Who is the Green Goblin? Who is Norman Osborn? I think a perfect place to start is to look at the name first of the Green Goblin; goblin. A Goblin, according to Mythology.net (alt. spellings: gobbelin, gobblin, goblyn, gobling, gobelin) is a mischievous, and usually very unpleasant, vengeful, and greedy creature whose primary purpose is to cause trouble to humankind; this is the most common type according to European folklore. This definition alone fits the character traits of the Green Goblin when the character first appeared. 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. 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. The personalities of Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin were starting to come together as Osborn, as a child, became obsessed with gaining wealth and power and as the co-owner of Oscorp, Norman Osborn, loving wealth and power, decided to take full control and had his business partner Mendell Stromm arrested after he discovered he was committing embezzlement, granting Norman complete control over the company; making him the official CEO of Oscorp. The name of Green Goblin perfectly describes and tells you what the character is about, not only the costumed one, but the man underneath it. I don't think Stan Lee or Steve Ditko knew just how on the nose the name would later describe their character.
Come back next Wednesday for part II in Analyzing the Goblin.
