The origin of Super Villains: Hobgoblin

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobgoblin_(comics)

The Hobgoblin is the alias of several fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly depicted as enemies of Spider-Man. The first Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #238, and was created by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr.[1] During the late 1980s and most of the 1990s, the Hobgoblin identity was carried exclusively by Jason Macendale instead. In 2009 The Hobgoblin was ranked by IGN's as the 57th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[2]

The Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita, Jr. for The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983). Like other writers Stern found himself under pressure to have Spider-Man fight the Green Goblin again, but did not wish to bring Norman Osborn or Bart Hamilton back from the dead, have Harry Osborn become the Green Goblin again, or create yet another Green Goblin. Instead he created a new goblin as heir to the Green Goblin's legacy and developed the Hobgoblin.[3] Stern recounts that he directed Romita to base the costume on the Green Goblin's but to make it "a little more medieval-looking", while Romita asserts that he was given no direction beyond using the Green Goblin as a basis. Both agree, however, that the costume was chiefly Romita's design.[4]

The character's identity was not initially revealed, generating one of the longest-running mysteries in the Spider-Man comics. According to Stern, "I plotted that first story with no strong idea of who the Hobgoblin was. As I was scripting those gorgeous pages from JR [John Romita, Jr.], particularly the last third of the book, and developing the Hobgoblin’s speech pattern, I realized who he was. It was Roderick Kingsley, that sunuvabitch corporate leader I had introduced in my first issue of [The] Spectacular [Spider-Man]."[4] A handful of readers deduced that Kingsley was the Hobgoblin almost immediately. In order to throw them off the scent, and in the same stroke provide a retroactive explanation for his inconsistent characterization of Kingsley in his early appearances, Stern came up with the idea of Kingsley having a brother named Daniel who sometimes impersonates him, sealing the deception by having the Hobgoblin conspicuously appear in the same room as Daniel Kingsley in Amazing Spider-Man #249.[4]

Stern's original plan was to have the mystery of the Hobgoblin's identity run exactly one issue longer than that of the Green Goblin's identity, meaning the truth would be revealed in The Amazing Spider-Man #264.[4] However, Stern left the series after The Amazing Spider-Man #251. Editor Tom DeFalco took his place. Wanting to resolve the mystery in a manner that would do justice to Stern's stories, he asked Stern who the Hobgoblin was, but objected when Stern told him it was Kingsley. DeFalco argued that the "twin brother" scheme was cheating the readers since, aside from a single thought bubble, there had been no hint that Roderick even had a brother, much less one who could serve as a double for him. Stern disagreed but said that DeFalco should feel free to choose whoever he wanted for the Hobgoblin's secret identity, reasoning that "I knew that whomever Tom chose, he would make it work."[4] Upon reviewing the clues, DeFalco decided that the Hobgoblin was Richard Fisk. Moreover, he decided that the mystery of his identity should be prolonged as long as possible, since it was the chief element that made the Hobgoblin interesting.[4] Through both Stern and DeFalco's runs, the answer to the mystery was continuously teased on the cover art, with the covers of Amazing Spider-Man #245, 251, and 276 all showing Spider-Man unmasking the Hobgoblin.[5]

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