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==Publication history== [[File:The Amazing Spider-Man 238.jpg|thumb|left|''The Amazing Spider-Man'' N#238 (March 1983), the Hobgoblin's first appearance. Cover art by [[John Romita Sr.]].]] The Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr. for ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #238 (March 1983).<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeFalco |first1=Tom |last2=Sanderson |first2=Peter |last3=Brevoort |first3=Tom |last4=Teitelbaum |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |last6=Darling |first6=Andrew |last7=Forbeck |first7=Matt |last8=Cowsill |first8=Alan |last9=Bray |first9=Adam |title=The Marvel Encyclopedia |date=2019 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-7890-0 |page=170}}</ref> Like other writers, Stern found himself under pressure to have [[Spider-Man]] fight the [[Green Goblin]] again, but did not wish to bring [[Norman Osborn]] or [[Bart Hamilton]] back from the dead, have [[Harry Osborn]] be a villain again, or create another Green Goblin. Stern instead created a new concept as heir to the [[Goblin (Marvel Comics)|Goblin]] legacy and developed the Hobgoblin.<ref name="Creators">{{cite book |title=Comics Creators on Spider-Man |last=DeFalco |first=Tom |year=2004 |publisher=Titan Books |isbn=1-84023-422-9 }}</ref> Stern recounts that he directed Romita to base it on the Green Goblin costume but to make it "a little more [[medieval]]-looking", while Romita asserts that he was given no direction beyond using the Green Goblin as a basis. Both agree, however, that it was chiefly Romita's design.<ref name="Back35">{{cite journal|last= Greenberg|first= Glenn|author-link= Glenn Greenberg|date= August 2009|title= When Hobby Met Spidey|journal= [[Back Issue!]]|issue= 35|pages= 10–23|publisher= [[TwoMorrows Publishing]]}}</ref> The Hobgoblin's identity was not initially revealed, generating one of the longest-running mysteries in the ''Spider-Man'' comics. According to Stern, "I plotted that first story with no strong idea of who the Hobgoblin was. As I was scripting those gorgeous pages from [John Romita, Jr.], particularly the last third of the book, and developing the Hobgoblin’s speech pattern, I realized who he was. It was Roderick Kingsley, that sunuvabitch corporate leader I had introduced in my first issue of ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man|[The] Spectacular [Spider-Man]]]''."<ref name="Back35"/> A handful of readers deduced that Kingsley was the Hobgoblin almost immediately. To throw off the scent and in the same stroke provide a [[retroactive continuity|retroactive explanation]] for Kingsley's inconsistent characterization in his early appearances, Stern came up with the idea of Kingsley having his brother Daniel Kingsley sometimes impersonate him, sealing the deception by having the Hobgoblin conspicuously appear in the same room as Kingsley in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #249.<ref name="Back35"/> Stern's original plan was to have the Hobgoblin's mystery identity run exactly one issue longer than that of the Green Goblin's identity, meaning the truth would be revealed in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #264.<ref name="Back35"/> However, Stern left after ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #251, and editor [[Tom DeFalco]] took his place. Wanting to resolve the mystery in a manner that would do justice to Stern's stories, DeFalco asked Stern who the Hobgoblin was, but objected when Stern said it was Kingsley. DeFalco argued that the "twin brother" scheme was cheating the readers since there had been no hint that Roderick even had a brother (aside from a single [[thought bubble]]), much less one who could serve as a body double. Stern disagreed but said that DeFalco should feel free to make the choice of which character to use for the Hobgoblin's secret identity, Stern reasoning that "I knew that whomever Tom chose, he would make it work."<ref name="Back35"/> Upon reviewing the clues, DeFalco decided that the Hobgoblin was [[Richard Fisk]] and decided that the Hobgoblin's mystery should be prolonged as long as possible, since it was the chief element that made the Hobgoblin interesting.<ref name="Back35"/> Through both Stern and DeFalco's runs, the answer was continuously teased on the cover art, with the covers of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #245, 251, and 276 all showing Spider-Man having unmasked the Hobgoblin.