One of the greatest storylines in Spider-Man history - the original Hobgoblin saga - comes to a conclusion in a story fittingly entitled "Endings." The Hobgoblin first appeared in the instantly classic Amazing Spider-Man #238 and almost immediately became Spider-Man's top foe. Although he has the same powers and equipment as Spidey's original arch-rival, the Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin is a much more rational villain, which may make him even more dangerous.

When Amazing Spider-Man #250 ended, Spider-Man had tracked the Hobgoblin back to his secret hideout. The two fought and in their battle, the Hobgoblin's equipment exploded into a raging inferno, with both hero and villain trapped inside. Both men are stunned, but the Hobgoblin awakes first and discovers that Norman Osborn's journals, which he used to obtain his powers, have been destroyed in the blaze. "Their secrets are now lost forever!...Mettlesome fool! You'll pay for their destruction with your own life!" he says.

But before Hobgoblin can kill Spider-Man, he sees the roof start to collapse. So he gets in his armored battle van and crashes out of the burning warehouse - and straight through the helpless police corridor. However, he's got an uninvited guest tagging along - the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Spidey ignores his aches and pains and crawls up on the windshield. Hobgoblin brags that "Even your incredible strength will prove useless against this windshield!" That is, until a barrage of punches put a hole right through it! This sequence is great, as artists Ron Frenz and Klaus Janson really illustrate both Spider-Man's determination and the Hobgoblin's amazement at it. "Any other man would have already surrendered to despair and death," the narrator tells us. "Yes, any other man -- but not the spectacular Spider-Man!"

Through sheer determination, Spider-Man gets inside the battle van, but quickly finds himself at the receiving end of a beating. In Amazing Spider-Man #249, the Hobgoblin used a gas to nullify Spider-Man's spider-sense, so he can't avoid the barrage of punches. That is, until now. "C-can feel a slight buzzing in my head!" the groggy Web-Slinger thinks. "E-either the Hobgoblin has succeeded in scrambling my brains, or...my spider-sense! It's coming back!" With his spider-sense back on board, it's a different ballgame. The Hobgoblin is still a tough foe, but now, Spider-Man starts fighting back.

As they battle, the battle van, which had been on auto-pilot, crashes off a pier into the Hudson River. Water begins pouring into the van and to make things worse, the van's self-destruct mechanism has been activated! Spider-Man urges the Hobgoblin to abandon the fight. But the Hobgoblin doesn't seem to care. "You're even crazier than I thought if you think I'm going to let you drown us both!" Spider-Man says, pushing the Hobgoblin off of him. Spider-Man gets out of the van just before it explodes. The Hobgoblin (apparently) isn't so lucky. Spider-Man goes down to the bottom of the river to try and find him, but finds nothing, except the Hobgoblin's tattered mask. "Is it a trick of the light, or do it's hollow eyes mock Spider-Man...mock him with some deadly, secret knowledge?!"

From there, Spider-Man goes to the Daily Bugle. In the previous issue, J. Jonah Jameson said he planned to confess for his role in creating the Scorpion way back in Amazing Spider-Man #20. Spider-Man asked him to reconsider, but Jonah reveals he's already done it. Jonah is stepping down from his post as editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle in favor of Joe Robertson. But Jonah will remain as publisher. "Joe, this office belongs to you -- and so does my newspaper. Take good care of her, Joe," he says, as he leaves. It's a touching moment between Spider-Man and his longtime rival.

The issue ends with Peter Parker investigating the worst spider-sense alert he had ever gotten. It draws him to Central Park, where a large contraption has appeared. Spider-Man steps inside -- and disappears! This leads to the Secret Wars maxi-series, Marvel's first company-wide crossover. (And while Secret Wars itself was fine, the less said about the crossover trend, the better!)

This issue marks the start of a new creative team, as Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz take over from Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. As such, the Hobgoblin saga ends quite a bit differently than Stern had planned. When he left the book, DeFalco asked Stern to reveal the Hobgoblin's identity and Stern replied, "You are the Spider-Man writer now, so you get to decide." Instead, DeFalco opts to keep the mystery going. It makes for a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion, but the story itself is one of the best action-oriented Spider-Man stories you'll ever read. It's one of those tales that reminds you of just why you root for Spider-Man in the first place. DeFalco and Frenz have been collaborators for nearly 25 years now and currently are the long-running creative team on the Amazing Spider-Girl comic. As for the Hobgoblin, well, you can't keep a good heel down. He returns in Amazing Spider-Man #257 and will remain a steady presence throughout the DeFalco/Frenz run.

Next issue: Believe it or not, the next issue may even be bigger than this one. For the first time in a quarter-century, Spider-Man has a new costume!

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #261