The Return of the (Goblin) King
Part III: Daddy’s back! Already regret this subheading…
Welcome to the third part of my series on every Goblin to ever exist in the main Marvel continuity that will continue until the heat death of the universe. I’m not kidding. There is a very real chance that new Goblins will emerge before this series wraps.
The first half of the 1990s were certainly an interesting time for Goblins. Harry Osborn died, there were demonic and cyborg Goblins, and there was a heroic Green Goblin who lasted a total of one year in publication time. The second half of the decade saw a return to basics for the Goblins in a big way.
Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) Returns
This seems like kind of a big deal. Norman had been dead for over twenty years in publication history at this point (so like three weeks or something in Marvel’s sliding time scale, but still). The “Clone Saga” had been going on for two years at this point and was nearing its conclusion. Norman popped up right at the very end to declare that he had been the architect of the whole thing. How did a guy who was stabbed through the chest not only survive but become the puppet master of a vast conspiracy involving numerous moving pieces and figures across multiple years? I’ve already spent an inordinate amount of time on Ben Reilly and clones, so I won’t rehash all of that. Basically Norman had developed a healing factor from his formula that slowly repaired his chest wound, and he swapped out the body in the morgue so he could lay low for a bit. He had planned to return to life as the Green Goblin once he fully recuperated, but he decided to stay underground when he saw Harry take up the mantle. Instead he went to Europe and became a member of some bizarre crime syndicate called the Cabal of Scrier that wore black cloaks and either shaved their heads and painted themselves white or wore all white costumes. It isn’t entirely clear, and it isn’t important enough for me to look up and confirm.
Anyway, Norman decided he should get back in the game once Harry died (“the game” being making Spider-Man miserable). He enlisted the Jackal to do a bunch of cloning shenanigans and was responsible for rigging the tests that convinced Peter Parker he was a clone. He hired Mendel Stromm (Gaunt) to hire Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale) and turn him into a cyborg for reasons unknown. He faked Aunt May’s death by hiring an actress who looked like her, giving her cosmetic surgery to enhance those similarities, and then killing her while kidnapping the real one. He also may or may not have kidnapped and murdered Spider-Man’s baby. That one is super unclear, and we shall never speak of it again. Lastly, he finally revealed himself in full Green Goblin garb and murdered Ben Reilly while simultaneously trying to blow up The Daily Bugle before being defeated by Spider-Man. What a jerk. The biggest change to Norman since his last appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #122 is that the amnesia/dual personality stuff is gone. Norman is inseparable from the Green Goblin now, and he uses his ruthless capitalist side to augment his wealth and power while fully embracing his madness as the Goblin.
Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley) Returns
I’ll see your return of the original Green Goblin and raise you the return of the original Hobgoblin. At this point in time, Jason Macendale was the Hobgoblin. We last saw him getting defeated by Ben Reilly and having his cyborg ass hauled off to prison. Norman Osborn returned as the Green Goblin just a few issues later, so it seemed obvious that editorial (who had also just taken the Phil Urich Green Goblin off the table) wanted to streamline the amount of Goblins running around so as not to distract from Norman being the main Goblin. That lasted until 1998 when Roger Stern (the writer who co-created the Hobgoblin over fifteen years ago at this point) returned with longtime collaborator Ron Frenz to introduce a limited series called Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives. The idea is the two wanted to clean up the messiness and unresolved plot threads from their time on Amazing Spider-Man when they were neck deep in the Hobgoblin mystery. This little book is far better than anyone could have expected. It’s clear that everyone involved had a real love for the character and those original stories. The story kicks off with Macendale awaiting trial and announcing to the world that Ned Leeds was the original Hobgoblin (something that was not public knowledge at the time), and he was the one responsible for killing him. What Macendale couldn’t have known is that the real original Hobgoblin was paying attention, and he was tired of who he perceived as a loser amateur getting the spotlight. That person was fashion mogul Roderick Kingsley who had also been operating an underground criminal organization for years. Kingsley responds to Macendale’s boasts by sending a hitman to murder him in his jail cell while Kingsley admonishes him through a communications device.
After dumping the wannabe Hobgoblin, Kingsley dons the hood once more. The rest of the series is Kingsley getting back at anyone he feels has wronged him.
The funniest part about the whole thing is he had covered his tracks all these years by putting a toupee on his brother Daniel (who is not a twin but somehow looks almost identical to Roderick anyone aside from balding) and having his brother pretend to be himself whenever he’s out galavanting as Hobgoblin. Roderick gets sent to prison after Spider-Man defeats and unmasks him, but he isn’t there very long. Kingsley announces that he knows the existence of a previously unknown Osborn journal, and Norman Osborn decides he would very much like that for himself. He sends a clone version of himself as the Green Goblin to break Kingsley out of prison (simultaneously casting doubt on the theory that he is the Green Goblin) and negotiates a deal with him to get the journal. Spoiler alert: there is no journal. Kingsley just wanted to trick Norman into breaking him out. We unfortunately never really get any true fight sequences between the two original Goblins, but it’s still fun to see Norman and Roderick interact. Also, don’t worry. We’ll see plenty more of these two in the future.
