World Official Goblin Appreciation Thread - Part 1

[Hobgoblin]

I hate this...so much.

The only remotely entertaining part of the clip is after the Goblin skit, when the camera goes back to the crowd at 3:02, who looks horrified at what they've just seen. Then they see the camera is back on them and start applauding. Guys...we saw it, you saw it. Dont pretend it didnt make you die a little bit inside.

 

[Mistah K88]

So what's everyone's opinion on the current Hobgoblin?

I personally think that Phil is kind of a loser as the Hobgoblin. Granted Phil was never that bright of a cookie. I mean seriously, trying to be a superhero dressed up as a well known super criminal...and not only that, one of the worst ones. Phil would be the type to try to become a Rabbi dressed as Hitler. I almost want to say that trying to force Phil into the "Anti Peter" role is kind of strained; even down to the "Uncle Ben" thing going on.

One reason why Kingsley was pushed aside was because of Norman coming back and refilling that void that Norman left open with his death. Harry was too one track minded as a Goblin, and wasn't ruthless enough or really a murderer. That's where Hobby came in. Roderick's motivation for villainy was pretty much a "Eh, why not? It's not like I have anything better to do." The whole Belladonna ordeal may also have had something to do with him picking up costumed villainy in an indirect way. One of Roderick's most interesting personality quirks was his fear of insanity. This fear gave him that one more difference over Norman who clearly had some problems. When Norman was brought back from the dead, they made him more like Kingsley when it comes to things like manipulation and pulling strings...Especially moreso now where Norman doesn't even dress up anymore (making his Goblin days seem like a hobby like it was to Roddy). So this makes Kingley seem irrelevant, especially with the fact with Norman becoming more like him, with the rich white crooked businessman who is a master at manipulation who dresses up as a goblin as a pastime. Roderick's sanity was one of the most fun things about him as a goblin (now we're back to an insane one...again). Roderick was completely content with not dressing up again after Ned was murdered, even going so far as finding it amusing when Jason took up the mantle. The only reason he decided to come back was the fact that Macendale could have possibly opened up an investigation that could end up finding its way back to Roderick. Compare this to Norman, where as soon as he heard about the Hobgoblin, it took everything in him not to take the first plane back to New York. Unfortunately, now even Norman finds amusement with the impersonators as of late, when he should have been going out of his way to try to off them.

With Norman doing his own thing, and Roderick out of the picture, they knew they needed to fill that Goblin role...we had a league of losers with Menace or the Grey Goblin. However, they were retreading old ground and didn't have any staying power...so they knew they had to have a goblin who already had an established name. The Hobgoblin! However, given Kingsley's personality, motivations, and sanity, why would he leave his happy ending just to tango with Spidey again? That's why they had Phil gain this drastic change in personality and take the mantle...I could only hope that Roddy is pulling strings in the behind the scenes thing he's so good at. But here's a question...what does this loser have to offer to someone like Kingsley?

 

[Hobgoblin]

I'm very split on Phil. I loved the short lived Green Goblin series he starred in and was disappointed when it was canceled. Its good to see him back in action after being written out of the books for so long. I like his attitude as the Hobgoblin. He's having fun as the bad guy. This is very much in character for him, as he was the Green Goblin in the first place for "the jollies." The winged look is cool, even if it is a little blasphemous to have a Goblin without a glider.

That brings me to my criticisms. There have been...how many Hobgoblins? Kingsley, Leeds, Macendale, Donovan and the unnamed guy from Secret Wars. Why create a whole new Hobgoblin when we had the original (and best) one sitting around doing nothing? Kingsley was one of my all time favorite Spider-Villains (as I'm sure would shock you to know). I was thrilled that he came back and ticked that he was killed off so suddenly. One of the most intelligent enemies Spidey has taken by surprise by a nobody like Urich? Not likely.

The whole Phil as Hobgoblin thing is just to have a Hobgoblin with a new look, imo. As said before, every Goblin has had the traditional glider and pumpkin bombs. This guy uses bat wings and a flaming sword. They were trying to "freshen up" the Hobgoblin image. I guess that's ok, because as I said, the old look has been done 5 times before. Still, it doesnt feel wholly necessary. "If it aint broke, dont fix it." Plus, having Phil take over further "freshens up" the Hobgoblin character.

