Roger Stern (center) at the top of his game: his introduction of the Hobgoblin and the Masters of Evil toppling the Avengers.

When and What He Did at Timely/Atlas/Marvel: Writer and editor, working regularly from the 1970s through the late 1980s.

Marvel-ous Accomplishments: Stern was the editor shepherding much of the classic Chris Claremont-John Byrne run on Uncanny X-Men in the late 1970s.
As a writer in the ‘80s, he was akin to Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning: a guy who’s brilliant in the regular season but who doesn’t have a lot of big-game wins under his belt.
You can’t find a Watchmen or Batman: The Dark Knight Returns on Stern’s resume, but his runs on The Amazing Spider-Man and The Avengers are the template on how to write a monthly, ongoing superhero series.
The stories are solidly executed to be entertaining and memorable without being overly or superficially flashy.
Those storytelling chops come through in the Amazing Spider-Man issues introducing the Hobgoblin and his Avengers story arc retooling the Masters of Evil into a formidable bad-guy strike team that defeats Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
They’re the kind of comics that influence other creators whether they know it or not because of how well they are crafted.