Menace (Lily Hollister)
That’s right, folks! We got ourselves a brand new Goblin! The character of Lily Hollister first pops up in Amazing Spider-Man #545 by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada as the girlfriend of Harry Osborn. I really do not want to go into it at all about how Harry is suddenly alive again, but I’ll just say this comic is universally beloved and has never drawn any criticism from anyone for being the worst Spider-Man story ever written. Nope. Definitely not.
Anyway, Harry is back with a new girlfriend who also happens to be the daughter of a prominent district attorney. Harry decides to bankroll a campaign for mayor for Lily’s father. Coincidentally, a new Goblin calling herself Menace shows up in Amazing Spider-Man #549 by Marc Guggenheim and Salvador Larroca and begins targeting other mayoral candidates. Weird! It takes almost forty issues for Menace’s identity to be revealed, but come on. It’s Lily. Don’t act surprised. I put her name in the subheading! Anyway, you’re probably wondering how she became a Goblin. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: she stumbled upon one of Osborn’s journals and a bunch of his old Goblin equipment hidden in a secret room that is now part of Harry’s home. She accidentally spilled some untested new formula on herself (whoopsie!) and turned into Menace. Unlike most Goblins, Menace isn’t wearing a mask. The formula changes her physical appearance and allows her to change back and forth at will. Eventually Spider-Man takes her down, and she’s whisked away to prison seemingly “cured” of her Goblin form. Also, it’s probably worth mentioning that Norman Osborn at this point is employed by the federal government and has a team of “former” supervillains working for him as the Thunderbolts. Norman likes his future daughter-in-law’s ambition and adds her to his little family.
The next time we see Lily, she is visibly pregnant with Harry’s child. Or is it? She later says it’s Norman’s child. Then later she says it’s Harry’s again. It’s eventually revealed through DNA testing that Harry is the father. Or is he?! The real father is technically a clone of Harry. I think. Glad I could clear that up for you.
Anyway, while all of this is happening our pal Norman ditches the Green Goblin moniker and begins wearing what’s essentially modified Iron Man armor and calling himself Iron Patriot while leading a new team of Dark Avengers. That all goes super great as you might imagine. Eventually Norman tries to invade Asgard in the pages of Siege, and he ends up disgraced when it’s revealed he really was the Green Goblin all this time and still paints himself green under his armor because he’s batshit insane. I didn’t want to devote too much time to this story because it’s more of a companywide story than a Spider-Man story. Needless to say, this takes Norman out of commission for a bit as he’s forced to lay low underground.
Hobgoblin (Phil Urich)
Remember that time Phil Urich became a heroic version of the Green Goblin for like two seconds before getting shuffled off to make room for Norman’s return? He’s back, baby! Amazing Spider-Man #649 from Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos kicks of with Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley) massacring some drug lords in South America at the behest of a rival drug lord for a handsome sum of cash. He bemoans the fact he has to do so with Norman Osborn holding such a high station within the government back home when he gets news that Norman is no longer in the good graces of Uncle Sam. Hearing such good news, he heads home to offer his services to Kingpin so he can begin rebuilding his reputation and fortune. His first order of business is looting yet another Osborn stash of Goblin gear to replenish his arsenal. While doing so he realizes someone else is already there: Phil Urich! He was going to grab some Goblin gear to impress a girl he likes. Kingsley let’s him know that he’s just going to kill him instead. No hard feelings. Unfortunately, Kingsley isn’t aware that Urich had taken a previous formula that gave him his sonic laugh (originally it could only be used by syncing it to a specialized Goblin mask, but the editors must not have noticed). Urich subdues Kingsley with his laugh, and then he decapitates him with a flaming sword that was available in the warehouse. Rest In Peace, Roderick. Just kidding! It was his brother Daniel who was wearing the costume this time. I’m sure this won’t ever come back to bite Urich. From now on, Urich is the primary Hobgoblin and top lieutenant for Kingpin. He uses a pair of mechanical wings instead of a glider, wields a flaming sword, and relies on his sonic laugh to cause chaos. It’s a cool redesign of a classic character that maintains the traditional color scheme but with enough unique touches to separate him from the previous two incarnations. The other thing that separates him from the previous Hobgoblins is that he’s young and impulsive. He’s not some hardened criminal or mercenary. He’s a punk who wants to impress girls and get rich fast, but his recklessness gets him in trouble. One great example of that is when the Roderick Kingsley Hobgoblin comes calling to get revenge for his brother’s death in Amazing Spider-Man #696 from Dan Slott, Christos Gage, and Giuseppe Camuncoli.
Kingsley crashes a deal the Kingpin is conducting that Urich is attending with the intent to kill Urich in front of him. Urich is hoping for a little assistance from Kingpin and his enforcers, but Kingpin allows things to play out for entertainment purposes. Kingsley emerges victorious, but he decides not to kill Urich. Instead he decides to allow him to live in exchange for his allegiance. Kingsley’s newest scheme is to begin setting supervillain franchises with these villains giving him a sizable percentage of their earnings. Urich gets to be his first franchise opportunity as one of potentially multiple Hobgoblins all reporting to him.
Now that the Hobgoblin status quo is set, be sure to come back next week to see what a Goblin War looks like.