Published on April 1st, 1984
This ends the original Hobgoblin storyline. The shocking thing about this is that the identity of The Hobgoblin isn't revealed. While the issue is fairly action packed and features a big moment when J. Jonah Jameson steps down at The Daily Bugle, leaving the idenity of The Hobgoblin up in the air after all this time is such a cop-out and letdown. Even the cover has Spider-Man holding The Hobgoblin's mask. What a cheat. This issue is also strange because it has a new writer and artist on board. Wouldn't they let the previous writer and artist finish their storyline? Especially when it's one issue? Strange. They do mention on the title page that Roger Stern wrote the plot. The script is by Tom DeFalco. It says that Ron Frenz did the pencil breakdowns and Klaus Johnson did the finished art. As for the story: The Hobgoblin escapes the burning building in an armored van with Spider-Man clinging to it. There's a chase and they end up in the river where Spider-Man escapes and The Hobgoblin is presumably dead at the bottom of the river. The ending has Spider-Man finding a strange building in Central Park and he's zapped into another galaxy far away...which leads to the famous Secret Wars mini-series where Spider-Man gets the black suit which eventually becomes Venom. This issue was entertaining and fun but the ending is super disappointing. Supposedly writer Roger Stern came up with the idea that Roderick Kingsley was The Hobgoblin. Stern left the book and the new writers came up with the idea that it was Ned Leeds. Leeds was finally unmasked as The Hobgoblin in The Amazing Spider-Man #289. Then, years later, Roger Stern did a mini-series we he came up with the stupid idea that no, it was Kingsley all along, but he had brainwashed Leeds into thinking that he was The Hobgoblin. You know...all of that ridiculousness would have been thwarted if they had just unmasked The Hobgoblin as Kingsley in this issue. They probably wanted to keep the mystery going to sell books but it backfired and turned out ludicrous. While they certainly didn't stick the landing, the original Hobgoblin storyline was actually pretty awesome. Every time I read a new, current issue of Amazing I just sigh, wishing it was as good as it used to be, wondering what went wrong, if it'll ever be good again. **1/2
