Green Goblin In Animation - A Retrospective
As odd as it may sound, I found The Goblin to be really funny in the show. Whilst this series really is better
described as a comedy than an action show, it’s still abnormal to think of The Goblin as a comedy character. There’s
an absolutely priceless moment in his second episode, Magic Malice, as The Goblin has stolen a book of magic spells
(the show is camp in a way that would make Adam West blush) and makes his way to the jewellery store hoping to rob it.
Our villain then announces that he doesn’t want to break the law and be considered a criminal, so he gladly pays the
parking fee for his Goblin Glider and then robs the store. The Goblin’s final appearance in the show also brings with it what I deem the show’s most hilarious moment. No small feat, I assure you. I’m not usually one for camp humour, especially when it involves superheroes, but this is a scene I simply cannot watch without bursting into hysterics. It’s not something that can be explained in mere words, but I’ll try anyway. Dr. Noah Body releases The Vulture, Electro and of course our grinning Goblin from prison in one final attempt to kill Spider-Man. As with most supervillain team ups, they spend most of their time trading insults with one another and telling one another that they each believe they are Spider-Man’s greatest villain, and they should be the one to finally put an end to his existence. After a flawless spot of ventriloquism bests The Vulture, Spider-Man manages to create webbing that can withstand lightning and pumpkin bombs, and as the bombs bounce back up towards him The Goblin follows it up with the best “Oh No!” you’ll ever hear. I would consider it to be perhaps the funniest moment in Marvel Animation history. 
As stated earlier, this would The Goblins’ last appearance in the show. There would be many green skinned
villains in the sophomore and final seasons, but none of them were anywhere near as good as the Goblin.By the time The Green Goblin was next set to appear on TV, things had certainly changed. Following a rather lengthy feud in the comics, Norman Osborn’s battle with The Green Goblin was anything but humorous, and with him knowing Peter’s secret identity and his presence always looming around Peter due to his friendship with Harry, it became gripping stuff to read - this was back in the days when Spider-Man comics were actually good. In what went down as arguably the most shocking moment in comics’ history in Amazing Spider-Man #122, Spider-Man and The Goblin’s feud came to it’s conclusion as Norman kidnapped Peter’s girlfriend Gwen Stacey and fought Spider-Man on the George Washington Bridge, throwing Gwen off it. It’s not sure if she died of shock or if Spidey’s webbing broke her neck, but the fact is, The Green Goblin killed his girlfriend. He met his own demise in the story arcs conclusion, as his own glider impaled him. Many believe this story to be Spider-Man’s greatest, and they raise a good argument, in my opinion. If you’ve not read this story, read it. By the time The Green Goblin next appeared in a cartoon, there was no doubt as to whom Spidey’s top villain was. Even though he’d been dead for years at this point, The Green Goblin was still the chief villain in Spidey’s illustrious rouges gallery. In my opinion, it wouldn’t even be rivalled until The Hobgoblin debuted years later. With animation strictly being aimed at a younger audience in the 1980’s, it would be foolish to assume we’d see anything like The Death Of Gwen Stacey appear in the cartoon. The show wasn’t strictly a comedy like the previous cartoon however. I’ve only just recently seen this episode after it eluded me for many, many years but I do remember being shocked at seeing The Goblin unmask Spider-Man. For some reason, The Green Goblin was already aware of Peter’s other identity, and simply unmasked an almost paralysed Peter without any real dramatic build up. This version is almost identical to the one found during the Lee/Romita glory days, except Harry’s nowhere to be seen. (He is mentioned in one episode as a millionaire inventor friend of Peter’s, but that has nothing to do with The Green Goblin). Norman and The Goblin are two separate personalities, and The Goblin is unaware that Peter Parker is secretly Spider-Man. 
The ending goes down the comedic route and The Goblin attempts to tell J. Jonah Jameson Spider-Man’s secret
identity while Spider-Man makes as much noise as possible in order to stop Jameson from hearing his name. Whilst
it’s certainly an entertaining episode, making The Green Goblin into just another supervillain is hardly worthy of
the character. Still, he had a great design and a pretty good voice, but let’s face it, given how supervillains were
portrayed on TV in the 80’s, we’re lucky he was this good. If you’re not aware by now, the 1980’s solo Spider-Man series was a syndicate show designed to help sell Spider-Man to the networks. It worked. Just a few years after Spider-Man was syndicated, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends came to ABC and became one of the most beloved and popular cartoons of the decade, if not all time. The Green Goblin would once again return, in the show’s opening episode! Triumph Of The Green Goblin had The Goblin retrieve the formula that originally turned him into The Goblin in an attempt to make everyone look like him. Unfortunately, the rest of the episode is pretty much a rehash from the previous 80’s Goblin episode, only Firestar and Iceman are included. Whilst this one is a little better, one can’t help but feel disappointed. Still, there was excellent casting here. Producer Dennis Marks was a fine Goblin, and Neil Ross played Norman Osborn. Ross would later play both Norman and The Goblin in 1994’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The Goblin only made the one appearance in Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends. Like most villains who weren’t Videoman, there was never any intention of brining him back for a second episode. The Green Goblin wouldn’t be seen on TV again until the aforementioned Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the 90’s, and boy, did it cause some controversy.
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