Meet Spider-Punk, the Punk Rock Spider-Hero from Earth-138
Who is Spider-Punk? Meet Hobie Brown, the Spider-Hero working to make his world a better place, as he swings into a new adventure with 'Spider-Punk: Arms Race' #1.
The Spider-Verse is filled with amazing and spectacular heroes, but Spider-Punk's unique and unrelenting attitude makes him the misfit hero the Multiverse needs. With his superhuman abilities, howling guitar, and righteous fury, the anarchic Spider-Man of Earth-138 has fought for justice in the dystopian wasteland he calls home. From minor threats to Multiversal bad brains and their stooges, Spider-Punk has forced those who abuse power to face the consequences of their actions and take accountability for their failures.Â
Now, let's take a closer look at Spider-Punk and how his actions have echoed across the Spider-Verse. We'll also break down the time that this punk-rock hero incited a revolution in his world, just as his next adventure gets underway in SPIDER-PUNK: ARMS RACE (2024) #1 by Cody Ziglar, Justin Mason, Morry Hollowell, and VC's Travis Lanham.
SPIDER-PUNK IN SPIDER-VERSE
As the Spider-Heroes of the Multiverse began assembling for SPIDER-VERSE, Spider-Punk debuted in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2014) #10 by Dan Slott and Olivier Coipel. Hailing from a fascist world ruthlessly run by President Norman "Ozzy" Osborn, Hobie Brown developed powers after being bitten by a spider that had been mutated by toxic waste.Â
To protect the lower classes from Osborn's relentless rule, Hobie started operating as his world's Spider-Man. He later changed his alter ego to Spider-Punk after forming a Spider-Army with Captain Anarchy, Earth-138's heroic version of the Flag-Smasher.
Osborn's Thunderbolt Department tried to keep Hobie and his allies down by equipping its troopers with Variable Engagement Neuro-sensitive Organic Mesh (V.E.N.O.M.) technology. However, Spider-Punk used his guitar and its deafening sound to disable the V.E.N.O.M. symbiote suits and decapitate Osborn in SPIDER-VERSE (2014) #2 by Jed MacKay and Sheldon Vella.Â
After seeing Spider-Punk's anger incite a revolution, the Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius) recruited Hobie for his Superior Spider-Army during SPIDER-VERSE. Once that smaller, more aggressive group saved Spider-Man (Miles Morales), it merged with the Multiversal Spider-Army, where Spider-Punk took his place among the Spider-Heroes of the Multiverse.Â
Spider-Punk joined the team of heroes that convinced Karn—one of the Inheritors killing Spider-Heroes across the Multiverse—to betray his family and join the heroes of the Spider-Army. After the heroes defeated the Inheritors, Spider-Punk returned home to Earth-138, while some of his alternate reality counterparts teamed up as the dimension-hopping Web Warriors.
SPIDER-PUNK AND THE WEB WARRIORS
Although Spider-Punk was not originally a member of the Web Warriors, the Multiversal heroes helped Hobie protect his world from a strange invasion in WEB WARRIORS (2015) #7 by Mike Costa and David Baldeón. While Spider-Punk and his band clashed with Adrian Toomes and the forces of his Vulture Records, Spider-Ham 2099 fell into Earth-138 as realities began bleeding into each other. When Hobie asked the Web Warriors for help, he was particularly excited to meet Ghost-Spider for the first time, since he idolized his world's late Gwen Stacy.Â
Although the Web Warriors helped Spider-Punk turn back a subsequent attack from Ducktor Doom 2099, another reality's Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus fell into Earth-138, along with their giant MegaMorph robots. While trying to rescue several lost Web Warriors through the Web of Life and Destiny that connects the Multiverse, Karn teleported half of the team away and left Hobie, Araña, Mega-Morph Spider-Man, and the steampunk hero Lady Spider trapped on Earth-138.Â
By using the Mega-Morph's technology to turn the robot's giant body into an amplifier, Spider-Punk reconnected the Web of Life and Destiny with his guitar. After reuniting with the other Web Warriors and helping them stop a legion of alternate reality Electros, Spider-Punk teamed up with Ghost-Spider and saved the Web from a villainous Harry Osborn by jamming on the Mega-Morph amplifier in WEB WARRIORS (2015) #11 by Costa and Baldeón.
SPIDER-PUNK IN SPIDER-GEDDON
Just before the Spider-Heroes of the Multiverse teamed up again in SPIDER-GEDDON, Spider-Punk learned he was destined to die young. While battling Thunderstrike and the surf rock-loving Annihilation Wave, Spider-Punk was approached by the time-traveling Kang the Conglomerator in EDGE OF SPIDER-GEDDON (2018) #1 by Jed MacKay and Gerardo Sandoval.Â
Kang claimed that his company, Kangco, owned Spider-Punk's likeness in the future, and he tried to take the anarchic hero back to his time. However, Hobie was saved by Atom Bomb, his world's Hulk, just as Spider-Woman (Mayday Parker) pulled him into another Multiversal war in SPIDER-GEDDON (2018) #0 by MacKay and Javier Garrón.
