Origin

Hobie Brown was a brilliant individual. While working as a window washer on New York's skyscraper, he design several gadgets to make his work easier and safer. He tried bringing his ideas to his boss, who simply laughed in his face. The idea of a "window washer" coming up with brilliant ideas was too much for him to believe.

Feeling insulted, Hobie decided he couldn't work for him and quit. With no job, Hobie decided to use his inventions for crime as the Prowler. He could easily scale the sides of buildings and enter windows that people would normally leave unlocked.

Hobie was a good man at heart and decided to return what he had taken. He thought he'd be able to show how effective his gadgets could be. After a misunderstanding with Spider-Man, he made it clear where his intentions truly lie.

His next adventure was taking on the Black Fox who stole a chalice that has evidence that will prove of his wife's innocence to a crime she did not commit. With the help of Spider-Man, they got the chalice and his wife is set free.

Hobie was one of the many individuals hunted down for refusing to register with the Super-Human Registration Act during the Civil War. After being released, he went to the funeral of Stilt-Man, but was escorted out by Spider-Man and Puma before he makes a fool out of himself. The funeral was later bombed by the Punisher.

Powers

The Prowler has no actual superpowers, but uses a variety of gadgets instead. He has gloves with steel-tipped claws that allow him to scale walls or can be used as effective melee weapons. He has rubber-insulated boots that allow his to fall about two stories without injury. He has gauntlets on his wrists and ankles that can fire blasts of compressed air, gas pellets, metal darts, or magnesium flares. His cape has a very rigid structure, allowing him to glide on strong air currents. He also has an air filter in his mask that protects his from the effects of his own gas pellets. Along with all of this, Prowler is a prodigious inventor, skilled athlete, and has some skill in martial arts.