Prowler (Eclipse Comics)

The Prowler is a creator-owned American comic book series created by Timothy Truman and John K. Snyder III. It was published by Eclipse Comics between 1987 and 1988, and chronicled the adventures of 1930s vigilante Leo Kragg, a.k.a. The Prowler, as he trained teenager Scott Kida to take up his legacy.^[1]

Creation

The Prowler was one of four initial titles from 4Winds, a packaging studio co-founded by Timothy Truman and Chuck Dixon. It was picked up by Eclipse Comics, who had already worked with Truman on Scout and Airboy, and was co-created by Truman and artist John K. Snyder III.^[2]

Truman credited the influence of

The first issue of The Prowler was cover-dated July 1987, beginning an ongoing series. Inspired by a similar gimmick used in Scout, Truman's band The Dixie Pistols recorded two tracks based on the character - one a pastiche of forties moral boosting songs called ""Hey Mister Prowler" featuring vocal harmonies from the Ambrose Sisters (and a brief spoken line from Allen, in character as The Prowler), and a synthesizer-based instrumental called "Hunt By Night" which purported to be the theme tune for a contemporary Prowler TV series,^[13] and was inspired by Jan Hammer's music for Miami Vice.^[14] This was originally planned to be given away as a flexi disc with Prowler #6; ^[15] However, low sales saw the ongoing cancelled after four issues.^[16] Instead a one-shot crossover special with Airboy set after The Prowler #4, Airboy Meets The Prowler, appeared in December 1987^[17]

The planned second arc of The Prowler ^[18] was resolicited as a four-part limited series called The Revenge of the Prowler, beginning in February 1988.^[19] Eclipse distribution manager Sean Deming claimed the original title had been penalised by difficult market condition, and felt it could find an audience with those disappointed by DC Comics' revival of The Shadow.^[20] The flexi disc was included in Revenge of the Prowler #2.^[13] After the conclusion of the mini-series the character's future was unknown due to continuing poor sales, though Truman hoped to produce a graphic novel featuring the characters set in New Orleans.^[16]

In order to boost interest in the character, Truman agreed to allow the characters to appear in Eclipse's cross-over mini-series Total Eclipse written by Marv Wolfman,^[21] becoming a consulting editor for scenes featuring the two Prowlers, who would be major characters in the storyline.^[20] Truman also contributed a short 'interlude' Prowler back-up story for the first issue of Total Eclipse, with art from Brent Anderson,^[22] and was impressed by editor Fred Burke's co-ordination of the series.^[23]

The Leo Kragg version of the character would appear in the one-shot The Prowler in White Zombie, written by Price and with art from Gérald Forton.^[24] The issue was effectively a cross-over with the 1932 horror film White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi.^[25] This was a continuation of horror buff Price using Lugosi's character in the film, Murder Legendre, as a villain in back-up stories in The Revenge of the Prowler. Price would later state the one-shot was poorly distributed by Eclipse.^[26]

Truman felt The Prowler contained "some of the best writing" he had ever done, but was unsure if he would be able to produce further stories due to his many other projects.^[27]

Plot

Leo Kragg - a former stockbroker who lost most of his fortune in the

In 2013 and 2016, Truman used CreateSpace to produce two trade paperbacks collecting the series, with a new coda illustrated by Todd Camp.

Reception