Frankly, I would have preferred the return of Roderick Kingsley to the Spider-Verse. Norman was off being an Avengers villain these days (a fact that I despise) and Spidey was Goblinless. I wouldnt have minded a Grey Goblin return, as Gabreil was a completely bouncing off the walls insane character that could have been fun. I certainly prefer the Grey Goblin to American Son. Iron Man style villains should stay in Iron Man's books. (I dont consider Menace to be a real Goblin.)

Kingsley was a cold, calculating SOB. Phil does his thing all for getting the attention of Nora. Which is fine, because that's very much in character for him. As the Green Goblin, he was always swooning over Meredith. I guess I can see how perverse it is that he does all of this damage all in the name of a girl but it doesnt grab me as much as the machinations of an evil genius. Without Norman in the picture, Spidey is without a Goblin mastermind. Plus, I loved the rivalry between Norman and Roderick. I would have loved to see Kingsley trying to throw wrenches in Norman's plans in the New Avengers. Sadly, that is not to be.

So in short, (too late) Phil is a decent villain but Roderick would have been better.

 

[Godzilla2014]

Demogoblin was cool looking but was a one note villain. How many times can can he go out killing sinners before it gets old?


Cool picture by the way.

Plus, I never thought that it made sense for a demon to try to uphold Judeo-Christian morality.

 

[Hobgoblin]

Plus, I never thought that it made sense for a demon to try to uphold Judeo-Christian morality.

That too. Then again, I guess Demo was trying the same theory out as the fallen angels in Dogma. "If we prove to the Almighty that we are still really worthy, then everything will be cool!"

Doubtful.

 

[Mistah K88]

You know, the animated series Spectacular Spider-Man's Green Goblin had a pretty solid design when tackled by another artist without the restraints of simplification for animation's sake.

 

[Hobgoblin]

It took me a while but I came to like Spectacular Goblin's look.

 

[Mistah K88]

I hated Green Goblin's design in that show when I first saw it (in the first episode he appeared in), but I started loving it thanks to his characterization. The best part is that Norman was full aware what he was doing. The amnesia thing worked well when they didn't know too much about mental illness, but it wouldn't work so well today. So in a way Norman was a crook beforehand and just became even worse, trading in simply doing white collared crime for doing not only that, but also blue collared crime as well.

The 90's series came up with a spilt personality to explain the craziness of the Goblin, which the Raimi movie then followed. Normally the split personality portrayed Norman as an okay guy, who went nuts due to stress (which also came from comics since when Norman had amnesia, he was pretty okay)...the worse offense was in the 90's cartoon when Gobby wouldn't keep his mouth shut and tell everyone and their mom that he had connections to Norman... Osborn should have been dead THE NEXT DAY after telling it all to Kingpin...

It's unfortunate how we'll never see Hobgoblin in other media since the 90's series since Green Goblin HAS to come first, as one of the points of the Hobgoblin is the fact that he's a knockoff (the only one done right). With the movies we don't want to cram Spidey's rougues gallery with goblins when there are completely different and original characters. And the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon is going to be likely to use the Ultimate Hu...Goblin. The worst part is after Spectacular was cancelled (right after showing Roderick Kingsley), they bring Kingsley back in comics just to kill him off for Phil...it's like they hate Roderick Kingsley.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I hated Green Goblin's design in that show when I first saw it (in the first episode he appeared in), but I started loving it thanks to his characterization. The best part is that Norman was full aware what he was doing. The amnesia thing worked well when they didn't know too much about mental illness, but it wouldn't work so well today. So in a way Norman was a crook beforehand and just became even worse, trading in simply doing white collared crime for doing not only that, but also blue collared crime as well.


The 90's series came up with a split personality to explain the craziness of the Goblin, which the Raimi movie then followed. Normally the split personality portrayed Norman as an okay guy, who went nuts due to stress (which also came from comics since when Norman had amnesia, he was pretty okay)...the worse offense was in the 90's cartoon when Gobby wouldn't keep his mouth shut and tell everyone and their mom that he had connections to Norman... Osborn should have been dead THE NEXT DAY after telling it all to Kingpin...

It's unfortunate how we'll never see Hobgoblin in other media since the 90's series since Green Goblin HAS to come first, as one of the points of the Hobgoblin is the fact that he's a knockoff (the only one done right). With the movies we don't want to cram Spidey's rougues gallery with goblins when there are completely different and original characters. And the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon is going to be likely to use the Ultimate Hu...Goblin. The worst part is after Spectacular was canceled (right after showing Roderick Kingsley), they bring Kingsley back in comics just to kill him off for Phil...it's like they hate Roderick Kingsley.

