 After having been exposed to the Goblin Formula, Norman Osborn is poised to unite and rule the New York City organized crime syndicates.
Is it unlikely that a businessman would be able to make the jump to crime boss so easily? No, not for Norman. A combination of his already "questionable" business ethics and his longstanding involvement in the chemical industry no doubt left him with the connections and the "know how" of how and when to strike. Another possible explanation for Norman's facile transition into super villain status is presented in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9. In that story, Mac Gargan (aka the Scorpion aka Venom II) tells Peter Parker the history of super villains. He states that they were created in the forties when the “ruling class”, that is, companies responsible for putting governments into office, desired to keep emerging super heroes at bay. This "ruling class" did not want the super heroes to uncover their corrupt actions, so they employed super villains to keep the heroes occupied. Norman Osborn was one of the cabal's favorites, until he "went out of control with the Goblin persona". It is unclear exactly when and how this fits into Norman’s early escapades as the Goblin, but with all of the super-criminal alliances he was forming, it is possible that some of these connections were made through this “ruling class” cabal.  Of course Mac Gargan was also involved in some of the shady dealings that occurred early on in Norman's professional career. As Norman was out hiring thugs to help amass his weapons arsenal, it appears as though people were out to get him as well. Obadiah Stane had hired Gargan to steal Osborn's plans for military robotics; plans that would have led to a lucrative government contract. Osborn did not get the contract, whilst Stane most likely did. This information was brought to light as a retcon in the one-shot Thunderbolts: Reason in Madness. Gargan came clean to Osborn regarding his work for Stane, Norman forgave Mac and deemed it 'water under the bridge.' Interestingly, Norman also mentions that losing that government contract pushed him into researching biological enhancements. Norman added, "and we see where that led." Most likely Norman is referring to the Goblin Formula and related ventures, but in reality we know that Mendel Stromm created the formula and Norman basically stole it from him. Another early account of Norman's conflicts before donning the Goblin attire is depicted in Tales of the Marvels: Inner Demons, which takes place around the time of the events of Fantastic Four #1-4. Although it is not specifically stated, it is probably Norman’s first “post explosion” appearance. In this story, Osborn comes into conflict with the still amnesiac and homeless Namor when he trashes some machinery at one of Norman’s businesses. At this point, Norman already has the public reputation as a ruthless businessman and a close affiliation with the hired goons known as the Enforcers. When Namor’s companion, an “off the wagon” street vagrant named John, returns to their crime scene to remove his fingerprints, Norman is there waiting for him. The Enforcers beat him to within inches of his life in effort to find out who was responsible for these actions against Osborn. John doesn’t rat out Namor and Norman and his crew leave the alcoholic for dead. Norman's endeavors toward assuming the mantle of New York City's head criminal are chronicled as interwoven stories featured in the longstanding Amazing Spider-Man title and the retcon series Untold Tales of Spider-Man. After working alongside the Enforcers, Norman began hiring criminals to help him amass his deadly arsenal. In Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1, Spider-Man inadvertently screws up a sting operation that may have led to Norman's capture, or at least his exposure as a villain. After Norman hired the Scorcher to steal weapons and electronic plans, Spider-Man was able to intervene and detain the Scorcher. The police had deliberately left a hole in their cordon so that the Scorcher could escape and lead them to their mastermind. Spider-Man prevented that, and thus Norman was able to continue operating in the shadows. Osborn had hired the Scorcher specifically to steal plans for electronics equipment, turbine engines and explosives. Presumably these are the plans Norman used to build both his Goblin Glider and his weaponry.  In Amazing Spider-Man #10, Spider-Man defeats the Enforcers and unmasks Frederick Foswell as the Big Man. In the retconned story from Untold Tales of Spider-Man #8, Norman realizes that with the Big Man out of commission, this may be the optimal time to make his move. Norman sends the Headsman to take out Spider-Man, because Norman feels that Spider-Man is going to be disruptive to his plans. Spider-Man defeats the Headsman and the Enforcers as well. At this point, Norman has the Scorcher, the Enforcers and the Headsman working for him. However, Norman is infuriated by the inability of his associates to defeat Spider-Man. He then resolves to handling the problem himself. At the end of Untold Tales of Spider-Man #8, Norman is seen having sketched the mask for his Goblin persona. Soon after, Osborn creates the identity of the Green Goblin, based on the monster he feared in his childhood. His arsenal of weapons includes a personal flying device, which eventually evolves into his iconic Goblin Glider. He also develops hand grenade-like explosive weapons resembling pumpkins, sharp razor-bat projectiles, and gloves that fire blasts of energy from the fingertips. Admittedly, there are other weapons that Norman used early on but they are just too goofy to mention here.
