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In Amazing Spider-Man #88.BEY, a villain from the Spider-Verse takes a heroic turn, attempting to save a person inadvertently damaged by the Avengers.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #88.BEY, now on sale from Marvel Comics.
After being talked out of a life of crime by Marvel’s most iconic web-slinger back in Amazing Spider-Man #78 (by Stan Lee, John Buscema, Jim Mooney, and Sam Rosen) Hobie Brown, aka the Prowler, has become one of the Marvel Universe’s most unexpected heroes. Although he’s only recently rejoined the superhero community as the Hornet, it’s the Earth-616 counterpart of the fan-favorite Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse villain who is now deliberately changing his ways.
Having already transformed the once-shady Fairgrey Pay into a successful company, Hobie reveals in Amazing Spider-Man #88.BEY (by Geoffrey Thorne, Jan Bazaldua, Jim Towe, Jim Campbell, and VC’s Joe Caramagna) that he plans on using the organization to help those who’ve been caught in the crossfire between heroes and villains. The first person he tries to assist is a young woman named Yasmin Adir, whose life was forever changed during a battle between the Avengers and Kang the Conquerer. While Yasmin wasn’t directly harmed by the Avengers, her tragedy is proof that heroes often inadvertently cause just as much damage as the villains they fight.
While defending New York City against Knull’s symbiote invasion during the King In Black crossover, Hobie uncovered a tragic flaw in the system designed to repair the destruction caused by superhero battles. While the property damage caused during these battles is handled reasonably well by organizations like Damage Control, Hobie notes that there isn’t an organization that provides similar relief for the physical and psychological harm done to civilians. While explaining his thought process to his wife Mindy, Hobie brings up Yasmin Adir, who was exposed to the radiation of one of Kang’s temporal portals during one of the supervillain’s battles with the Avengers. This exposure has since developed into a terminal condition that is causing Adir’s body to slowly turn into crystal. With doctors unable to find a cure, Yasmin has resigned herself to her fate, using Fairgrey Pay to improve her living conditions and handle her funeral arrangements upon her inevitable death.
Hobie mentions several funding campaigns similar to Yasmin’s, and these cases shed light on the severe limitations of Damage Control. While the company’s employees are well-trained when it comes to construction and first-aid, they’re woefully unequipped to handle cases that require medical attention. Damage Control doesn’t employ any doctors or scientists who might have the expertise needed to treat the young woman’s condition, and the monopoly they hold over their unique area of business means that there’s no one for people like Yasmin to turn to if they’re suffering from advanced physical or psychological harm inflicted on them in the crossfire of superpowered battles.
Outside of Yasmin, there are many other examples of people being affected by the repeated conflicts between heroes and villains. During Knull’s invasion, Hobie used a sonic weapon to free a group of civilians from the control of the symbiotes who all displayed signs of psychological damage after the experience. Similar scars have marked the survivors of many major events in the Marvel Universe, including the infamous Stamford Disaster that claimed the lives of over 600 civilians. As seen in Fear Itself: The Home Front, the citizens of the small town continue to suffer from the psychological turmoil of watching their loved ones die in front of them while living in perpetual resentment of superheroes.
Situations like Yasmin’s prove that the superhero community’s response to the aftermath of their heroics is in need of major reform, and Hobie might be the only person committed to changing the situation. Since the beginning of his career, the former Prowler has made helping the people around him a priority, and his compassion could inspire other heroes to take responsibility for the indirect damage their actions have caused.
Although he may have lost Fairgrey Pay to the Beyond Corporation, Hobie has made it clear that he still intends to help Yasmin and anyone else who slipped through the cracks of the Damage Control system. The former villain may not be an Avenger, but he may be the only one who can help the countless people that they’ve failed to protect.
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