After Otto Octavius used cloning technology to create a new body, the Inheritors pulled the same move and threatened Spider-Punk and the Web Warriors once more. To stop them, Spider-Punk and Octavius recruited Miles Morales and made plans to kill the Inheritors for good. Miles ultimately wielded the immensely powerful Enigma Force against the Inheritors, leaving most villains de-aged into babies.Â
After Karn died during the conflict, Spider-Punk eulogized the reformed Inheritor at a funeral organized by Ghost-Spider. Although the destruction of the Web of Life and Destiny made Multiversal travel considerably more challenging for the Web Warriors, Miles also traveled to Hobie's world and helped Spider-Punk take down the Universal Church of Truth gang in SPIDER-VERSE (2019) #1 by MacKay and Dike Ruan.
SPIDER-PUNK: OSBORN'S RETURN
After settling back into Earth-128, Spider-Punk and his revolutionary allies faced an undead Osborn reanimated by V.E.N.O.M. technology starting in SPIDER-PUNK (2022) #1 by Cody Ziglar and Justin Mason. Operating out of the Spider-Base in Brooklyn, Spider-Punk leaned into his punk rock esthetic and formed the Spider-Band, which brought Captain Anarchy, Atom Bomb, and RiotHeart, his world's Riri Williams, together as a group.Â
After a battle with Kraven and his Hunters, Hobie came under attack by Ta$kmas$ter, who the Spider-Band took down with the help of Kamala Khan. The Spider-Band learned the villains were using advanced weaponry from Osborn's presidency, which was being held at secret locations around the country, including underneath the Spider-Base.Â
To investigate other weapon sites, Spider-Punk and some of his allies traveled to Philadelphia, where they teamed up with the Daredevil Drummer of Philly to take down the Kingpin and his mutant Marauders. The heroes went on to Washington, where they found Osborn operating a base under the Lincoln Memorial.Â
Although Osborn existed only a severed head, he remained alive thanks to the V.E.N.O.M. symbiote technology. Meanwhile, his enforcers—Officer Venom (Flash Thompson) and the armored War Sentry (Robert Reynolds)—carried out his orders. With help from Atom Bomb and Daredevil Drummer, Spider-Punk defeated Osborn's forces and killed the corrupt leader again with a symbiote-disintegrating sonic attack from his guitar.
SPIDER-PUNK AND THE END OF SPIDER-VERSE
After Spider-Punk proved the power of his antiauthoritarian message, several villains tried to take control of Hobie's mind, both on Earth-138 and around the Multiverse. For instance, the murderous Cletus Kasady found a piece of the V.E.N.O.M. symbiote and became Carnage in SPIDER-VERSE UNLIMITED INFINITY COMIC (2022) #38 by Carlos Hernandez and Eleonora Carlini. Posing as Spider-Punk, Carnage tried to turn Hobie into his henchman by injecting a piece of symbiote into his brain. However, Spider-Punk convinced the symbiote to leave Cletus and take the form of a dog subsequently named Spider-Mutt.Â
In "End of Spider-Verse," Spider-Punk fell under the thrall of the wasp entity Shathra starting in SPIDER-MAN (2022) #1 by Dan Slott and Mark Bagley. Along with several other former Multiversal Web Warriors, Spider-Punk became part of her mind-controlled Hive while the Web of Life and Destiny was rebuilt. Hobie was freed when Silk stabbed Morlun with the Spider-Totem, and the heroes returned to their homes.Â
Back on Earth-138, Spider-Punk and the Spider-Band joined a battle of the bands hosted by J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle music venue in a MARVEL'S VOICES: SPIDER-VERSE (2023) #1 story by J. Holtham and Ken Lashley. Before they could play, the Sinister Six-Piece hypnotized the crowd with their music and tried to take everyone's money. This group, led by the Beetle (Janice Lincoln), brought together Scorpion, Electro, White Rabbit, Sandman, and Dok Ock, AKA Otto Octavius. Once RiotHeart freed him, Spider-Punk and his allies made quick work of the villainous sextet.Â
SPIDER-PUNK: ARMS RACE
Spider-Punk may have won the war against President Osborn, but Hobie and his allies must rebuild in the tyrannical villain's aftermath. While Spider-Punk and his allies focus on rebuilding in SPIDER-PUNK: ARMS RACE (2024) #1, they still have to defend their progress from villains like the Lizard and his band of Lzrds, a group that brings the Vulture together with reptilian baddies like Sauron and Stegron.Â
Fortunately, the Spider-Band is getting a little help from the leaders of Wakanda. With technological assistance and resources from King T'Challa and Shuri, the co-Black Panthers, Hobie and his allies aim to replace Osborn's vicious world with a sustainable community, an effort that forces Spider-Punk to take responsibility on a new level.Â
After taking over some of Osborn's more experimental technology, Dok Ock and Justin Hammer are trying to fill Osborn's power vacuum with their own brutal vision. With his lethal new Sentinel-Slayers that can take out a city block, Ock has a personal score to settle with Spider-Punk that could disrupt Hobie's hopes for a Spider-Nation before they get off the ground.
Rock out with Hobie Brown in SPIDER-PUNK: ARMS RACE #1, now on sale!
Grab these comics and more at your local comic book shop! Or redeem then read your digital copy on the Marvel Unlimited app by using the code found in your print comic. Find and support your local comic book shop at ComicShopLocator.com.
To read your Marvel comics digitally, download the Marvel Unlimited app for iOS and Android devices. Gain an expansive catalog of 30,000+ comics spanning Marvel Comics history, plus access your entire digital library including comics redeemed from print.