Amazing Spider-Man #14, which is the first official comic book appearance of the Green Goblin, marks the first direct conflict between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. In this story, the Goblin convinces Hollywood movie executive B.J. Cosmos that he can get Spider-man and they would then be able to make a movie with him. The Goblin enlists the help of the Enforcers for his trap, since they were recently defeated by Spider-Man and they were already associates of Osborn. Shortly after, Spider-Man, the Green Goblin and the Enforcers go to New Mexico to film this faux-movie. During a "rehearsal", Spider-Man is attacked by the group and their fight eventually leads them to cross paths with the Incredible Hulk. The Hulk was hiding out in a cave in New Mexico trying to seek solitude. The Green Goblin escapes while Spider-Man is distracted by the Hulk and the Enforcers. Interestingly, the Goblin thinks himself victorious over Spider-Man since the web-slinger had seemingly disappeared mid-battle, he then returned safely to NYC aboard his trusty flying broom-stick.  The Green Goblin returns in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #18, which takes place after Amazing Spider-Man #16 but before Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. At that point, the Goblin approaches Lucky Lobo and claims to be able to take out Spider-Man and the Headsman. While Spider-Man struggles against the Headsman, however the Goblin easily defeats his hired henchmen. The Green Goblin berates the Headsman claiming that he had given him superior technology but still failed to defeat the web-slinger. Spider-Man is unaware that it is the Green Goblin who actually defeated the Headsman. This story leads into Amazing Spider-Man #17, where after defeating a robotic Spider-Man, the Goblin feels he’s ready to challenge the real Spider-Man and defeat him. He chooses to attack Spider-Man at the first meeting of the Spider-Man Fan Club. The Human Torch interrupts the fight, but the Goblin evades him and escapes before being caught. Spider-Man bails out of the fight because he hears that his Aunt May has suffered a heart attack. Spider-Man was branded a coward after he fled the battle with the Goblin in order to be with his Aunt May. As expected, J. Jonah Jameson took great pleasure in Spidey's new label. In Untold Tales of Spider-Man #20, Osborn catches Jameson gloating about Spider-Man and warns him about the affect on the Daily Bugle's sales if the web-slinger were to disappear. Jonah was caught off-guard and Norman had his own reasons for smiling too, he was the one responsible for Spidey's new rep!
As the Green Goblin, Norman continues to try and establish alliances with other criminals. In Untold Tales of Spider-Man #22, the Goblin confers with the Scarecrow and offers an alliance with him as he, the Green Goblin, unites the underworld. The Scarecrow refuses to be his ally. Unphased by the Scarecrow's denial, the Green Goblin sets his sights on Lucky Lobo, another known mob boss.
While Norman is manipulating his way through the criminal underworld, he also becomes distracted with an employee of the Osborn Chemical Company named David Lowell. Through his research on a photogenesis project, Lowell stumbles upon a chemical compound that is structurally similar to the Goblin Formula. Norman orders Lowell to cease his research in this area, fearing that he will stumble upon the Goblin Formula as well. To see how Lowell contributes to the history of the Goblin Formula check out the Origin of the Goblin Formula page.
