Prowler #3 Review

“I just wish I knew where this was leading me. But I have to keep moving.”

Prowler hasn’t been a fun ride so far. With cancellation on the horizon, it looks like this series is going to slip away, forgotten as a tie-in to yet another Spidey event. But there is still hope. Can Ryan and Campbell salvage something from this wreckage in #3? Let’s find out.

Writer: Sean Ryan

Artist: Jamal Campbell

Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

Editor: Devin Lewis

Prowler-Plot: Prowler staggers up, faced with the threat of his imminent death and the arrival of Electro from last issue’s climax. He reacts to this with an ominous monologue about how crap his life has been (breathe in James, breathe in).Prowler escapes from Electro using a grappling hook projectile thingy (the technical term) and crawling through the ventilation shafts. He finds himself in a prison cell, from which he escapes from using missiles and a mattress (handy tip), only for Electro to find him again and toss him around. Prowler blinds her using a convenient wrist watch and escapes. With a moment to breathe, he takes in how bad his condition has become (see relevant Deadpool avocado reference).Electro finds him yet again but he defeats her using a decoy-Prowler, an exploding cash register and water (all things you can find in your own home). Prowler crawls outside, determined that he won’t let himself die. Fortunately he is saved by Julia, who waited around and decided not to help for some reason, and the two of them ride off on a boat to go save him at New U.

Prowler-Thoughts: This issue is definitely a significant improvement on the first two. That’s not saying much, I saw some paint drying the other day and I was more enticed than when I was reading this series. But I actually kind of enjoyed this issue. It still had its problems, but let’s focus on the miracle of enjoyment for now.

Straight out of the gate, this issue took a step forward to solving the problem of Hobie just being a boring, generic character. Up until now, nothing about him has stood out to make him memorable, which has been a real shame. However in this issue we saw a unique aspect of him – his use of tech and gadgets to fight back. This harkens back to his history as an inventor and allows for more creative fight scenes. I came out of this issue feeling like I understood and liked the character of Hobie more.

Another good thing about this issue was, like with the last two issues, Electro. It’s good to get a (sort-of) new villain who is actually fun to read. She is campy and insane and it is a delight to watch. The ending makes it seem like this is the last time we will be seeing her in Prowler, but I think she has a bright career ahead of her as a Spider-Man foe.

These factors were enough to make the issue a little enjoyable, at least. But that doesn’t make it perfect; in fact, far from it. Whilst Prowler became a more interesting character, I still found his monologue tedious and generic and I don’t think I could tell you a single line from it off the top of my head. Which is quite alarming considering it ran the entirety of the issue. If you want to see this done well, go read Tom King’s I Am Suicide over at DC. The mediocrity of a story, as I’ve mentioned before, can be worse than it being pure crap and I still feel like this is an obstacle this series is going to have to overcome. And with each issue, I’m losing faith that it will.

Even the cliff-hanger, which was a bit better than previous issues, failed to instil any sort of urgency or excitement in me. I know everything is going to turn out alright for Prowler and Madame Webb and he won’t have much of an impact on taking down New U, because that’s all Peter’s job. Seriously, even when this book is at its peak there is better stuff out there. I can’t believe how much I hate this series’ mediocrity but it is something I really must stress each month.

I don’t think I can say it much better. This issue was a step-up from the last two but even then I can’t suggest you go out and buy this when I know there are comics out there that are so much more deserving of your time. But seeing as this was the one I enjoyed most, I’m going to give this a

C-

See y’all next time folks!