But there’s a lot more to Spidey than all the adventure and excitement. Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #87 Published: c. November, 1983? Cover Date: February, 1984 “Mistaken Identities!” Writer: Bill Mantlo Artist: […]
You don’t want to cross him when he’s lost his sense of humor. Spider-Man Unlimited (Vol. 1) #20 Published: c. March, 1998? Cover Date: May, 1998 “A Long Way Till Dawn” Writer: Christopher Golden Artist: […]
No challenge is met without reward. Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #194 Published: c. April, 1979? Cover Date: July, 1979 “Never Let the Black Cat Cross Your Path!” Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Keith Pollard Inker: Frank […]
on Panel of the Day #1615 (Splash Page Sunday!): “@Hornacek – Maybe Stan reserved the writer credit for himself.” Nov 18, 08:01
on Panel of the Day #1615 (Splash Page Sunday!): “In these older issues, why is the writer sometimes listed as “Scripter”? Is this like in a movie credits where…” Nov 17, 09:09 on Panel of the Day #1615 (Splash Page Sunday!): “I mean, eventually he’ll fall enough that he can web onto a building. This isn’t that dire a situation. Now…” Nov 17, 09:08 on Panel of the Day #1612 (Splash Page Sunday!): “I guess there was something different about Cindy Moon’s body chemistry, too.” Nov 11, 08:15 on Panel of the Day #1612 (Splash Page Sunday!): “I don’t like the whole “something was different with Peter’s body chemistry” explanation here. He was bitten by a spider…” Nov 11, 04:30
on 1994 Spider-Man #15: “Battle of the Insidious Six” Review: “Your complaints look like nitpicks and made-up. Why angry face should be indicative of seeing stone crushed?” Nov 10, 14:28 on Panel of the Day #1611: “I might be in the minority, but I’ve always been confused about Spider-man Noir’s wielding a gun.” Nov 8, 09:36 on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #60 (Legacy #954): “Hit The Road, Zeb” or “All [REDACTED] Things Must Come To An End”: “@Paul Penna: I just don’t see any future writer “doing” anything with Paul besides having him around. Marvel wants him…” Nov 6, 09:19 on Panel(s) of the Day #1610 (Mary Jane Monday!): “@Hornacek — I would make a horrible Spider-man. So many times, were I in his place, I would have confided…” Nov 5, 07:53 on Panel(s) of the Day #1610 (Mary Jane Monday!): “At least he said “I have to go take photos for the Bugle.” This is a valid excuse since this…” Nov 5, 04:26
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@hornacek — Thank you so much for taking the time to answer that. I wonder if anyone reading those classic issues when they first appeared, upon the Green Goblin’s unmasking, said, “Hey, it’s that guy that asked Jonah to run that ad!” Even though Ditko stated that it was ridiculous to think that the Goblin’s identity had anything to do with his leaving, the fact that Ditko beat Stan to it by placing Norman in those earlier panels makes me smile. Clearly I need to get caught up on my Crawlspace “lore,” as well: though I’ve been visiting for years now, there are plenty of podcasts and articles I need to explore. Thank you again!
@Evan – There’s no 100% clear answer about this. Some say Ditko left the book because he and Stan argued about who the GG would turn out to be, but I think Ditko himself said years later in an interview that was “ridiculous”.
Some say that Stan revealed the Goblin’s identity in ASM #39, the first issue after Ditko left, because he wanted to do it right away in case Ditko wanted to come back, or made any public statements about who he planned the Goblin to be. Again, not likely, given how much of recluse we know Ditko to be, and how when he makes a decision he doesn’t go back on it.
Norman is introduced as a “named” character in ASM #37, so it can feel like it comes out of nowhere when the Goblin is unmasked and he’s a guy we just met 2 issues ago. But if you look back through the Lee/Ditko issues, you can see Ditko putting Norman in the background of various panels (mostly when Jonah is at his club), starting around issue #26? There’s even a panel where we see Jonah talking to Norman at the Bugle saying “Sure, I’ll run your ad in the paper today, no problem” – Norman doesn’t say anything, and it has nothing to do with the issue and is never followed up on, but it stands out when you reread those issues knowing that Norman is the GG. Why is Ditko putting this nameless person in so many background scenes in multiple issues?
They talk about this a lot in the Amazing Spider-Man Classics podcast, which I recommend, both for the Norman/Goblin discussion and the hilarity.
Can anyone familiar with Spider-man lore (JR, maybe?) tell me if at this point in the Goblin’s history the writers planned to make him Norman? Or was that more of an up-to-the-last-minute kind of decision? It struck me that the conveniently placed…is that a mirror? He’s putting on his tie, I think…is as much a help to the writers as it is to the story itself. I seem to recall that at that point the Goblin’s identity was undecided.