Beware the Rage of a Desperate Man (Spider-Man 46-49)
Beware the Rage of a Desperate Man!
While you might think that the title of this story is a reference to the depths of despair (and ensuing rage) that Spider-Man comic book collectors endured to locate all the inter-title crossover pieces of the story, they are in fact referring to Spider-Man himself being pushed too far. Or, wait... maybe it’s both?
Yep, it’s another classic follow-up tale to the Maximum Carnage storyline. Couldn’t get enough Shriek and Carrion? Check out the 4-part Shrieking saga. What’s happening with Carnage? Check out Amazing Spider-Man annual 1994. Want to follow the further adventures of Demogoblin? Check out Spider-Man 46-49.
Because let’s not forget that Maximum Carnage was a big deal. The first ad I ever saw for the video game was in the back of Spider-Man 49.
But before we get there, let’s talk about B.t.R.o.a.D.M. This series was more than just your average Spider-Man filler series because it actually introduces a new villain (Sergei Kravinoff, the Grim Hunter) and also features the death of the Demogoblin. Interestingly, both the Grim Hunter and the Demogoblin have super complex origin stories, so complex in fact, that it is one of the few times I’ve seen where they didn’t even try to tell them.
Usually, villains shout their origin stories at Spider-Man while getting their asses kicked. This is because Stan Lee preached that every comic was someone’s first comic, so it was important to always have a recap to bring everyone up to speed. But after 30+ years of Spider-Man stories, how the hell are you going to bring someone up to speed in a couple panels?
Let’s start with Demogoblin. I just knew he was a crazy-looking monster man with a demon bat glider made out of fire. He was cool, I just went with it. But holy shit. The original goblin was the Green Goblin (ASM14), who turned out to be Norman Osborn (ASM39), the father of Peter’s college enemy-turned-buddy and all around weasel, Harry. Norman would fight Spider-Man, get amnesia, un-get amnesia, fight Spider-Man again, and so on. Harry did a bunch of drugs (ASM96-98) and Norman got impaled on his bat glider and died like a loser (ASM122). Then Harry shaved his Fu Manchu and took up the mantle of the Green Goblin (ASM136) and went all around crazy. He'd fight Spider-Man, get amnesia, un-get amnesia, fight Spider-Man again, and so on.
Shockingly, the writers got worn out with the constant amnesia stories, but the Green Goblin was popular, so they got creative and made a "new" character, the Hobgoblin. A crook stumbles upon one of the Green Goblin’s secret hideouts after Spider-Man lazily lets him escape (so yeah, it’s technically Spidey’s fault the Hobgoblin exists.) The crook sells the information to a shady figure and is killed shortly thereafter. The shady figure becomes the Hobgolin after dying one of the green costumes orange (ASM238). The identify of the shady figure is kept a mystery all the way until ASM289, where it is revealed that Ned Leeds, the Bugle Reporter who stole Betty Brant away from Peter Parker, is the Hobgoblin. Except that was also wrong, because the writers kept changing between ASM238 and ASM289, and nobody could agree on who the Hobgoblin should be. Unsatisfied, the original writer (Roger Stern) came back and wrote a series called “the Hobgoblin Lives!” 10 fucking years later to retcon the whole thing to his original vision: Roderick Kingsley, a fashion designer who was a secret super criminal. But how could you explain away all the clues that led to Ned Leeds being the Hobgoblin, including Ned being gunned down while dressed as the Hobgoblin in Germany? It’s simple, really, when you have a twin brother AND a brainwashing/mind control machine in your basement. Okay, but that was the first Hobgoblin. There was a second one, Jason Macendale, who took over as soon as the first one died (but didn’t really die, because it was Ned Leeds that died.)
Look, I’m running out of steam here. The backstory to the Hobgoblin’s identity is the longest Wikipedia article I’ve ever read. There’s a whole thing where Hobgoblin 2 couldn’t get the Green Goblin strength formula so he bonds with a demon in the Inferno crossover, but then undoes it because it makes him ugly, so then there’s the two pieces of him running around: Macendale and the Demon Goblin. At this point, things were convoluted and nobody gave a fuck, so they just said screw it, Demon Goblin’s name is DemonGoblin, or you know what, let’s just make is Demogoblin. I’m sure nobody will notice how lazy we are and also how it’s basically one letter away from the word Hemoglobin. Autocorrect didn’t exist back in ‘94, so no problems.
That’s a lot to unpack here, and I really skimped on the details. I won’t go into the Kraven the Hunter backstory in this post, but let’s just say that he goes from a crazy jungle man into a desperate sop who commits suicide and then turns into a ghost in order to explain to Spider-Man that suicide is bad. Not joking. Thanks Marvel.
All this to say: you want to know what’s going on? You want to have the slightest chance of understanding why these two goblins, neither of which are green, are kicking each other’s asses? Well, that’s why you need the whole story, amigo.
Comedy aside, one of the fun parts of jumping into the deep end of comics is that, by not starting at the very beginning, there will just be some stuff that doesn’t make sense. Stuff that doesn’t make sense makes the universe richer. But if you really gotta know, and you’re patient (and a good enough hunter) you can eventually go back, fill in the gaps, and start to piece it all together. A random panel of Spider-Man dressed in the black costume won’t make much sense to a n00b, but it means a lot to anyone who read a particularly good storyline back in 1987... or in my case, in 2017.
While you might think that the title of this story is a reference to the depths of despair (and ensuing rage) that Spider-Man comic book collectors endured to locate all the inter-title crossover pieces of the story, they are in fact referring to Spider-Man himself being pushed too far. Or, wait... maybe it’s both?
