The Sad Death of the Hobgoblin

[Lasse]

Understandable ... the '90s were generally a dark time. But (some of) the comics, (some of) the games and even (some of) the music was good.

Much of the music was excellent. I was totally into the Brit pop stuff, and swedish music was great as well...but I had a break with comics for a while. Got back just into time for the Clone Saga...

[Metamorphosis]

I don't think that was undone. I think it was Slott's plan all along to fool us into thinking it was Roddy who died.

This is Anderson Cooper: Attachment 24765

The resemblance is startling, yes?

That's a fair point, by the way, but another issue is that Kingsley was always portrayed as fairly scrawny in his pre-"Hobgoblin Lives" appearances. But the guy we see going into the Goblin formula tank is already pretty built (and remember, Hobgoblin was able to effectively frame Flash Thompson because they were fairly similar in build). Granted, it could be argued that Daniel was scrawny while Roddy was ripped ... but that wouldn't work if they were able to pass for one another so easily. Ned, on the other hand, while hardly muscle-bound, was a bit closer to Flash's size, especially under Ron Frenz's pencils, where he was shown to glare down at Peter.

Bottom line: I still think Ned was the real Hobgoblin, and I've got a lengthy, convoluted theory as to how he faked his own death and Winkler'd Roddy.

We also got Roddy 2.0 / Slade Wilson-lookalike in the last few issues of ASM Vol 1.

Anderson Cooper for Roddy in Marvel's Spider-man movie reboot!

[Lasse]

Sorry, forgot to comment that. Yeah, it was a startling resemblance, but what does that guy do? Is he an actor?

[BlitheringToot]

Sorry, forgot to comment that. Yeah, it was a startling resemblance, but what does that guy do? Is he an actor?

CNN news anchor, haha.

[BlitheringToot]

So yeah, basically an actor.

[David Walton]

Macendale wasn't as impressive as the original Hobgoblin, no, but the original wouldn't have been, either, even if the mystery had been resolved to everyone's satisfaction. He might have been cool for different reasons, but fans wouldn't have been as wowed by him anymore.

[Lasse]

Bah. The Hobgoblin was so damn cool, and the mystery as well. I'm certain Stern would have handled the reveal, if he hadn't left ASM too soon, expertly.

[Celgress]

The "Maximum Carnage" video game had a lot to do with me liking Demo, haha.

*yay* another Demogoblin fan, we are a rare breed

[Celgress]

I didn't hate Macendale either, but I don't think he was as good as the original.....

I tend to agree.

[Mister Mets]

Hobgoblin was an A-list Spidey villain in the '80s, and B-list at worst in the early '90s, at least until Macendale got cyberized (ugh ... although the rest of his costume looked great). But after "Hobgoblin Lives!" and "Goblins at the Gate" ... he vanished. I dunno, it just irked me that Stern did this big reveal only to put his toys back in the box afterward. "Hey, here's a big twist to get people talking about the Hobgoblin again! Aaaaand ... now he's retired."

I don't think it was Stern's fault that other writers didn't want to use the character.

It took a while for others to figure out what to do with him in the aftermath of Norman Osborn's return. I don't think it's a coincidence that during his absence from the regular comics, Kingsley played a major role in Spider-Girl, where Norman Osborn was believed dead so there was an opening for an experienced goblin.

[Rob London]

Heh. I always thought Kingsley looked like Steve Martin...

[Frontier]

I think Kingsley is very effective as The Hobgoblin .

Obviously you have all his successes and feats that he performed when he was wearing the suit and his identity was a mystery, especially with more of his sanity intact compared to Osborn, but you also had his constant diversions and manipulations that threw people off his trails which always kept the heat off of him and ruined the lives of others (especially when he framed Flash and Ned).

Not only is he powerful thanks to the Goblin formula, but he's a master manipulator and schemer that was able to get away scott free with all his crimes for years before he was finally outed and locked up. And then when he broke out and returned to prominence, he's continued to do so.

"Hobgoblin Lives" was the only time Spidey ever really caught him, right? Which considering the track record of his other villains, is pretty impressive.

[Celgress]

I think Kingsley is very effective as The Hobgoblin .

Obviously you have all his successes and feats that he performed when he was wearing the suit and his identity was a mystery, especially with more of his sanity intact compared to Osborn, but you also had his constant diversions and manipulations that threw people off his trails which always kept the heat off of him and ruined the lives of others (especially when he framed Flash and Ned).

Not only is he powerful thanks to the Goblin formula, but he's a master manipulator and schemer that was able to get away scott free with all his crimes for years before he was finally outed and locked up. And then when he broke out and returned to prominence, he's continued to do so.

"Hobgoblin Lives" was the only time Spidey ever really caught him, right? Which considering the track record of his other villains, is pretty impressive.

Exactly, Kingsley gets a lot of flak from some fans but I feel he is one of the most effective villains in Spidey history, and a worthy successor to the Goblin Legacy, because of the factors you pointed out.

[Lasse]

Yeah, I think that one of the points of the Hobgoblin was that he was NOT Norman Osborn in so many ways. He didn't have the same madness, and not that connection to Peter Parker that many villains have either. Roddy was a cold, calculating Goblin, and that's one of the things that I find so cool about him. If he would have been Ned Leeds, he'd just have been one villain in the same mould as the rest, IMHO.

[David Walton]

Yeah, I think that one of the points of the Hobgoblin was that he was NOT Norman Osborn in so many ways. He didn't have the same madness, and not that connection to Peter Parker that many villains have either. Roddy was a cold, calculating Goblin, and that's one of the things that I find so cool about him. If he would have been Ned Leeds, he'd just have been one villain in the same mould as the rest, IMHO.

If you look at the end of Stern's ASM run, the Hobgoblin was clearly going insane. It's easy to forget now, but the Lee/Romita Norman Osborn was a sympathetic character who was destroyed by his own mad science. It wasn't until Norman's return in the 90s that Marvel ran with the idea that he was always a monster. So if I read Stern's original intentions correctly, the Goblin legacy is always madness, and Kingsley was destined to be just as crazy as his predecessor.