Spider-Man, the hero to Green Goblin's villain. But why is that? The Green Goblin could have gone after any hero. He could have gone after Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, or Thor. But he chose Spider-Man, why? Like stated in Part I of this series, in Amazing Spider-Man #14, when the Green Goblin makes his debut, he uses the Enforcers to help him try to defeat Spider-Man and make a spectacle out of it for a film. In his second appearance, in Amazing Spider-Man #17, he crashes a Spider-Man fan club meeting held by Flash Thompson, sort of like a petty revenge act. It wouldn't be until the third appearance of the Green Goblin that we would see the emergence of the power hungry goblin with him trying to take over the Lucky Lobos Mob, like previously stated. With Norman Osborn making his appearance in issue 37 and learning Spider-Man's identity two issues later in the classic issue 39 and revealing himself as Osborn, it shocked readers, and then in issue 40, Osborn would lose his memory of being the Green Goblin. The next time we see Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin is issue 96-99 and then the infamous "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" story arc, in issues 121-122, in which Norman Osborn/Green Goblin is seemingly killed off. Looking at all of this and all the early issues the Green Goblin appeared in, you see that the Green Goblin appeared to be this silly, goofy character until something changed, and in issue 37-39, is when that all changed. According to Les Daniels in "Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics," artist Steve Ditko resigned because of a disagreement over the Goblin's identity. Ditko wanted it to be someone anonymous--a new, unknown guy; while Stan Lee wanted it to be a familiar character that would startle readers.
Now debating whether or not a never before seen face under the mask would have the same affect on readers as seeing Norman Osborn's face is to be seen. But there is no denying that the plans for the Green Goblin all changed once Norman Osborn was put under that mask. It became more personal, on Peter Parker's and Norman Osborn's life. Peter always had to watch his back and look out for his family knowing his arch-enemy knew his identity and that one of his best friends father was one of his worst enemies. This man killed his first love, tormented him beyond compare, and has come back from the dead more times then you can count. The Green Goblin is a character who once flew around on a flying broomstick, and has morphed and evolved into one of the most diabolic super-villains of all time. And Spider-Man will always be there, whether he likes it or not.
Come back next Wednesday for the final part in Analyzing the Goblin.
Come back next Wednesday for the final part in Analyzing the Goblin.