Agreed with all, especially the bold parts. The "good guy with a split personality and occasional amnesia" aspect is one of the few things that I dislike about the character. I get in trouble for saying this, but I really like the "resurrected" Goblin more than the 60's and 70's version of the character. He's much less...well, comic booky. (The Gathering of Five being the exception.)

I'm ashamed to note that I never noticed the plot hole regarding Norman and Kingpin in the 90's series. Goblin flat out says he is working for Osborn when he kidnapped Fisk, and at the end of the series Fisk and Osborn are still on speaking terms. Knowing me, I was too geeked out at having finally just seen a Green Goblin episode to have noticed that Norman would be taking a dirt nap after betraying his boss.

And Kingsley, well, I've already said my piece on him.

 

[Mistah K88]

So will we ever see the return of weapons like the Sonic Toad or the Asphyxiation Ghost? We all know about Pumpkin Bombs, Batarangs...I mean Razor Bats, and even the electronically charged Sparkle Blasts occasionally show up all the time, but what of the other weaponry of the Green Goblin?

What does that Moon do?

Granted, the Flying Broomstick was simply a prototype for the Goblin Glider, Norman just busted it out before it was finished in a hurry to start his first Goblin plan (If I had an plan to beat Spider-Man on a movie set, I'd be in a rush to get that off the ground as well).

 

[Hobgoblin]

The moon is basically a proto-type for the razor bats.

I can do without the sonic frog but I do miss the glove blasts.

 

[webhead731]

I hate this...so much.

The only remotely entertaining part of the clip is after the Goblin skit, when the camera goes back to the crowd at 3:02, who looks horrified at what they've just seen. Then they see the camera is back on them and start applauding. Guys...we saw it, you saw it. Dont pretend it didnt make you die a little bit inside.

That sucked ass.
And THAT Green Goblin looks like a Power Ranger monster.
Shame on them.

 

[Godzilla2014]

You know, the animated series Spectacular Spider-Man's Green Goblin had a pretty solid design when tackled by another artist without the restraints of simplification for animation's sake.

It took me a while but I came to like Spectacular Goblin's look.

I think its cap needs to be longer in the back (like the traditional "windsock cap") and could use a pumpkin bomb bandolier, but overall, it's one of my favorite Green Goblin designs. I think it would be a great place to draw influence from for a more faithful live-action adaptation of Green Goblin's costume.

 

[ComicForAWife]

How about this gif? I'm thinking of making a Dark Avengers fan made trailer.

 

[Hobgoblin]

 

[Hobgoblin]

 

[Venomous Mask]

Epic pics, Spidey.


And what the heck, we'll do some Demogoblin.

Demogoblin was the ****, he needs more love in this thread. He kicked all kinds of ass. I also loved the demonic form of the Hobgoblin before the two split:

 

[Mistah K88]

You can't have a murderous psychopath without an infectious laugh

 

[Hobgoblin]

Speaking of an infectious, psychotic laugh, I love this one from Vincent Price.



I had no idea he helped work on Thriller.

 

[Mistah K88]

Vincent Price makes anything sound sinister


You know, I always heard a bit of Joker in his voice.

Harry: What do you want from me?
Hobgoblin: Your dad's loaded, you had to ask?


The original Hobgoblin vs the original Green Goblin, a battle meant to happen...it's a shame that when it did happen, Norman didn't put on the Goblin suit!

 

[Hobgoblin]

I heard a rumor that back in 2000, there was going to be a Kingsley/Osborn fight with both of them in costume. I think editorial canceled it.

 

[Hobgoblin]

 

[Mistah K88]

You know, the people that preach that the classic Goblin suit wouldn't have worked and the military suit made sense always fail to explain that extremely stylized mask (why would the military wear Goblin masks?).

And to all the people who insult his man bag

 

[Spidey_62]

Venom #16 unlettered preview, very nice Michael Del Mundo cover that's new to me. Possible major spoilers for Phil/Hobgoblin.

Spoiler

The Fly spews acid on Phil's arm and he apparently loses his one arm, the Fly also bites him in the neck and he flys away in defeat while Kingpin looks disappointed.

 

[Hobgoblin]

Interesting. We'll see where this takes us. Part of me thinks its some kind of dream/hallucination/ other kind of fake out.