Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) Appreciation (2019)

[MajorHoy]

How can we not have an appreciation thread for Norman Osborn, the man responsible for the death of Gwen Stacy?!?


from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964)

first appearance = Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964)


and from the shocking ending to Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973):

[Snoop Dogg]

When Dan writes that dummy thicc Norman--



When you realize Nick gon' write him eventually--

[SuperiorIronman]

Not sure if this is a joke on the nature of appreciation threads popping up constantly for who knows what, but I regularly post in the Doom thread so why stop now?

That's a Green gosh darn classic goblin right thar

[MajorHoy]

Not sure if this is a joke on the nature of appreciation threads popping up constantly for who knows what, . . .

What's wrong with appreciating the classic, ORIGINAL Spidey foes?

Spider-Man had a truly awesome rogues gallery back in the day, easily right up their with those of DC's The Flash and Batman villains.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Did you guys know that until Bendis' THE PULSE, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin went 40 years real time publication history without going to jail. That's the longest any major comic villain has gone without a legit criminal record, or actual setback. Kingpin has gone in and out of jail, as has Dr. Octopus and other Spider-Man rogues, Dr. Doom has been deposed a few times, sometimes Doombot sometimes him.

He's far and away Spider-Man's greatest enemy, the most aerodynamic of all combatants, and the one guy who raises stakes like nothing else and he has this darkness and toxicity to him i.e. he ruins the lives of everyone in contact or associated with him, directly or indirectly.

I became a Goblin fan when I saw Willem Dafoe's Norman in Spider-Man 1. And to me Dafoe's performance, his vocal line deliveries, and jarring mood-shifts. And I will defend the Goblin suit in that movie. I think full body emerald green is better than the purple tunic/hat and moss green tights and face.

And The Grotestque Adventure of the Green Goblin, ASM #14 is one of my all-time favorite single issues, right up there with ASM#50 V.II

[SuperiorIronman]

Did you guys know that until Bendis' THE PULSE, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin went 40 years real time publication history without going to jail. That's the longest any major comic villain has gone without a legit criminal record, or actual setback. Kingpin has gone in and out of jail, as has Dr. Octopus and other Spider-Man rogues, Dr. Doom has been deposed a few times, sometimes Doombot sometimes him.

He's far and away Spider-Man's greatest enemy, the most aerodynamic of all combatants, and the one guy who raises stakes like nothing else and he has this darkness and toxicity to him i.e. he ruins the lives of everyone in contact or associated with him, directly or indirectly.

I became a Goblin fan when I saw Willem Dafoe's Norman in Spider-Man 1. And to me Dafoe's performance, his vocal line deliveries, and jarring mood-shifts. And I will defend the Goblin suit in that movie. I think full body emerald green is better than the purple tunic/hat and moss green tights and face.

And The Grotestque Adventure of the Green Goblin, ASM #14 is one of my all-time favorite single issues, right up there with ASM#50 V.II

Didn't know that.

You can also count me in as someone who genuinely liked the Raimi goblin suit. I think it works pretty well for what the movie had to offer. Since Green Goblin was touted to be a military exoskeleton and super soldier serum gone wrong, it does make more sense he looked the way he does instead of the rig they used in the VFX test videos. Especially when you consider that a mask really doesn't move that way in reality. There was damn good reason just the face required puppeteers. It just makes more sense and is far more practical to have done what they did.

[jetengine]

I suspect the campiness of the outfit as well is why most modern green goblins are a horrible mutant instead of "Crazy dude in larp outfit"

[SuperiorIronman]

I suspect the campiness of the outfit as well is why most modern green goblins are a horrible mutant instead of "Crazy dude in larp outfit"

The crazy thing is that it does work. It's just that what people generally associate with Green Goblin; pumpkin bombs, and glider with all manner of weapons, it just doesn't lend well to the Goblin's aesthetic. There is more to his arsenal as Goblin does have a bag of tricks themed after Halloween decorations and general spooky items. It's just that writers oftentimes forget that he has these because writing a cackling maniac with two weapons is easier than writing Green Goblin with a full loadout. Part of the charm of the character is that he is such a big departure from Norman. Norman is a chemical engineer, business man, and industrialist and yet his alter ego is waste deep in the supernatural and goofiness inherent to horror.

That's not to say that someone who make's their living off of science is far less inclined to do so, but Halloween is a big player in Goblin's aesthetic. It's all fake or made to look as if it really was a ghost or frog. His most iconic weapon, the pumpkin bomb is a jack o'lantern for no other reason than that it plays into that dynamic. For as up tight as Norman is, there is that part of him that wants to let loose and have some fun, and what better way to do that than express that creativity than behind a mask.

It's probably why later Goblins are forgotten or come up short. It's not so much a costume as much as it is this extension to this side of Norman Osborn. That's barring Hobgoblin of course because he had something of a different gimmick.

[Snoop Dogg]

s p a r k l e b l a s t s

[MajorHoy]

A few old (last century) entries from The Marvel Handbooks:


from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol. 1 No. 13 (February 1984)


from
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition Vol. 2 No. 17
(August 1987)

[Celgress]

Spider-Man's greatest foe in my opinion.

[Mistah K88]

0:11 to 0:22

Norman is like the crazed version of Bruce Wayne. A middle aged man dressed up with Halloween garb who’s mask can be considered the raw personality. In Norman’s case, he wanted to go from white collar crime to blue collar... I’m guessing blue collared crime is more fun?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Norman is like the crazed version of Bruce Wayne. A middle aged man dressed up with Halloween garb who’s mask can be considered the raw personality. In Norman’s case, he wanted to go from white collar crime to blue collar... I’m guessing blue collared crime is more fun?

He throws Razorbats which is basically batarangs. His glider is bat shaped and obviously forms a bat shadow on the ground, which I think artists avoid showing for copyright infringement.

You know Steve Ditko studied under Jerry Robinson in art school. Jerry Robinson worked as a ghost artist for Bob Kane and he's the co-creator of the Joker. And Green Goblin always felt like Ditko's homage to both the Joker and Batman, by combining them together. And also Green Goblin even has pumpkin bombs which unfurl fear gas. So he's basically multiple Batman rogues at once.

Heck Norman and Harry Osborn are basically Bruce and Dick Grayson.

So any Goblin versus Spider-Man fan is indistinguishable from Spider-Man versus Batman.

[MajorHoy]

from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition No. 27 (February 1993)