Collect all 5 in a 4-part series!
Yep, it’s another classic follow-up tale to the Maximum Carnage storyline. Couldn’t get enough Shriek and Carrion? Check out the 4-part Shrieking saga. What’s happening with Carnage? Check out Amazing Spider-Man annual 1994. Want to follow the further adventures of Demogoblin? Check out Spider-Man 46-49.
Oh, how I lament my involvement in "Maximum Carnage" © coming soon to Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo!
Because let’s not forget that Maximum Carnage was a big deal. The first ad I ever saw for the video game was in the back of Spider-Man 49.
It will never end!
You wouldn’t want to, oh I don’t know, “hate yourself” for not having those key issues would you? That might seem extreme, but that’s exactly the kind of neurotic behaviour that Marvel was cultivating by using those literal exact words to brainwash me into spending all my money on Spider-Man 50.
But before we get there, let’s talk about B.t.R.o.a.D.M. This series was more than just your average Spider-Man filler series because it actually introduces a new villain (Sergei Kravinoff, the Grim Hunter) and also features the death of the Demogoblin. Interestingly, both the Grim Hunter and the Demogoblin have super complex origin stories, so complex in fact, that it is one of the few times I’ve seen where they didn’t even try to tell them.
Usually, villains shout their origin stories at Spider-Man while getting their asses kicked. This is because Stan Lee preached that every comic was someone’s first comic, so it was important to always have a recap to bring everyone up to speed. But after 30+ years of Spider-Man stories, how the hell are you going to bring someone up to speed in a couple panels?
Let’s start with Demogoblin. I just knew he was a crazy-looking monster man with a demon bat glider made out of fire. He was cool, I just went with it. But holy shit. The original goblin was the Green Goblin (ASM14), who turned out to be Norman Osborn (ASM39), the father of Peter’s college enemy-turned-buddy and all around weasel, Harry. Norman would fight Spider-Man, get amnesia, un-get amnesia, fight Spider-Man again, and so on. Harry did a bunch of drugs (ASM96-98) and Norman got impaled on his bat glider and died like a loser (ASM122). Then Harry shaved his Fu Manchu and took up the mantle of the Green Goblin (ASM136) and went all around crazy. He'd fight Spider-Man, get amnesia, un-get amnesia, fight Spider-Man again, and so on.
Shockingly, the writers got worn out with the constant amnesia stories, but the Green Goblin was popular, so they got creative and made a "new" character, the Hobgoblin. A crook stumbles upon one of the Green Goblin’s secret hideouts after Spider-Man lazily lets him escape (so yeah, it’s technically Spidey’s fault the Hobgoblin exists.) The crook sells the information to a shady figure and is killed shortly thereafter. The shady figure becomes the Hobgolin after dying one of the green costumes orange (ASM238). The identify of the shady figure is kept a mystery all the way until ASM289, where it is revealed that Ned Leeds, the Bugle Reporter who stole Betty Brant away from Peter Parker, is the Hobgoblin. Except that was also wrong, because the writers kept changing between ASM238 and ASM289, and nobody could agree on who the Hobgoblin should be. Unsatisfied, the original writer (Roger Stern) came back and wrote a series called “the Hobgoblin Lives!” 10 fucking years later to retcon the whole thing to his original vision: Roderick Kingsley, a fashion designer who was a secret super criminal. But how could you explain away all the clues that led to Ned Leeds being the Hobgoblin, including Ned being gunned down while dressed as the Hobgoblin in Germany? It’s simple, really, when you have a twin brother AND a brainwashing/mind control machine in your basement. Okay, but that was the first Hobgoblin. There was a second one, Jason Macendale, who took over as soon as the first one died (but didn’t really die, because it was Ned Leeds that died.)
I always loved this splash.
Look, I’m running out of steam here. The backstory to the Hobgoblin’s identity is the longest Wikipedia article I’ve ever read. There’s a whole thing where Hobgoblin 2 couldn’t get the Green Goblin strength formula so he bonds with a demon in the Inferno crossover, but then undoes it because it makes him ugly, so then there’s the two pieces of him running around: Macendale and the Demon Goblin. At this point, things were convoluted and nobody gave a fuck, so they just said screw it, Demon Goblin’s name is DemonGoblin, or you know what, let’s just make is Demogoblin. I’m sure nobody will notice how lazy we are and also how it’s basically one letter away from the word Hemoglobin. Autocorrect didn’t exist back in ‘94, so no problems.
And I will be the silliest goblin of them all! Nyaaaahhh!
That’s a lot to unpack here, and I really skimped on the details. I won’t go into the Kraven the Hunter backstory in this post, but let’s just say that he goes from a crazy jungle man into a desperate sop who commits suicide and then turns into a ghost in order to explain to Spider-Man that suicide is bad. Not joking. Thanks Marvel.
All this to say: you want to know what’s going on? You want to have the slightest chance of understanding why these two goblins, neither of which are green, are kicking each other’s asses? Well, that’s why you need the whole story, amigo.
Comedy aside, one of the fun parts of jumping into the deep end of comics is that, by not starting at the very beginning, there will just be some stuff that doesn’t make sense. Stuff that doesn’t make sense makes the universe richer. But if you really gotta know, and you’re patient (and a good enough hunter) you can eventually go back, fill in the gaps, and start to piece it all together. A random panel of Spider-Man dressed in the black costume won’t make much sense to a n00b, but it means a lot to anyone who read a particularly good storyline back in 1987... or in my case, in 2017.
Oh right, my debilitating PTSD.
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