Sensational Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #16 (Story 1)

Background

OK, quick catch-up for those of you who missed last week's class. Hobie Brown, a.k.a. The Prowler was paralyzed in Spider-Man Unlimited #16, when he got mixed up in that pathetic excuse for a plot motivator, The Great Game. Of course Hobie isn't really a bad guy, and in fact he and Spidey are pretty good pals.

Oh, and of course, The Vulture is in this too. He and Hobie (as The Prowler) had a mix-up in the Prowler Limited Series. Remember that the Vulture is rejuvinated, and he's out to kill all the reminders of his former (old) self.

Story 'Paralyzed!'

Mindy (Hobie's lovely young wife) is at home when someone steals in and swipes Hobie's 'Prowler' Costume and all his gadgets. Obviously someone who knew what they were looking for, right?

Spider-Man heads to the hospital to chat with Hobie, and then heads off to look for The Prowler. Success! Except that The Vulture is also after the Prowler. Something to do with the events of the Prowler mini-series - but of course that was the real Prowler, and this is a fake. Vulture attacks Prowler, then enter Spidey. Prowler escapes, followed by Vulture doing likewise.

Next day, Petey is at the Bugle, and gets assigned a budding new reporter - Billy Walters - as a trainee partner. Of course, the first assignment they go to is at a building site, and Prowler is there. Keen man Billy is sticking to a less-than-impressed Parker like glue, so how's Petey gonna change to S-M?

General Comments

We've seen a lot of supporting cast come and go in the past ten years, as various writers bring in their own faces. Unfortunately, it seems there's no co-ordination or editorial direction, so that none of the manage to stick around. Maybe Billy Walters will at least last a few issues.

Overall Rating

I'm going to give this four webs. Everything is relative, and relative to the last few issues, this is sterling stuff.