The Hobgoblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of whom are depicted as enemies of the superhero Spider-Man and belong to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery. Created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr., the original Hobgoblin first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (1983) as a criminal mastermind equipped with an arsenal of Halloween-themed weapons similar to those used by the Green Goblin, including grenade-like Pumpkin Bombs, razor-sharp bat-shaped blades, and a flying Goblin Glider. Having perfected the experimental chemical formula that transformed Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin possesses Osborn's enhanced strength and intelligence without his insanity, and vies to take control of New York City's criminal underworld.
The original Hobgoblin's true identity was one of the longest-running mysteries in Spider-Man comics, as he often used brainwashed body doubles and stand-ins. Stern's original plan was for the character's alter ego to be Roderick Kingsley, an amoral billionaire fashion designer and Mary Jane Watson's former boss, but editorial conflicts following Stern's departure from Marvel led to the Hobgoblin instead being revealed as Ned Leeds, Peter Parker's journalist co-worker at the Daily Bugle, in 1987. Stern was dissatisfied with this revelation and, upon returning to Marvel in 1997, retroactively established Kingsley as the original Hobgoblin with Leeds reframed as one of Kingsley's many fall guys. Other characters that have been framed or manipulated into serving as Kingsley's decoys over the years include Lefty Donovan, Flash Thompson, his twin brother Daniel Kingsley, and his butler Claude.
The Hobgoblin mantle has also been assumed independently of Kingsley by Jason Macendale and Phil Urich, while Robin Borne and Harry Osborn have adopted the persona in alternate continuities.
The Hobgoblin has been adapted in various media incarnations, including television series and video games.
Publication history
The Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr. for The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983). 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 yet another Green Goblin. Stern instead created a new goblin as heir to the Green Goblin's legacy and developed the Hobgoblin. Stern recounts that he directed Romita to base the costume on the Green Goblin's 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 the costume was chiefly Romita's design.
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]." A handful of readers deduced that Kingsley was the Hobgoblin almost immediately. To throw them off the scent and in the same stroke provide a retroactive explanation for Kingsley's inconsistent characterization in his early appearances, Stern came up with the idea of Kingsley having a brother named Daniel who sometimes impersonates him, sealing the deception by having the Hobgoblin conspicuously appear in the same room as Daniel Kingsley in The Amazing Spider-Man #249.
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. 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 choose whoever he wanted for the Hobgoblin's secret identity, reasoning that "I knew that whomever Tom chose, he would make it work." Upon reviewing the clues, DeFalco decided that the Hobgoblin was Richard Fisk. He opted to prolong the mystery of his identity as long as possible, since it was the chief element that made the Hobgoblin interesting. 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.
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 it was Ned Leeds. Owsley then wrote the one-shot Spider-Man vs Wolverine in which Leeds is 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. 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. 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.
Macendale supplanted the original Hobgoblin for a decade (1987-1997). Initially he wielded only the weaponry of his predecessor, but during the 1988–1989 "Inferno" crossover writer Gerry Conway had Macendale imbued with demonic powers by the demon N'astirh. In addition to power over hellfire and strength and speed far greater than his predecessor, N'astirh also disfigures Macendale so that his head resembles the Hobgoblin mask, and ultimately alters his mind so that he is deluded into thinking that his appearance is normal. Several years later, in issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, Macendale succeeds in purging himself of his demonic powers, leaving the demon that N'astirh imbued him with to become Demogoblin. Towards the end of Macendale's run as the Hobgoblin he was revamped again, this time with cybernetic implants.
Stern was unhappy with the revelation that the Hobgoblin's civilian identity was Leeds and wrote the three-issue miniseries Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives in 1997, with the retcon that Kingsley was the original Hobgoblin while Leeds was brainwashed into serving as a fall guy. In this miniseries Macendale is killed off. 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 he had Kingsley kill Macendale and return to operating as the Hobgoblin. Leeds returns as an independent Hobgoblin in the 2019 miniseries Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality, revealed to have trained as a sorcerer under Baron Mordo in the art of reality-altering chaos magic. Leeds and Kingsley are brainwashed to serve as the Hobgoblin enforcers of the Queen Goblin in the 2022 storyline "The Hobgoblins' Last Stand" by Zeb Wells.The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #9–14 (November 2022 - January 2023)
Fictional character biography
Roderick Kingsley
Roderick Kingsley became a socialite, fashion designer and billionaire with criminal underworld connections by using unethical business practices and corporate raiding. Kingsley was an employer of Mary Jane Watson for a time.The Amazing Spider-Man #271 (December 1985) As a means of avoiding the drill of day-to-day appearances, he has his timid identical twin brother Daniel Kingsley pose as him to run his corporation.Hobgoblin Lives #1 (January 1997) Kingsley's activities give him many enemies, one of which is Bella Donna (Narda Ravanna), a rival fashion designer whose business he ruined. She attempts revenge on Kingsley but is twice thwarted by Spider-Man.Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #43 (June 1980)Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #47 (October 1980)Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #48 (November 1980)
After these incidents, Kingsley seeks to protect himself and his empire by gaining more power. The thug George Hill reports to Kingsley of stumbling upon Norman Osborn's secret lair in hopes of earning a reward. Kingsley instead kills Hill to make sure that no one else gets wind of the discovery.The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983) Upon examining the lair and gleaning its secrets, Kingsley decides to use the Goblin equipment. Arriving to the conclusion that all the previous Green Goblin mantle wearers went mad, he creates a similar but different mantle: the Hobgoblin identity. He uses some of Osborn's files to blackmail prominent figures,The Amazing Spider-Man #249 (February 1984) and attempts to buy Osborn's old corporation Oscorp and merge it with his own.The Amazing Spider-Man #260 (January 1985) These schemes bring him into conflict with Spider-Man, to whom he repeatedly loses, as he lacks raw physical power.The Amazing Spider-Man #239 (April 1983) Among Osborn's notes, Kingsley finds remnants of Mendel Stromm's strength enhancing potion and eventually perfects it, but, aware that Osborn was driven insane, Kingsley opts to test on someone else first.The Amazing Spider-Man #244 (September 1983) He tricks small-time hood Lefty Donovan by using a mind-control equipment developed by Gerhard Winkler (Osborn's former employee), the "Winkler Device", able to turn anyone into a Hobgoblin enthralled to another. Kingsley monitors his pawn's vital signs and behavior from a distance. When Spider-Man overwhelms and unmasks Donovan and the brainwashing begins to fail, Kingsley acts to protect his identity by programming Donovan's glider to crash into a building, killing Donovan.The Amazing Spider-Man #245 (October 1983) Judging the experiment a success, Kingsley immerses himself in his completed formula derivative and gains greater strength than the original Goblin.Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #85 (December 1983) Despite his increased abilities, he is still narrowly defeated by Spider-Man. Worse, he attracts the attention of powerful criminal interests who perceive him as a threat, including the Kingpin. After a bitter encounter with Spider-Man,The Amazing Spider-Man #250 (March 1984)The Amazing Spider-Man #251 (April 1984) Kingsley discovers Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds investigating his lair.Hobgoblin Lives #3 (March 1997) Kingsley captures and brainwashes Leeds into being the Hobgoblin.