Hobie was born to a poor family in Brooklyn. There he befriended another kid in his neighborhood named Robert Farrell. Both had an aptitude for technology and worked as mechanics for a while until they by chance found the location of one of the bases for the gang ran by the criminal known as the Shocker called the High Rollers. A tech based gang. They stole some components and used them to help create their own criminal personas knwon as the Prowler and the Rocket Racer.
