War of the Goblins
Part IV: Can’t we all just get along?
When we last discussed these Halloween-themed hooligans, there was an uneasy truce between the two Hobgoblins and Norman Osborn was in hiding. Surely that peace would hold, right?
Goblin King (Norman Osborn)
Of course not. You can’t keep a good Goblin down. At this point in the comics, Peter Parker’s body was inhabited by the mind of Doctor Octopus who was going around calling himself the Superior Spider-Man. He was intent on proving himself superior to Peter Parker by bringing crime under control and imposing his own quasi-authoritarian rule on New York City with an army of surveillance drones and a loyal paramilitary force. One of his early moves was to find out the identity of Hobgoblin (the Phil Urich version) and broadcasting it to the world. A horrified Urich was then driven into hiding where he was contacted by a figure calling himself the Goblin King. He was wearing the traditional Green Goblin costume and speaking/acting like Norman Osborn, but he suspiciously refused to remove his mask. Goblin King revealed he was slowly building an army to rise up and take control as the new top dog in New York City’s organized crime world. That army included your typical hired thugs along with our old Goblin friend Menace. Goblin King offered Urich a spot in his kingdom as one of his lieutenants if he would forsake the Hobgoblin name and take on the mantle of the Goblin Knight. Urich agreed and was welcomed into the fold.
Goblin King’s next order of business is to kidnap NYPD forensics expert (and occasional Peter Parker love interest) Carlie Cooper and expose her to his most recent formula to turn her into his newest Goblin acolyte: Monster. Not the most original name, but oh well.
Now that Goblin King has his court, his next move is to take out potential rivals. Spider-Man had already brought down Kingpin, so that means Roderick Kingsley with his insistence on using the Hobgoblin moniker is next. Goblin King issues an ultimatum to Kingsley: abandon the Hobgoblin name and any aspirations for establishing a criminal empire or be killed. Kingsley refuses to ditch what he has built and agrees to fight Goblin King for Goblin supremacy. It’s war! The forces loyal to Goblin King and Hobgoblin attack each other in a chaotic battle until Goblin King convinces Hobgoblin to settle things in a one-on-one fight to the death.
The fight between the two takes place in Superior Spider-Man #26 by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos and is pretty entertaining as they both get in jabs about who is really under the mask. Kingsley had a habit of framing others, and numerous individuals had been Green Goblin in the past. It’s a bit of meta commentary that also reads like something both of these arrogant men would say to needle one another.
Hobgoblin chucks a pumpkin bomb directly into Goblin King’s chest. While it doesn’t kill him, it does damage his costume enough to reveal the scar on his chest that confirms he really is Norman Osborn (although he still won’t remove that mask…). Nothing Hobgoblin does seems to slow down Goblin King as he eventually gets his hands around Kingsley’s throat and strangles him to death. After multiple fake-outs over the years, Roderick Kingsley is finally dead.
Just kidding! We find out on the very next page that Kingsley had put yet another poor brainwashed dupe under the mask, and the real Kingsley was in Paris the whole time in the process of brainwashing someone else. What a jerk! Regardless, Goblin King now only has one obstacle left in his way: Spider-Man. He’s also been able to figure out that this Spider-Man is not the one he’s fought over the years and successfully deduces that Doc Ock is the one under the mask. Armed with this knowledge, he launches a multi-front attack on Spider-Man and kidnaps his current love interest because that’s what Goblins are legally required to do. I’m not going to go in depth on the extensive “Superior Spider-Man Saga,” but it’s at this point that Otto realizes that Peter really is the better man and allows him to regain control of his body so he can save the day.
Peter does exactly that and defeats Goblin King. Once his enemy has been defeated, he unmasks him to reveal that he is none other than…some guy he doesn’t recognize at all. Huh? This Goblin isn’t Norman? Actually, he confirms he is Norman Osborn. He has just had plastic surgery to change his appearance so he could more easily live a double life. Okay. Sure. Why not?
Red Goblin (Norman Osborn)
Following his latest failures, Norman has once again gone underground to hatch a new plan. Meanwhile, Phil Urich has assumed the vacated title of Goblin King in his absence while Roderick Kingsley is once again active as Hobgoblin. Norman doesn’t lay low for too long. Soon he kidnaps J. Jonah Jameson and tricks him into giving up Spider-Man’s secret identity (long story as to why Norman doesn’t know it anymore, but it involves Mephisto and a lot of pain). He also bumps into Phil Urich in one of his abandoned warehouses (how many does he have?!) and promptly murders him in brutal fashion. It isn’t shown what exactly he does, but having his heart literally torn out seems to be the cause of death. Yikes.
Turns out Norman has bonded with the Carnage symbiote, and he is now calling himself the Red Goblin. While he’s always been an evil murderer, he is now completely soulless. The symbiote is pushing him to an extreme he has never reached before. This Red Goblin is as addicted to killing as Carnage was, but he retains his obsessive hatred for Spider-Man. Red Goblin targets Peter’s loved ones (again, Norman always has the same basic plan) while Spider-Man’s various super powered colleagues try to help him. Even Venom and Doctor Octopus do their part. Red Goblin decides to increase his own numbers and infects his grandson Normie Osborn with part of the Carnage symbiote.
The kid starts calling himself Goblin Childe and tries to kill Aunt May, but fortunately Doctor Octopus saves her. Eventually the symbiote is removed from Normie, and Red Goblin remains as the sole symbiote-infused villain. Red Goblin ends up murdering Agent Anti-Venom, so Venom lends his symbiote to Spider-Man so he has the added boost necessary to bring Norman down (mixing Goblins and symbiotes sure is confusing). Spider-Man ends up appealing to Norman’s ego and convinces him to shed the symbiote to prove he can beat Spider-Man without it (Peter also sheds the Venom symbiote). Norman agrees and fights Spider-Man as the Green Goblin in the classic Goblin costume. Spider-Man then promptly beats his ass. Good job, Norman. Norman is then hauled off to Ravencroft where we learn that his time bonded to the Carnage symbiote has broken his mind, and he now believes himself to be Cletus Kasady. It’s basically the ending to Batman Forever.
We did it, folks! We covered all of the Goblins worth covering in the main continuity. There are technically also a Demagoblin and Gray Goblin. Demagoblin is just Shriek possessed by the Demogoblin demon, but I don’t believe she has ever actually interacted with Spider-Man. As for Gray Goblin, the less said about him the better as his entire existence was recently retconned. Tomorrow (at the time this is published) we should get a brand new character called Queen Goblin in the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Maybe we’ll cover her in a later post if she sticks around. Until then, I’m all Goblin’d out.
Enough Goblins to form a decent early DnD encounter.