New Spider-Man Comic Revisits Marvel's First Goblin

"What are the dreaded secrets of Norman Osborn?" That's the question posed on the cover of 1997's Spider-Man Minus 1, the first chapter in a prequel Spider-Man saga. The issue, "A Prelude in Red," written by Howard Mackie with art by Dan Fraga, introduced Nels van Adder: the original Goblin who preceded Norman Osborn's Green Goblin. More than 25 years later, Marvel will revisit the macabre mystery of the Proto-Goblin — and the Osborn family's tangled web of lies — in the pages of Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin in April 2024.

The four-issue limited series from former Amazing Spider-Man writer J.M. DeMatteis (Kraven's Last Hunt) and artist Michael Sta. Maria (X-Men Red) is set during Peter Parker's early adventures as Spider-Man. Shadow of the Green Goblin will tie up a plot thread dangling since 1997 as the young superhero finds himself entangled in a dark drama involving the Osborns. 

"Norman Osborn was not the first Goblin! Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin you know. But he is NOT the Original Goblin," the synopsis reads. "It's time to learn the shocking secrets of the Proto-Goblin, and its dramatic connection to the Osborn family! What role does a young Peter Parker, who has not yet understood his great power and responsibility, play in this unfolding of events?"

"I've always been fascinated with Peter Parker's early days as Spider-Man, a time before he fully understood what it meant to be a super hero," DeMatteis said. "Shadow of the Green Goblin allows us to take a deep dive into young Peter's mind and emotions as he makes his way through this exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, new world."

DeMatteis added: "We take an equally-deep dive into the dysfunctional dynamic of the Osborn family, seeing how that generational pain sowed the earliest seeds of Norman's Green Goblin identity and left its traumatic imprint on Harry. If you think you know everything there is to know about Peter and the Osborns, think again!"

Spider-Man Minus 1: The Proto-Goblin, Explained

Part of Marvel's Flashback series, 1997's Spider-Man -1 is a prequel set years before the radioactive spider bites Peter Parker in Amazing Fantasy #15. As a younger NYPD Captain George Stacy hunts a super-powered serial killer, his investigation brings him to Osborn Industries. After meeting a young Peter for the first time at a science and technology exhibition sponsored by his company, Norman Osborn is confronted by the monstrous red-skinned killer: an ex-employee named Nels van Adder. 

Osborn framed his former partner, Dr. Mendel Stromm, for embezzlement and seized control of his inventions — including the Goblin formula that Osborn failed to recreate. As Osborn's then-research assistant, Adder volunteered to experiment with Stromm's serum without a stablizing reagent. When his test subject transformed into a red creature, Osborn called Adder's mutation an "unfortunate side effect" of their trials and covered up the origin of the Proto-Goblin.

Osborn told Stacy that Adder went rogue and experimented with Stromm's biotechnology. In the aftermath of Adder's attack on Osborn Industries, Osborn found Stromm's notes to complete the formula that would eventually turn him into Spider-Man's maniacal mortal enemy: the Green Goblin. The first Goblin was thought dead, but a final panel revealed the Proto-Goblin lived. It was Adders' first and only appearance. That will change when Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1 goes on sale April 3, 2024.