Crawling Back: Amazing Spider-Man #312 Review (The Osborn Prelude, Part 12)
Some slight mischaracterization aside, a thrilling Green Goblin/Hobgoblin duel makes this issue worth a six-year wait
—by Nathan on May 3, 2025—
We're taking a pretty big leap in time from the last narrative we examined in our ongoing review of the Green Goblin's appearances, be they by Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, or Bart Hamilton. Two of the Goblins, Norman and Bart, are supposedly dead (though Norman will eventually return, and Bart popped up during a Contest of Champions "sequel" and during The Clone Conspiracy), leaving Harry as the sole beneficiary of the Osborn legacy…
…kinda?
Since Harry last donned the Goblin gear in Amazing Spider-Man #180 (published over a decade prior to this issue), a new menace has entered the fray: the Hobgoblin. I've not navigated the Hobgoblin side of the Spider/Goblin equation much, wishing to steer clear of its complexities for this "Osborn Prelude" series. Different writers had different ideas for how the whole plot was supposed to be steered, and though several different individuals have worn the mask, including Roderick Kingsley (the original Hobgoblin, though no one knows that yet) and the innocent, dearly departed Ned Leeds, it is Jason Macendale who's embraced the orange hood and cape at this stage in Spidey history.
Skipping all that does mean I've leapt like the Hulk, bounding over many issues and several years to reach this point. We've cleared several appearances by Harry Osborn and his growing family. Things have, seemingly, been going better for Harry. He married Liz Allen, and they had a son, Normie. He's received therapy (the good kind, not the Bart Hamilton kind) and taken ownership of his father's business. Circumstances aren't always easy, but they appear to be on the up and up for the younger Osborn…and not because he's flying up and up on a Goblin glider.
But it's those Green Goblin emergings I'm reviewing, not just Harry Osborn outings. So, like all good things, Harry's days of discarding the mask must reach an end.
A while back, I reviewed a trilogy of Spectacular Spider-Man issues tying into the X-Men event "Inferno." Important to today's review, Macendale made a pact with a demon in those issues and was gifted (cursed?) with superhuman abilities. We've seen the more horrific side of Macendale emerge–a separate entity known as the Demogoblin who fought Spidey and Ghost Rider and, once it separated itself from Macendale, battled Spidey, Ghost Rider, and Venom. For now, in the late 80s, Macendale is still bonded with his devilish worse half…and intends on causing more mischief for Harry Osborn.
Finally, the green-and-purple collides with the orange-and-blue.
"The Goblin War"
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciler: Todd McFarlane
Inker: Todd McFarlane
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Rick Parker
Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #312
Issue Publication Date: February 1989
At this point in Spidey history, Harry's been having these nightmares, some of them while he's awake, and during a handful of issues in and out of ASM, he's beginning to remember…something. Like his father before him, Harry's come down with a case of convenient amnesia, forgetting his past as the Green Goblin, his deep hatred for that fiendish Spider-Man, and the fact his best buddy Peter Parker is that self-same Spidey. But events during "Inferno" have triggered at least some of those memories. Confronted with the threat of the Hobgoblin against his family, Harry has remembered a secret buried in his attic, and in Web of Spider-Man #47, pulls that secret out. A costume he once wore…like his father before him.
That's a truncated summary of the issues preceding this tale, because as I said, I'm covering issues where someone dons the Goblin costume and cowl. This issue opens with Harry, in full Goblin regalia, determined to bring down the Hobgoblin before Macendale can harm Liz or little Normie. As the Hobgoblin's threat has mounted, Harry has tried finding other ways to keep the villain at bay, once famously attempting to rescue his wife (and Mary Jane) from Hobby's clutches when Kingsley wore the mask. But this is the first time where Harry's decided to fight Goblin with Goblin. "It Finally Happens!" a blurb on the front cover shouts, triumphantly heralding the altercation within.
Much of the issue is dedicated to this battle between adversaries, but because the fight is predicated on so much history, it's difficult to review in a vacuum. But let's take a gander at the face value aspects. As a standalone battle between Spidey's two Goblin adversaries, this issue works on those merits alone–Michelinie brings together two strands of the ongoing Spidey/Goblin saga to create a compelling, singular conflict. Perhaps because I've only been reviewing the Green Goblin's appearances, I do feel like I'm missing some of the context for this struggle, but that's on me. It's not a detriment to Michelinie's skill, and may actually be a testament at how capably the figures collide. There is a sense that this fight has been a long time in coming, with Michelinie finally giving readers the deadly duel they may have wanted since the Hobgoblin first burst onto the scene, or at least, since Hobby first interacted with Harry Osborn.
