At the ruins of an Oscorp facility, the Goblin Nation, led by the Goblin King, clashes with the Hobgoblin and his team of super-villain franchisees.[1] However, after a while the King orders everyone to stop fighting. The King convinces the Hobgoblin that a truce is in order because they will need an army to take down Spider-Man, who has an army of his own.

At that moment, at New York Harbor, Spider-Man and his Spiderlings are about to clash with AIM. That’s when the Avengers show up and Captain America tells Spider-Man that they need to talk. When Spider-Man says he is busy, Cap orders the Avengers to take down both the Spiderlings and AIM. When Spider-Man demands to know what they want, Captain America tells him that his probation is over.[2]

At that same moment, deep inside his mind, the last remnant of Peter Parker looks at the wasteland that was once his mindscape.[3] Otto had destroyed almost all of his memories except for those that he committed to his own memory. All Peter can find now are fragments. Although he knows who he is and that he is Spider-Man, he doesn’t know much else. He recalls that he couldn’t defeat Otto at his full strength and wonders how he is going to do it now.[4]

Meanwhile, the Goblin King and the Hobgoblin have agreed to settle their differences by fighting one-on-one, the winner will gain control of Goblin Nation as well as Kingsley’s super-villain franchisees. As the two fight, the King mocks the Hobgoblin, calling him an immitator and then wonders who it is under the mask, mentioning all the people in the past who once associated with the Hobgoblin.[5] When he mentions Daniel Kingsley, Roderick’s late brother, the Hobgoblin loses his temper. Deciding to use the same tactic, the Hobgoblin suggests that this Green Goblin is not Norman Osborn, but his son Harry, whom he calls a failure.[6] Hearing Harry being called a failure causes the Goblin King to pause long enough for the Hobgoblin to strike him with a pumpkin bomb.

While at Avengers Tower, Spider-Man is being interrogated by his teammates who are close to kicking him off the team. This is beacuse Iron Man has uncovered evidence that shows that Spider-Man erased data they collected to prove he wasn’t a Skrull.[7] Spider-Man admits he did it, but says he only did so in order to protect his secret identity, reminding Captain America that he fought in the Civil War to allow him that privacy.[8] He points out that only three people in the room know who he really is and even that is too many.[9] Still, they aren’t buying his recent changes in behavior was due to being infected by the Venom symbiote.[10] Iron Man decides to put this to an end right away by pulling up a back-up copy of the test results. When Spider-Man asks why they insist on prying into his private life, Iron Man tells him that it is because he is an Avenger.

Inside Spider-Man’s mind, Peter Parker decides not to give up after seeing a memory of himself struggling to pull himself free from under rubble.[11] He remembers that no matter what the odds were he never gave up. He believes that while Otto erased most of his memories, he has distilled moments that were the core of who Peter Parker is, and who Spider-Man was. He decides that is all he really needs to find a way to win.

Back at the Goblin Underground, the Goblin King gets up after the Hobgoblin’s latest attack. He then shows that he is really Norman Osborn by lifting up his shirt and showing the scar from where he was impaled by one of his own goblin glider years ago. This puts the fear into the Hobgoblin who cowers away from the Goblin. However, Norman Osborn quickly catches up to his foe and chokes the life out of him as all those gathered to watch the battle cheer his name.

While at Avengers Tower, Spider-Man grows fed up with the interrogation and decides that if they cannot respect his privacy, he quits. He then leaps out the window and swings away. Fuming over this insult, Otto Octavius vows that he doesn’t need the Avengers or anyone anymore.

By this time, the Goblin King has absorbed Kingsley’s men into his army. However, when the Goblin Knight unmasks the Hobgoblin he discovers that it is not Roderick Kingsley, but someone else, leaving them to wonder where the real Hobgoblin is. At that moment, in Paris, Roderick Kingsley is using the Winkler mind control device to brainwash yet another man into thinking he is the real Hobgoblin and makes a toast to his butler, whom he sacrificed in order to allow Kingsley to escape and begin planning new schemes.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Wolverine, Spider-Woman), “Hobgoblin”, Goblin King, Goblin Knight, 8-Ball, Mauler, Tumbler, Ringer, Hitman, Unicorn, Answer, Killer Shrike, Melter, Gibbon, AIM

Continuity Notes

1. The Hobgoblin offers incentives to the minion who kills Phil Urich. Urich usurped the Hobgoblin identity in Amazing Spider-Man #649. When Roderick Kingsley learned this he forced Phil to pay him a franching fees to continue operating as the Hobgoblin in Amazing Spider-Man #695-697. Urich was later outed as the Hobgoblin and arrested, only to be freed by the Goblin Nation and becoming their Goblin Knight in Superior Spider-Man #15-16.

