As you can tell by his name, The Prowler did not originally intend to be a Superhero. The character made his debut back in 1969 in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #78. Just another young Black kid from the Bronx, Hobie Brown donned a costume of his own creation and set out to get paid by stealing. He was caught right away by Spider-Man who convinced him to do something better with his life.
Hobie was intelligent and a bit of an inventor. The costume he created used pneumatic technology to shoot a variety of projectile weapons as well as providing him with armor, added strength, and the ability to glide short distances. The gauntlets he wore ended in claws which enabled him to scale walls and were capable offensive weapons. He also had some limited martial arts training.
For all his potential, the Prowler was never much of a hero. Many readers (including myself) laughingly referred to him as the Radio Shack superhero as all his abilities seemed to be something cobbled together from a neighborhood electronics store. His career as a hero was limited and the efforts he made to do the right thing were often misguided or relatively insignificant. Much of his career was spent going after people who stole his limited technology and used it for crime. At one point he even broke his back and became paralyzed in a fight. He did assist Spider-Man from time to time but more for his inventive capabilities than that of a hero.
Is he still around? Maybe. He may or may not have survived an assault by the Punisher who bombed a crowd of villains who were at a wake for a fellow villain, Stilt Man. It'll take one hell of a writer to make this guy interesting and relevant, especially when at his best, he was little more than another stereotype, another Black kid from the ghetto with potential who just can't seem to get it right.
He did make it to television. You can see him here with an altered origin in the Spider-Man animated series episode aptly named, "The Prowler". Enjoy!
As you can tell by his name, The Prowler did not originally intend to be a Superhero. The character made his debut back in 1969 in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #78. Just another young Black kid from the Bronx, Hobie Brown donned a costume of his own creation and set out to get paid by stealing. He was caught right away by Spider-Man who convinced him to do something better with his life.