<ref name="SpideyKicksButt"/> [[File:6.20.19JohnRomitaJrByLuigiNovi25.jpg|thumb|Artist [[John Romita Jr.]] signing a copy of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #238, in which the Hobgoblin first appeared, at [[Midtown Comics]] in Manhattan]] The mystery was further complicated after [[James Owsley]] came on as editor of the ''Spider-Man'' titles. Owsley's relationship with DeFalco and artist [[Ron Frenz]] was strained from the beginning. When Owsley asked who the Hobgoblin was at a creators conference, DeFalco lied and said the man in question was [[Ned Leeds]]. Owsley then wrote the one-shot ''Spider-Man vs Wolverine'' in which Leeds was killed off (though the actual death is not shown), and instructed ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' writer [[Peter David]] to reveal the Hobgoblin's identity as the [[Foreigner (comics)|Foreigner]]. David objected and argued that the only person who fit the clues was Leeds. Having been present at the Spider-Man creator's conference, David also thought that Leeds was who DeFalco intended it to be. Because ''Spider-Man vs. Wolverine'' had already been drawn, however, it was too late to undo Leeds's death.<ref name="Back35"/> Thus, the Hobgoblin's identity was revealed posthumously in the double-sized ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #289. With Spider-Man's archenemy now dead, a new storyline was created from [[Jason Macendale]]'s hatred of the Hobgoblin. Though the Hobgoblin's posthumous unmasking as Leeds was unpopular with fans, David said in a 2009 interview of still being proud of the story, arguing that the Hobgoblin being unmasked in a climactic battle with Spider-Man was the sort of tale readers had already seen countless times before, whereas having an archvillain unmasked in a flashback after having been brutally killed by nameless assassins was unprecedented and shocking.<ref name="Back35"/> From 1987 to 1997, Macendale was the Hobgoblin, initially using only the Hobgoblin's costume and weaponry, but the 1988–1989 "[[Inferno (Marvel Comics)|Inferno]]" [[Crossover (comics)|crossover]] writer [[Gerry Conway]] had Macendale imbued with magical powers by the demon [[N'astirh]] by bonding him with a demon. In addition to power over hellfire and increased strength and speed far greater than his predecessor, N'astirh also disfigures Macendale so that his head resembled the Hobgoblin mask, and ultimately alters his mind so that he was deluded into thinking that his appearance is normal. Several years later, Macendale succeeds in purging himself of his demonic powers and acquires cybernetic implants, the demon that N'astirh imbued with Macendale becoming [[Demogoblin]].<ref name="SpideyKicksButt">{{cite web |url=http://www.spideykicksbutt.com/SquanderedLegacy/SquanderedLegacyPart2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030503193746/http://www.spideykicksbutt.com/SquanderedLegacy/SquanderedLegacyPart2.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=May 3, 2003 |title=Squandered Legacy: The Rise and Fall of the HobGoblin Part Two: The Goblin in Decline |author= Fettinger, J.R. |access-date=2009-02-19 |work= Spidey Kicks Butt }}</ref> Stern was unhappy with the revelation that Hobgoblin's civilian identity was Leeds and wrote the three-issue miniseries ''Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives'' in 1997, with the [[retroactive continuity|retcon]] that Kingsley was the original Hobgoblin while Leeds was brainwashed into serving as a [[fall guy]], Macendale is killed off, and Kingsley returned. According to Stern, initially he had not known how to resolve the situation of having two Hobgoblins, and it was at the suggestion of the editorial staff that Kingsley kill Macendale and return to operating as the Hobgoblin.<ref name="Back35"/> Leeds would return as an independent Hobgoblin in the 2019 miniseries ''[[Symbiote Spider-Man|Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality]]'', revealed to have trained as a sorcerer under [[Baron Mordo]] in the art of [[Scarlet Witch|reality-altering]] [[chaos magic]], before both Leeds and Kinsley would be brainwashed to together serve as the simultaneous Hobgoblin enforcers of the [[Ashley Kafka|Queen Goblin]] in the 2022 storyline "The Hobgoblins' Last Stand" by [[Zeb Wells]].<ref name=":V6" /> <blockquote>'''[[Peter Parker]]:''' "If you're wondering whether the Hobgoblin is [[Ned Leeds]] or Roderick Kingsley…<br>…The Answer is “Yes." It's not a whole lot of fun, frankly."<ref name=":V6" /></blockquote>
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