“Our sins always catch up to us in the end. And your sins are so many, Norman Osborn.” So said Stan Carter, the Sin-Eater, when he had the Green Goblin at his mercy in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #50. On a mission to cleanse the world of sin, the Sin-Eater shot Norman… and cleansed his soul. Norman lived, but Spider-Man’s sworn archenemy, the Green Goblin, was dead. His sins purified, a reformed Norman Osborn helped Spider-Man battle the demonic Kindred — an enemy birthed by Norman’s sins past — and became the superhero Gold Goblin.
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But Norman Osborn’s hero days are over. Marvel announced the return of Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin in its official solicits for Free Comic Book Day 2024. According to the publisher, Free Comic Book Day 2024: Spider-Man/The Ultimate Universe #1 will set up Norman’s Goblin relapse in the pages of Zeb Wells’ run of Amazing Spider-Man.
Norman’s return to villainy comes as Marvel revisits the first Goblin — the Proto-Goblin — in April’s Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin, a four-issue limited series from writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Michael Sta. Maria.
Norman Osborn: From Green Goblin to Good Guy
To recap: Peter Parker and Norman Osborn have been working together since Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #7, when Norman offered Peter a job at his company: the new Oscorp focused on finding altruistic uses for Norman’s engineering proficiencies. Norman equipped Spider-Man with a new high-tech Spider-suit and Spider-Glider and has been one of his most trusted allies ever since.
But after the cloned/son Sergei Kravinoff returned to help Doctor Octopus plan his revenge on Spider-Man and Norman Osborn, the new Kraven the Hunter teamed with Dr. Ashley Kafka after the physical manifestation of Norman’s sins turned her into the Queen Goblin.
It was at this time that Norman confessed to Peter his fears of relapsing into the supervillain who murdered Spider-Man’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. Kraven mystically imbued a spear with the sins of the Green Goblin and hunted Norman to restore his sins, thereby unleashing the Goblin. But when Spider-Man threw himself in front of the spear to save Norman and prevent the Goblin’s return, the disembodied sins of the Green Goblin coursed through Spider-Man’s veins.
A black-suited Spider-Man, poisoned with the Green Goblin’s evil, hunted down Kraven and then went on a violent rampage. A sin-free Norman helped stop the “Spider-Goblin” with the same spear that unleashed his sins… a spear that Kraven vowed to bind in ceremony and bind in the ground. “Neither it nor I will bother you again,” Kraven told Norman. “You are free, Osborn.” But the Queen Goblin smiled with content andleft Norman to fear the Goblin’s return.
Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #35 ended with Norman’s Goblin persona emerging from the recesses of his pysche. “My sins are no longer in Peter. The spear was made to hold them, but… I knew it wouldn’t. The spear is not their home. I AM. I had to save Peter. I didn’t have time. But I knew… if given the chance… my sins would come home.” And then he chuckled with a mischievous grin, horrifying the reformed Norman. The Green Goblin lives again.
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Spider-Man/The Ultimate Universe #1 is available at local comic shops on May 4.
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Image Credit: Marvel Comics
