Marvel’s “Green Goblin” series only lasted 13 issues, meaning we’ve officially hit the midpoint of the series. Issue #5 gave us a mission statement about Phil as a character, with #6 setting up the next arc of the series. Liz Allan-Osborn appears at the Daily Bugle, stating that someone had stolen her late-husband Harry’s property, and that she wants it back. We have a new conflict with a few extra stakes to carry us into the next chapter of the story; what may actually be the final chapter, depending on how things play out.
Written by Tom DeFalcoCover by Scott McDaniel
Pencils by Scott McDaniel
Inks by Derek Fisher
Letters by Jim Novak and Sue Crespi
Colors by Gregory Wright
Color Separations by MalibuA new villain known only as The Steel Slammer appears, while Liz Osborn pushes Ben Urich for information about the new Green Goblin.
The issue opens with Liz meeting with J. Jonah Jameson and Ben Urich, trying to get them to release any information he has about the new Goblin. Her lawyer, Foggy Nelson, makes it clear to Ben that the pair would consider legal action if he doesn’t willingly surrender them, despite everything the two of them have been through. He even ends their discussion with a brisk “Good say, sir!” It’s a nice opening scene with some great tension. Ben and Foggy have a lot of history together in the pages of “Daredevil,” but he’s still willing to drag him into court and force him to reveal his sources. But has his journalistic ethics, but apart from his relationship with Nelson, he genuinely feels bad for Allan. Jonah’s in peak journalistic integrity mode, but Robbie’s there as well, assuring Ben that The Bugle will stand behind him no matter what decision he makes. All the while Phil sits outside, stewing in guilt for putting his everyone in this position.
It’s also worth noting that Foggy and Liz would end up as a couple, with him referring to her as his girlfriend in July 1996’s “Daredevil” #354, three months after this issue. The relationship would continue until 1998’s ‘Guardian Devil’ arc, ending due to involvement from Mysterio. Curse you, Kevin Smith!
The drama between Liz Allan and Ben Urich is the strongest part of this issue. And Phil watching powerlessly at the situation he created threatens to expose him. And you can tell it was the aspect DeFalco himself was the most invested in, because when he has to introduce a super villain, it’s just like some guy. The Steel Slammer just sorta shows up, does some art theft, and gets beat up by the Goblin. That’s it. I guess it’s a little more complicated than that. He actually shows up twice in this issue. Once to do some art theft, announcing that he’s stealing sculptures from this one particular sculptor, who only has pieces in two other museums in the city, then gets beat up as soon as Phil can put the costume on. Mostly because he announced his plans clearly to anyone listening and got surprised when that made his movements really predictable.
The first museum attack is also when we get Phil’s “date” with Lynn Walsh. Turns out she was just inviting a bunch of her friends out to the museum. This includes her boyfriend, Derrick Gratham from the sales department. Or as Phil calls him, Derrick “The Dork” Gratham. You can tell Phil thought this was going to be a hot date, because he wore his best Anaheim Mighty Ducks jersey and Pittsburg Steelers Starter jacket. Derrick, despite being a “dork” and a “geek” according to Phil, is captain of the ESU football team, in addition to being a straight A student and (again, according to Phil) “a major hunk.” Basically a stock romantic rival for our relatable everyman hero. Which is funny, because while Derrick is supposed to be the star athlete who dramatically saves Lynn from danger during the attack, Phil’s the dumb jock of the two.
Derrick waxes pseudo-intellectually about modern sculpture “glorifying, rather than apologizing for the workday world,” while Phil tells us “he isn’t with this art noise.” The next scene, while tracking down the Slammer, Phil muses about how back in junior high, he believed only “nerds and stiffs played with computers.” But now that modern technology has aided in his superheroics, he figures he’s either matured over the years, or “me gone dweeb-o.” I’m not sure offhand what the most 90s part of this book is. But watching a guy in a hockey jersey brag about how much of a nerd he’s being because he searched for museums on AOL? That feels up there. But back at the museum, we’re introduced to a new character, Phil’s “bud” Meredith “Merry” Campbell. While Phil’s busy being heartbroken about Lynn, he explains that while Merry is “hardly in a class with Lynn,” she’s somebody he can “jaw it up with.” Which feels like an incredibly gross thing to say about a platonic friend, even in a comic caption box.
Continued belowThat one bit of narration is also the only bit of introduction she gets. I’m going to make a prediction: This random character suddenly dropped into the story will be the actual love interest of the story, with Lynn having been a red herring. But considering how many other dropped plot threads there have been so far, I’m not putting money down.
While DeFalco excels at the more dramatic, character driven conflicts of Liz and Ben, letting the supervillain caper go under developed, McDaniel is the opposite. The scene of glider riding Goblin battling a jet powered robot suit over the city looks great, while the indoor-daytime scenes simply look alright. There’s fewer cases of him rushing. No one has flippers instead of fingers. Some of his characters in the first third of the book resemble late-era “Sin City,” but McDaniel’s art has always had some Frank Miller in its DNA (McDaniel would later produce a variant cover “Dark Knight III,” and a “Dark Knight Strikes” again cover for Wizard). That and his Phil seems thinner this issue. His features seem more jagged and pronounced, at least in the first few pages. His characters are still expressive, with Jameson being particularly great. But his strengths continue to lay in the action sequences, with Slammer’s defeat being the best page in the book. Gregory Wright’s colors, aided by Malibu’s digital talents, are the best they’ve ever been here as well.
The issue closes with Ben relenting and turning his research over to Liz and Foggy, leaving Phil to wonder what the future holds for him, and his dual identity. With six issues left, this tension might carry until the end of the series. Although with this series’s history of dropping plotlines a little too early, I am a little worried. Plus, there’s still the matter of Onslaught popping up towards the end.
