Hobart Brown (Earth-616)

Prowler
Name	Hobie Brown
Current Alias	Prowler
Aliases	Spider-Man, Spidey
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Formerly Parker Industries, Wild Pack, Outlaws, Defenders for a Day
Relatives	Mindy S. McPherson (wife) "Tiger" Brown (father, deceased) unnamed mother Abraham "Abe" Brown (brother) seven others unidentified older siblings; Manuel "Manny" Lopez ("little brother" under Big Brother program, deceased), Prowler (clone, deceased)
Marital Status	Separated
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′11″ (1.8 m)
Weight	180 lbs (81.65 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Brown
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human. Possessing no actual super powers, Brown initially tried his hand at a life of crime; however, after an encounter with Spider-Man, he soon turned to fighting crime.
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	The Bronx, New York City, New York
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Inventor, adventurer, body-double, head of Parker Industries' security; former Great Game participant, freelance operative, pneumatic research and development at Bestman Laboratories, mercenary for Silver Sable, construction worker, window washer
Education	High School graduate
Base of Operations	Mobile Formerly New York City, New York
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Stan Lee, John Buscema, John Romita, Jr.
First	Amazing Spider-Man #78 (August, 1969)
First	Amazing Spider-Man #78 (August, 1969)

 You! You weren't there for me, Abe! You were supposed to protect me! Dad was gone! Mom was lost in an alcohol haze. All I had to protect me was you! And you weren't there! That's it! That's why I really want to be a hero! The Prowler gives me control over my own life-- and power. Power I can use to protect the helpless. 

—Prowler

History

Early Life

Hobie Brown was a young inventor who worked as a window cleaner to pay the bills. While he was a window washer he was caught in a battle between the Stilt-Man and Daredevil and was rescued by the latter. He was inspired by the Stilt-Man's Suit enough to make his own secret identity.

Prowler

In order to make his job easier, he invented special equipment such as wrist and ankle bracelets to hold cartridges of cleaning fluid, steel claws and special boots for climbing. When he lost his cleaning job, he decided to give crime a go.

He didn't want to hurt people, but he felt trapped by life. He modified the bracelets to shoot pellets filled with sleeping gas, made a hood, cape, and costume, and set out on his short-lived career of crime.

The Prowler was discouraged from a life of crime, and reformed. His credits include impersonating Spider-Man to save Peter Parker's secret identity, attacking Spidey because he was appointed as responsible for the death of Captain George Stacy, and having his costume stolen by two different guys, who were stopped by Spidey. He married his girlfriend Mindy and started doing construction work. When his charge in the big brother program, Manuel Lopez, was killed in a gang incident, Brown attacked the White Tiger, whom the police believed responsible for the death.

He worked for Silver Sable, and he also teamed up with several other rehabilitated villains (Rocket Racer, Will O' The Wisp and Sandman) and with a not so rehabilitated Puma, to form the Outlaws. They, among other things, helped Spidey clear his name once, and helped Spidey against the Avengers.

The Great Game

When mercenary work got slow with the Wild Pack, Prowler and Rocket Racer sought sponsors for the Great Game and hoped to split the profits from staging a fight with one another. They were interrupted by the rogue player El Toro Negro, however, and Hobie was left paralyzed from the waist down for a time. While he was inactive, his Prowler gear was stolen again by an enterprising criminal.

Civil War

The Prowler, now able to walk again, attended the Stilt-Man's funeral. He was soon apprehended for violating the Superhuman Registration Act, and was among the escapees who fought in the final battle of the Superhuman Civil War.

Parker Industries

Recently, Spider-Man was able to convince Hobie to impersonate Spider-Man so the world doesn't realize that Spidey and Peter are one and the same.

While infiltrated in New U Technologies per Parker's request to learn more about the company, the Prowler stumbled upon an experiment that was supposed to give Max Dillon's powers back to him, however, it was Max's former girlfriend, Francine Frye, who ended up becoming Electro instead. The Prowler was discovered and then chased down by Francine, who almost killed him in the process. The Jackal put a heavily burned Hobie Brown inside a healing pod to restore his body while a clone of him acted as a spy for the Jackal within Parker Industries.

The original Hobie Brown was eventually found fully recovered in one of the sub-basements of the Jackal's second headquarters following the deterioration of his clone. This episode and his continuing uncertainity for the future prompted Hobie to leave Spider-Man's side.

Attributes

Power Grid

Abilities

Genius-Level Intellect: Hobie is a genius inventor, knowledgeable in pneumatic technology, despite having no formal education in the field. He build his first suit and weaponry.

Stealth: Hobie is skilled in stealth, he in an excellent criminal and able to sneak in high-security places.

Olympic Level Athlete: He has reflexes, agility, and stamina of an Olympic level acrobat. He is physically very strong and athletic and has great physical endurance.

Expert Acrobat: Hobie is great acrobat ans able to mimic Spider-Man's movement.

Expert Martial Artist: Hobie is expert martial artist, he has Green Belt in Tae Kwon Do, plus plenty of street fighting experience.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Prowler's Suit: The suit is a modified coverall and is armored like a military flak suit which protects him from high explosive weaponry like anti-aircraft artillery, grenades, shotguns, land mines, shell blasts, and rocket fragments. It protects him from falls from high places, like a New York City building. The costume's cape can expand with air giving it a rigid shape allowing him to glide for short distances. Spare Cartridges for gauntlets. The suit has a grappling hook. Rubber insulated pneumatic boots. The gauntlets have steel claws that facilitate climbing, and they can also be used as effective weapons in close quarters combat.

Weapons

• The Prowler uses a costume equipped with specially-designed high-tech weapons based on pneumatic technology. Gauntlets that shoot an assortment of projectiles; Sleeping gas pellets, cleaning fluid, steel darts, gas canisters capable of producing a damaging compressed air blast, and magnesium flares. The gauntlets are also tipped with steel claws.

Transportation

• Pneumatic glider cape. Pneumatics in the Prowler’s boots allow him to leap remarkable distances.

Notes

• Hobie has had some solo appearances, starring in his own 4-issue limited series, Prowler Vol 1, and later, an intended ongoing, Prowler Vol 2, which lasted six issues.

Trivia

• The Prowler was created due to a suggestion by then 13 year old John Romita Jr..

• His calm composure is well suited to the heat of battle.

• Hobie has blue eyes in his very first appearance, but recently his eye color was changed to brown.

• He, unbeknownst to himself, had a hand in designing The Vulture's costume.

See Also

• 66 appearance(s) of Hobart Brown (Earth-616)
• 12 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Hobart Brown (Earth-616)
• 11 minor appearance(s) of Hobart Brown (Earth-616)
• 12 mention(s) of Hobart Brown (Earth-616)
• 8 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Hobart Brown (Earth-616)
• 80 image(s) of Hobart Brown (Earth-616)
• 11 quotation(s) by or about Hobart Brown (Earth-616)
• 5 item(s) used/owned by Hobart Brown (Earth-616)

Links and References

• entry at Spiderfan.org