Continuing his pursuit to seize control of the criminal underworld, the Green Goblin pays a visit to Lucky Lobo and his gang in Amazing Spider-Man #23. The Goblin requests that Lobo hand over the leadership of his criminal operations to him, Lucky refuses. Undeterred, the Goblin hurls pumpkin bombs at the crew and escapes through the window.  The commotion causes the police to pay Lobo a visit, it appears as though this was all a part of the Goblin's plan. The Green Goblin continues to turn the heat up on Lobo's crew after he receives intel on Lobo's business operations from stoolie loyal to the Goblin. This gives the Green Goblin the ability to blackmail Lobo since he has information that could lead to him serving a life sentence for tax evasion! The Goblin then turns that information over to Frederick Foswell, who, in turn, hands that information over to his boss J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson hands the information over to the police. Soon after, the police raid Lobo's headquarters and a handful of his associates try to escape. But the Green Goblin is there waiting for his crew, and he tosses a pumpkin bomb at their getaway car. The Goblin wants Lobo's crew to flip on him while in police custody. If that were to be the case, only Lobo would take the fall and the Goblin would be able to take over the operation with the whole crew intact. Spider-Man spots the Goblin's attack on Lobo's crew and decides to tail the villain. The Goblin, well aware Spider-Man is tracking him, leads the web-slinger directly to Lobo's base of operations. Spidey takes the bait, and he ends up taking down Lobo and his crew (while the Goblin joyfully watches from outside the building). When Spider-Man corners Lucky Lobo, the mob boss explains that the Green Goblin tried to extort him in order to take over his criminal enterprise. Spidey leaves Lobo for the police and takes off to find the Goblin. Eventually Spidey tracks down the Green Goblin. The two adversaries trade blows and insults until both run out of weapons and webbing. The Goblin escapes on his glider and Spider-Man is unable to follow him due to his lack of web fluid. The Goblin returns to his hideout to hear the news on the fate of Lucky Lobo. The Green Goblin is furious to find out that the police have arrested Lobo's entire gang, there's no organization left for him to run!! After inadvertently destroying Lucky Lobo’s entire operation, the Green Goblin initiates an alliance with the Crime Master. In Untold Tales of Spider-Man #25, the Crime Master agrees to ally himself with the Goblin, if the Goblin reveals his true identity to him. Apparently, Norman has already "cracked the [Crime Master's] secrets" and deduced that his true identity is Nick Lewis. Norman double crosses the Crime Master and exposes himself as J. Jonah Jameson.  As a quick aside, it is worth noting that around this time, Norman and Jonah attended Reed and Sue Richards' wedding (as seen in Marvels #2). One can truly begin to appreciate just how terrible a person Norman was to intentionally frame his own 'friend'. Also, it is most likely around this time that the Gwen Stacy mini series takes place. For a full recap of those events, check out here. Returning back to Untold Tales of Spider-Man #25, over at Empire State University, Osborn uses a dedication ceremony for the Multi-Environmental Testing Chamber as a distraction for the Crime Master. While most of the students and faculty were at the ceremony (listening J. Jonah Jameson), the Crime Master and his crew attempted to steal the Seismic Ray Device (S.R.D.). However, Spider-Man thwarts the Crime Master's attempt, which forces Osborn's hand. Knowing the Green Goblin must intervene, Osborn is forced to knock out J. Jonah and hide him in a storage closet. Since the Crime Master was under the impression that Jonah is the Green Goblin, the Daily Bugle publisher could not be running around in plain sight when the Green Goblin arrives. After securing Jameson, the Goblin obtains the S.R.D., which infuriates the Crime Master since he only wanted a distraction from his ally. Whilst watching the Green Goblin and Spider-Man duke it out, the Crime Master realizes the Goblin is settling a personal vendetta. Convinced the Goblin is preoccupied with defeating Spider-Man and not sticking with their plan, he decides he must break his alliance with the Goblin. Since the Goblin and Spider-Man were battling inside the Multi-Environmental Testing Chamber, the Crime Master forces the engineer to activate the chamber. The Crime Master was hoping to kill Spider-Man and the Green Goblin at the same time. The activation of the chamber forces a brief moment of cooperation between Spider-Man and the Goblin as the two work to evade the dangers of the chamber (ie, lightning, blizzards, etc).  