Think of the Hobgoblin as a spurned stepchild, or an individual suffering from imposter syndrome, driven by the desire to be just as good as Norman's actual son. Macendale isn't seeking the ghost of Norman Osborn's praise or approval, but he's looking to establish himself as a legitimate Goblin, and so this battle represents a divide in the Osborn legacy. Harry's perspective comes across differently, as a legitimate heir to that legacy fighting to strip Macendale of his pretend title, not so much to claim the mantle for himself or besmirch Macendale's honor, but to prevent the Hobgoblin from carrying on the violence, horror, and misery Norman generated over the years. Harry is attempting to establish a new legacy, apart from his father's destructive tendencies…we're a far cry from the Harry Osborn who once defended his father's honor against Spider-Man, claiming Norman was the greatest man to ever live.
Michelinie wisely touches on an integral aspect of Harry's fear: he is currently "sane," his memories of his past misadventures as a grinning ghoul having returned (somewhat) but not having the same impact recurring memories had on his father. Here, Michelinie helps concoct a more sympathetic version of the character, nudging Harry out of outright villain territory, where he existed comfortably in his first foray as the Green Goblin and starting slipping from when Len Wein wrote the character. Michelinie leverages the situation to distinguish Harry further from Norman and allow Harry some additional development to make this latest appearance unique from past appearances. I've noted how Norman's early outings as the Goblin could grow somewhat tedious–wannabe gang leader here, wannabe gang leader there, followed by a string of convenient stories where Norman kept losing his memory. Each of Harry's outings have been different, creating a more unique reading experience.
Though Michelinie smartly, I would argue, creates contrast between Harry and Norman and even Harry in his current state and who Harry was previously, he does make a note which rankled my senses a little: Harry claims his mental instability granted him an "edge" when he was the Goblin. Being insane, he notes to himself, provided him a ruthless confidence, which he claims to have helped him engage in combat and even fly his glider. It's important to note that, at this moment, Harry does not have his father's strength, nor was his psyche fractured by an explosion of chemicals. He's a man in a costume on a glider, and the fact he labels his insanity–generated by drug use, personal tragedies, and poor psychological treatment–as beneficial to his previous encounters with enemies as the Goblin feels demeaning to the character. Is there truth to this? Yes, the character was ruthless–he strapped some of Peter's friends and family to explosives and blew up his own apartment to kill Peter. But to consider that instability a benefit feels like a step too far–Harry even wishes he was unstable again to be granted that ruthless edge. Perhaps it's a sign the character isn't as whole as we would be led to believe, but that doesn't seem like Michelinie's intention.
Peter himself becomes, briefly, a supporting character in his own title, which works fine for this issue as his involvement is not nearly as integral as the two costumed men duking it out in this Goblin title match. There's a subplot brewing in the background between him and MJ, hinting at marital strife, but I don't recall enough of the surrounding issues to remember how that develops. Heck, MJ experiences nearly as much chaos as Peter does, fending off a golden snake prop which the insanity of "Inferno" causes to come alive. But both are shuffled to the side in favor of the dramatic, titular "Goblin War."
Michelinie attempts to weave in the "Inferno" elements here, but he doesn't seem as interested, which is understandable. There's a sense the whole city is running amok–and may be having adverse effects on a formerly scaly foe of Spidey's–but the extent to which "Inferno" infects this issue is limited. Michelinie sort of notes the chaos but refers to it as vexing–maybe his New Yorkers are extremely jaded, but life seems to just continue, the forces of hell a minor inconvenience against a population of "Hey, I'm walkin' here!" civilians. It doesn't serve much of a backdrop against which the story is laid; again, this is fairly understandable–I get a writer not wanting to kowtow or put their plans aside because some other book is controlling that year's crossover event.
But we do finally get that "Goblin v. Goblin: Dawn of Pumpkin Bombs" battle, and it's done well, enhanced by Todd McFarlane's detailed drawings. As a standalone chapter in the ongoing "Spider/Goblin" saga, I'd gauge it on the weaker side, but this is primarily because it's a more difficult piece to review in a vacuum. A lot of narrative beats lead into this issue, whether that's the mystery of the Hobgoblin, the grip of "Inferno," or Harry's own development outside the costume. But if that "It Finally Happens!" tagline grips you, and you just want to read this for the first-ever Gobby/Hobby fight, you won't be disappointed. Just remember there's a reason Spidey doesn't take center stage on the cover…that's because he's playing second fiddle (maybe even third?) to the gliding gargoyles, the true heir and the angry stepson of the Osborn legacy.