2. Since Otto Octavius took over Peter Parker’s life circa Amazing Spider-Man #698 his increasingly uncharacteristic behavior led the Avengers to put him on probation. See Superior Spider-Man #8.

3. Peter Parker’s consciousness lived on even after Otto took over his body. However, eventually Otto found this out and erased nearly all of Peter’s memories in an effort to destroy Parker in Superior Spider-Man #9. Peter’s spirit survived and was recently uncovered in Superior Spider-Man #19.

4. There are a number of milestones of Peter Parker’s memories that still exist. They are:

   • There are memories of Peter having breakfast with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Peter getting bitten by the radioactive spider and Peter developing his web-shooters. These three events both happened in Amazing Fantasy #15.

   • Another is of Doctor Octopus unmasking Spider-Man. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #12.

   • There is another of Spider-Man cradling the dead body of George Stacy. Stacy died in Amazing Spider-Man #90.

   • There is also a memory of Spider-Man with six arms. This was a condition that lasted from Amazing Spider-Man #100 to 103.

   • Another one is of Spider-Man struggling to get the Venom symbiote off of him. This is from Web of Spider-Man #1.

5. The Goblin King mentions all of the people who have been, or were accused of being the Hobgoblin. This is because Roderick Kingsley had a long history of using stand-ins to obfuscate his true identity. Those mentioned are:

   • Flash Thompson: Thompson was never the Hobgoblin, but was once framed in Amazing Spider-Man #278 until his name was cleared in Amazing Spider-Man #289.

   • Ned Leeds, as explained in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1-3, was brainwashed into taking Kingsley’s place as the Hobgoblin. He first took on this role in Amazing Spider-Man #257 until he was murdered in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1.

   • Jason Macendale: Usurped the Hobgoblin identity by hiring hitmen to kill Ned Leeds. He first took wing as the Hobgoblin in Amazing Spider-Man #289. When Kingsley sought to reclaim his identity he murdered Macendale in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1.

   • Daniel Kingsley: Daniel often posed as his brother when Roderick needed to distance himself from the Hobgoblin. A perfect example of this was in Amazing Spider-Man #49. Daniel attempted to become the Hobgoblin in Amazing Spider-Man #649, but he was murdered by Phil Urich who usurped the role.

6. The Hobgoblin suggests that the Goblin King is actually Harry Osborn, the son of Norman Osborn. Some facts:

   • Norman has consistently been the Green Goblin since his Amazing Spider-Man #14. However, he went into hiding for years following his apparent death in Amazing Spider-Man #122 until he resurfaced in Amazing Spider-Man #419.

   • In the interim, Harry became the Green Goblin on a number of occasions starting in Amazing Spider-Man #136. The last time he was the Goblin was in Spectacular Spider-Man #200 when he seemingly died due to complications of the Goblin Formula. He survived and would resurface again in Amazing Spider-Man #545. His survival was detailed in Amazing Spider-Man #581-582.

   • However, this is not Harry Osborn, who went into hiding in Amazing Spider-Man #647 in order to protect his newborn son, Stanley, from enemies of his father.

   • The Goblin King is actually Norman Osborn, as we’ll learn in Superior Spider-Man #31.

7. Iron Man mentions how he recently returned to Earth. Tony Stark went on a sabbatical in space which began in Invincible Iron Man #527. He eventually returned to Earth in Iron Man (vol.5) #17.

8. You remember Civil War? See Civil War #1-7. During this time, Spider-Man revealed his identity in the 2nd issue of that series. He later became a fugitive when he remounced the Super-Human Registration Act in issue #5 making him a fugitive. Peter managed to make his identity a secret again by making a literal deal with the devil. See Amazing Spider-Man #545 and 638-641.

9. After Peter erased all knowledge of his double identity, he has only re-revealed his identity to a select few. The three he is talking about here are Wolverine, Spider-Woman, and Captain America. All three learned about Peter’s true identity in New Avengers #51.

10. Otto attempted to use the Venom symbiote as an excuse for his uncharacteristic behavior. See Superior Spider-Man #22-25.

11. This iconic image is from Amazing Spider-Man #33.