hobie team up to defend and protect people.
Hobie joins The Defenders but quits upon being defeated by an enraged Valkyrie the same day. He later joins Silver Sable’s band of mercenaries, the Outlaws, where he and his teammates search for kidnapped victims and steal dangerous tech from the ill-begotten hands.
