I’m in Japan, and sadly enough will be be out of contact with my comic collection for at least another year.
I just saw the Spider-man movie, and was thoroughly impressed.
The movie got me to wondering, though, what was the “real” origin of the Green Goblin? What about the Hobgoblin?
Thanks,
TGD
Want an in depth version?
Lessee now, how to answer this? Well, the story is that industialist Norman Osborn found a formula written by his former partner Mendell Stromm which would give a person increased intellegence. He mixed the formula, and intended to test it on himself.
Unknown to him, his son, Harry, jealous of the attention that he was giving his worked, switched a few of the chemicals. When Norman tried to take the formula, the thing turned green and exploded.
The formula worked in the fact that it increased Osborn’s intellegence to higher levels. It also gave him super strength. Sadly, the formula also drove him insane.
Osborn put together a costume, and invented many trick gadgets, such as the Goblin Glider, Pumpkin Bombs, and Sparkle Gloves. Thus, the Green Goblin was born.
Orignally, Osborn wanted to take control of all the city’s crime rings. He then became obssessed with Spider-Man, due to him foiling all of the Goblin’s plans. He captured Spidey, and revealed to him his true identity, and then planned to kill him. He also demasked Spider-Man in this encounter. Before he could take out the Wall-Crawler, Gobbie was hit in the head and gained amnesia. He had no memory of being the Goblin, or of Spidey’s true identity.
This did not last. Norman’s memory returned and he set off after Spidey with a vengance. He even went as far as to capture Peter Parker’s true love, Gwen Stacy, and throw her off of the George Washington Bridge, killing her. He then attempted to kill Spider-Man, but was impaled with his own glider. Thought to be dead, he has recently resurfaced alive and well.
The Hobgoblin, contrary to popular belief, is not Harry Osborn. The orignal Hobgoblin was Roderick Kingsley. A business man in his own rights, he stumbled across some of the Green Goblin’s old gear. He altered the costume and set out to rule the city as the Hobgoblin. He was failed time and again by Spider-Man.
To end this, let me say that there have been multiple Hobgoblins and Green Goblins, at least four of each. To find out more, go to http://www.spiderfan.org. Hope I’ve been helpful!
(Geez, I know way too much about this stuff…)
One thing I found pretty humorous while reading the first few Goblin stories (in my copies of Essential Spider-Man vol. 1 & 2) is that when the Goblin is introduced his identity is made into this big mystery (shots of him with his face shadowed, etc.) to indicate that readers would be surprised and amazed when his identity was finally revealed in later issues. However, Norman (and even Harry) Osbourne had not yet been introduced.
–Cliffy
IIRC, they didn’t even know who it was supposed to be. I think Steve Ditko (the artist) wanted it to be someone no one had ever seen before, but Stan ‘The Man’ Lee wanted the revelation to have some punch and made Norman the Goblin. I believe this led to a falling out between the two creators. I may be misremembering, but that’s pretty darned close.