Eventually Spider-Man triggers an implosion of the chamber in order to prevent innocent bystanders from being harmed. This implosion destroys the chamber causing a complete collapse of the building. The chaos allows an escape opportunity for Osborn. Osborn vows to “deal” with the Crime Master who now has the ability to reveal his identity. Norman is pretty astute here because even though he fooled the Crime Master into thinking that J. Jonah Jameson was the Green Goblin, he knows the authorities won't take long to link Jameson to Osborn, and thus the real Green Goblin. The incidents surrounding the S.R.D. lead directly into Amazing Spider-Man #26, where tensions begin to mount between the Crime Master and the Goblin. The Crime Master decides he no longer wants to work with the Green Goblin and that he is going to pursue uniting the underworld on his own. The Goblin is furious with this decision, claiming that the Crime Master needed the Goblin's help in order for them to reach their collective goal. The double-crossing Goblin even states that they've exchanged their secret identities and that he wouldn't let the Crime Master off the hook since he had that information (even though we know the Goblin framed Jameson as the Goblin). The two villains eventually part ways, and the Crime Master gets right to work. He begins making power moves against various crime syndicates, getting the word out on the streets that the Crime Master is ready to take control of the underworld. Eventually the Crime Master crosses paths with Spider-Man and is able to hold his own against the web-slinger. He exposes Spider-Man to a gas and watches as Spidey falls from a rooftop, convincing him he's killed the wall-crawling hero. But, Spidey is able to shoot a webline to stop himself from smacking the ground. A short time after, the Goblin and the Crime Master meet again and after yet another argument the two officially end their alliance after a brief tussle.  As the Goblin takes off on his glider he contemplates that there are other ways to defeat the Crime Master. Later, while Spider-Man is following a clue that leads him to a pier, the Green Goblin manages to sneak up on him and deliver a knockout blow with his glider. The Green Goblin has a chance to unmask Spider-Man but decides not to, claiming, “There’ll be time for that later!” The Goblin then presents the shackled web slinger as a trophy to the collection of gangsters that the Crime Master had assembled. This issue ends with a tremendous cliffhanger as the unconscious and restrained Spider-Man remains vulnerable to whatever plans the Goblin has for him.
In Amazing Spider-Man #27, Spidey is a captive of the Green Goblin, who had just swayed a whole room filled with mobsters to follow his lead. However, Spider-Man soon regains consciousness from the nerve gas he was exposed to and is able to get out of the chains that had bound him. With the help of the police, Spider-Man is able to subdue the mobsters, however, the Crime Master and the Green Goblin get away. But soon after, the Crime Master is caught and killed by the police just before he can reveal the Goblin’s identity. A lucky break for Osborn, because even if the Crime Master would have named Jameson as the Goblin, the heat would have come down on all of Jameson's associates as well...including Norman. The Goblin, now fed up with Spider-Man's consistent foiling of his plans, seeks vengeance upon the man he views as his "most dangerous" enemy. This pivotal moment marks the end of Osborn's goal to unite the criminal underworld as he switches to a personal vendetta with Spider-Man.  As a very brief aside, this site obviously focuses on the life of Norman Osborn in the 616-Marvel Universe but in honor of due diligence there is always the infamous Spider-Man: Chapter One title. Spider-Man: Chapter One (for a brief period of time) was considered to be the rewritten history of the 616-Spiderverse. This site, and most others, do not treat that series as such, however, some changes to Norman's back-story were written into that title. For starters, Sandman and Osborn were second cousins; they shared a great-grandmother (I wonder if she had cornrows too!). More importantly, Osborn helped to create and manipulate the first wave of villains Spidey faced (e.g., Electro, Sandman, etc). But the main reason for covering this series is that there is a brief scene in Spider-Man: Chapter One #2 in which Spider-Man crosses paths with Norman and Harry Osborn. If Spider-Man: Chapter One was still considered 616-canon, this would be the first time Spidey confronted Norman Osborn (not the first time Peter met Norman, they make back in Peter Parker Spider-Man # -1); undoubtedly a landmark event! That is all for now, the less said about Spider-Man: Chapter One the better.  |  Norman and the Enforcers, as seen in Tales of the Marvels: Inner Demons
  Norman sketches plans for the Green Goblin mask,as seen in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #8    The Green Goblin and Spider-Man tangle for the time in the skies above New York City, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #14
    Osborn tells his board of directors that the photogenesis project has been terminated because it was 'dead end', as seen in Untold Tales of Spider-Man '97 Annual
     Norman and Jonah are seated together (probably by request) at Reed and Sue Richards' wedding, as seen in Marvels #2  The Green Goblin and Spider-Man battle it out, much to the dismay of the Crime Master, as seen in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #25
 The Green Goblin sneaks up on Spidey and knocks him out with his glider, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #26     As a testament to his power, the Goblin presents a captive Spider-Man to a group of criminals, unfortunately Spider-Man was able to escape, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #27
 In a turn of impeccable timing for Osborn, the Crime Master is unable to confirm the identity of the Green Goblin to the police before he dies, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #27
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