Prowler #2

Background

Characters like the Prowler, Mysterio, and others who have little or no real superpowers, have always been my favorite kind of Marvel character. They rely on pluck (or foolhardiness) and ingenuity, and because they don't have godlike powers, have to think their way through situations to win, which makes for much more interesting plots and storylines than ones in which the reader sees splash pages of gods blasting each other, with as much interest to readers as characters in a videogame.

For those not familiar with this character, the Prowler is very similar to a young Batman but without the cash; he is intelligent and inventive, but doesn't have the billions Batman does to create superweapons, which makes him even more interesting; how could he ever compete (or survive) in a world with the likes of the Hulk, Thor, or Doctor Doom?

He started out at a villain (see review of origin elsewhere on this site), but was convinced to change by Spiderman. In this series, his origin is more or less rewritten as he is asked by Spiderman (in a cameo appearance) as to why he decided to become the Prowler, and it takes him a while to answer this question for himself; his original criminal intentions seem to have been forgotten in this version.

Story 'Slipping Into Darkness'

We continue, complete with a repeat of the last page from Part One. The fight continues, until guards appear to investigate and they both leave through the skylight. It appears they are both on the same mission, to find out what is going wrong with the company Hobie works for. The other Prowler, who calls himself Nightcreeper, stole Hobie's technology from the company not knowing he created it. He claims he did not kill the chairman, but saw who did.

Hobie wants him to stop killing people and turn himself in, which Nightcreeper obviously refuses to do, and he leaves. Meanwhile, there is a plot where a mysterious businessman is taking over the company in a hostile takeover and wants to increase profits. We find out who he is later. The two Prowlers have another altercation later, and Nightcreeper takes off again into the night. Prowler starts to follow, but his cape suddenly "gives out", and he falls like a rock. Will he survive? Find out next issue.

General Comments

Carry on reading the review of Part 3, and we'll leave the analysis until we finish the series.

Overall Rating

Three webs for now. Judgement deferred.