October 30, 2025 - Throwback Thursday - The Mystery of the Hobgoblin

Hey there, Adventurers! It's a new episode of #ThrowbackThursday. This where I share some history or news about a storyline or character that I think is worth a second or sometimes a first look (if you're new to comics, or even if you're not).

This week I wanted to take a look at the mystery of "Who is the Hobgoblin?" The Hobgoblin made his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #238. He was reminiscent of the Green Goblin with similar weapons and equipment. He would go on to become a bigger and more deadlier threat as he manipulated people and events to consolidate his power and rise in the criminal underworld.

During this time, the big mystery was, "Who is this new villain?" It's hinted that the Hobgoblin was some in Spider-Man's life and various clues and red-herrings were tossed into the storyline to keep readers guessing. Then, there would be a big issue, "The Hobgoblin Revealed" only to find out it was a swerve.

Eventually, the identity of the Hobgoblin was revealed, but the story took place over a few different issues. The Hobgoblin's identity was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #289, but you would have needed to read Spider-Man vs Wolverine first to get the full backstory and everything before 289.

I won't spoil who was initially revealed to be the Hobgoblin because I was a pretty cool story. As with all things comics, retcons and revisions added extra layers of complexity to the story of the Hobgoblin, but the initial mystery story was pretty cool.

#comics
#adventuresinink
#spiderman
#Hobgoblin