Great Hobgoblin history in BackIssue #35

[Earth 2 Chris]

It goes without saying BackIssue is great, but this issue has the most fascinating article I've read in a TwoMorrows publication yet (and that's saying something). I remember buying the very first appearance of Hobgoblin off the stands (Amazing Spider-Man #238) and even then I knew something big was going down (I think I was 7). Holy cow, what a messed up history this character had. Roger Stern created the character, and planned to reveal him as one character, but left before he got a chance to develop that character in the series. Tom DeFalco takes over and comes up with a new secret ID for Hobby, but soon he gets a new editor that he doesn't trust, who forces him to reveal the identity. So DeFalco makes one up, the new editor runs with it...and then it gets REALLY nuts!!!

This made me go back and re-read all these comics, and the fact that some good comics and a semi-coherent story arc every came out of this is a miracle.

If you have ever been interested in behind-the-scenes comic history, pick this up!!!

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Didn't Stern set everything straight eventually with the Hobgoblin Lives mini-series with George Perez?

[Earth 2 Chris]

Didn't Stern set everything straight eventually with the Hobgoblin Lives mini-series with George Perez?

Yes, but the reason he HAD to set it straight is the better story!

Chris

[The Toyroom]

I'm intrigued!

[Riffster]

me too, what was the mini series about? Cliff notes please

[The Toyroom]

The mini-series revealed the TRUE identity of the Hobgoblin.... Roderick Kingsley. Ned Leeds was just a pawn.....

[Earth 2 Chris]

me too, what was the mini series about? Cliff notes please

Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives! ran for issues, and came out in 98, I believe. Hobby creator Roger Stern and Ron Frenz were the creative team on this (Perez inked the covers and issue #1) and it "fixes" the Hobgoblin identity snafus and lets Stern reintroduce his leading candidates for Hobgoblin's secret ID. Spider-Man discovers that Ned Leeds, who was revealed to be the Hobgoblin after Stern left and DeFalco was fired, was never the Hobgoblin at all, only the pawn of the original, who withdrew from costumed crime, and let the former Jack O' Lantern take his place after killing Leeds. I won't tell you anymore, but it's a good read, and Stern manages to make it work, despite the fact that many of the potential Hobgoblins hadn't appeared in 15 years or so.

Chris

[Riffster]

i thought i remembered something about jack o lantern taking over somehow.

but i also remember something about a friend of peters husband being him?

[Earth 2 Chris]

but i also remember something about a friend of peters husband being him?

Yeah, Ned Leeds was "revealed" to be Hobgoblin. Ned was the husband of Betty Brant Leeds, who was Peter's first love interest, way back in the very early issues of ASM.

Ned was killed in Berlin in the Spider-Man vs. Wolverine one-shot, written by then Spidey editor, James Owsely. Peter found Ned in their hotel room, dead, tied to a chair (in street clothes), with his throat slit. Peter had no idea Ned "was" the Hobgoblin. Several months later, edtior James Owsely (now known as Christoper J. Priest, even more confusing) had Peter David write an issue of ASM (#289, I believe) explaining how Ned WAS the Hobgoblin, and Jack O' Lantern (Jason Macendale) hired some assassins to kill him in Berlin. It totally took all the "oomph" out of the mystery of the Hobgoblin. And Ned was NEVER intended to really be Hobby, just a red herring.

It's all in that BackIssue article. Check it out!

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Ordered my copy of BI #35!

[samurainoir]

Just to balance out Defalco, here is Christopher Priest/Jim Owsley's side of the story...
digital-priest.com: Comics

Oh, and suddenly, Ned Leeds was the Hobgoblin, a move that infuriated Roger Stern, but one that I had absolutely nothing to do with.

It appears that he was trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

It really was a shame that Stern was not able to follow through with his vision of the Hobgoblin. I'm sure Hobby might still be on the "A" list of villains today if not for the disappointing climax to an otherwise excellent build-up.

[samurainoir]

Peter David's account...
PeterDavid.net: Foolish Consistencies and...

He had to be Ned Leeds. Tom had been extremely thorough, perhaps too much so. When one took all the clues into account, there was really no one besides Ned Leeds that it could be. No wonder practically all the readers were figuring it out. No other suspects really fit.

[Earth 2 Chris]

For the BI article, the writer, Glenn Herdling, tried to get comments from Owsley/Priest, but he didn't respond back. So he took excerpts from Priest's website above. Priest is pretty much on his own with his account. Whose to say what's what. We weren't there. But it seems like Priest and DeFalco had some bad blood and they were both toying with each other. David verifies that Owsley killed Ned Leeds in the Spider-Man/Wolverine special to honk off DeFalco. What makes this all the odder, was that at the time, DeFalco was second-in-command only to Jim Shooter, and he would soon take over the editor-in-chief title.

As for David, he said the same thing about Leeds in the BI article. And after re-reading the issues I had on hand, I pretty much had to agree. As it stands, Leeds DID seem to be the Hobgoblin. Perhaps DeFalco planned to make Ned seem the prime suspect, only to pull the rug out from under us as he introduced HIS version of Hobby's secret ID,who to my knowledge, didn't appear in any DeFalco stories, because (according to him) Owsley kept cutting those scenes out since he didn't think the amounted to anything, thinking Leeds was Hobby.

Chris