Marvel’s “Green Goblin” series set out to give us a heroic Goblin, in the form of Phil Urich. But in the last three issues, Phil’s stumbled in his heroic efforts. He fails to join a super team. He lets a villain go over a schoolboy crush, costing him the respect of his first superhero team up partner. And now he’s held in an alleyway by local gang leader Ricko the Sicko. Barely a quarter of the way through the series, we’ve seen Phil’s attempts at superheroism fall flat. But he still has two defeated supervillains to his name; three depending on how you count Joystick. Even as he struggles to find what hero he wants to be, if any hero at all, he’s still claimed enough successes to open a path forward.
Arguably, the same could be said about this series thus far. The book’s been hampered with weird structural issues but still managed to tell a compelling narrative. While it has smoothed substiantly over the last three issues, there’s only ten more left for it to find its footing.
Written by Tom DeFalcoCover by Scott McDaniel
Pencils by Scott McDaniel
Inks by Derek Fisher
Letters by Jim Novak
Colors by Gregory Wright
Color Separations by MalibuGreen Goblin battles Hobgoblin as Phil must stop the hijacking of the Metropolitan Transport Authority’s armored money train.
We pick up exactly where Issue #3 left off. Local crime boss Ricko the Sicko has grabbed Phil and is trying to extort information out of him. Phil’s internship at the Bugle gives him access to information Ricko can use for criminal purposes. After Ricko says his piece, the Hobgoblin shows up. He doesn’t attack or anything. He’s just flying around being the Hobgoblin. Phil assumes that he’s looking for him. But no. Hobby’s got his own stuff to do. That’s our inciting incident. Hobgoblin just popped into the story and Phil thought “I bet he’s after me!” This sort of worked for me. Whether or not this was an actual intended character beat or another weird pacing issue, I liked the idea of Phil seeing another goblin and getting paranoid. Phil’s canonically a mess anyway, so him jumping to worst-case conclusions fits. Regardless, it still works to push the action forward with Phil investigating the Hobgoblin just to make sure he’s not the target.
From here, we get something we haven’t seen so far, even if it was done off-panel in the first issue. Phil digs through the Daily Bugle archives, researching everything he can find about his potential antagonist. We’re actually given some insight into Phil’s journalist abilities, seeing what we were simply told in Issue #1. I do need to point out that Phil’s shocked the Bugle is still using microfilm and bound editions, as opposed to using modern methods like “on-line services” and “CD-Roms.” I haven’t gone too in depth into how 90s this series is. But every so often, I remember how it opened with dudes stealing Lion King VHS tapes from the corner video store.
What’s interesting is how the Hobgoblin is portrayed. He’s built up as a threat unlike anything Phil has faced yet. He may or may not have a personal vendetta against the new Goblin. Phil even tries calling the police and letting the proper authorities handle him first. We even get a little background on him. We find out through Phil’s research that Hob’s stalking his ex-wife, who’s married to a high powered accountant. But at no point does this issue reveal the Hobgoblin’s real name. Which is odd, because Jason Macendale had worn the orange hood for just shy of a decade at this point. Not to mention his career as Jack O’Lantern before that. In the text of the story, Phil tracks down his ex-wife by way of old newspaper articles, so he’s a fairly public figure. It’s an odd choice. Maybe it was meant to make him more of abstract threat. Maybe it’ll pay off next issue. There’s like three different goblins on the cover of Issue #5, so I’m assuming.
But because the other goblin is such a threat, Phil approaches the Fantastic Four for help. The Thing answers the phone, says no, and hangs up the phone. But when we hit the climactic battle, Aunt Petunia’s Ever-Lovin’ Blue Eyed Boy returns to help save the day! This made me excited. More excited than I usually am whenever Benjamin J. Grimm shows up in anything. Because it was a pay off! Last time a superteam made a cameo in this series, it ended with Phil randomly flying off. With so many unresolved plot seeds so far, it was a refreshing change of pace.
Continued belowBut if there’s one major complaint I have with this issue, it’s how Lynn is handled. She’s back by the way. Phil’s over Joystick, I guess. She hasn’t had much character other than “love interest” in this series. That does get upgraded to “damsel in distress” this round, complete with her fainting in the midst of danger. Okay, technically she was incompacitated by a gas attack. But I’m still counting it! Lynn’s the only recurring female character in the series thus far. I’d like to see her get some actual character before the end of the series, because she’s failing the Sexy Lamp Test hard.
On the art side of things, we’ve had a few changes. Gregory Wright’s back on colors, though he’s being helped by the Malibu crew on separations, bringing their digital method to the book. I didn’t notice too much difference on that front. The characters are a little shinier, and the night scenes are a bit easier to read. There is one panel that’s weirdly faded when the two goblins are fighting in the subway tunnel. Also, Phil does turn yellow at one point. McDaniel is getting bolder with his layouts. He uses a lot of circular panels to great effect. He probably didn’t need to surround The Thing with fours, but it had a certain 90s charm. I did appreciate Hobgoblin’s John Romita eyes on the cover too. In addition to Malibu helping with colors, Derek Fisher takes over inks. Not sure how much of this is him or McDaniel, but the shading is much better than it was last issue. Fewer panels that may or may not be a face.
Overall, this issue was the tightest yet. Everything introduced paid off, or at least felt like it would pay off down the road. We didn’t have to wade into ‘The Clone Saga’ to get the whole story. We have a single, mostly self contained plot that doesn’t leave too much dangling. Now if it can just treat its one female character better.
