 Norman's ability to evade justice and keep the public unaware of his secret life as the Green Goblin came to a sudden halt at the conclusion of The Pulse #5. Norman would soon face trial and be sent to prison for his crimes, however, it should be noted that the exact crimes Norman would be charged with have never been officially stated. As one might expect, the prison cell walls of Riker's Island Penitentiary were not going to be enough to stop Norman's tormenting of Peter. In fact, Osborn being placed into jail actually triggered one of his numerous contingency plots and this one involved the wall crawler!
Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 continues from and supplements the capture of the Green Goblin that was featured in The Pulse #5. Although it occurred off-panel, Norman escaped custody once again at some point after his arrest in The Pulse #5 as reported in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #1. Osborn made his way to a church and took 18 people hostage threatening to gas them if his demands were not met. Norman's demand? Not money, not an escape vehicle, he simply requested that Spider-Man commit suicide publicly. Peter did not comply. Despite Norman's desperate attempt at freedom, Spidey once again subdues his long time foe and Osborn is sent to Riker's Island. Of course, Norman is counter-suing Spider-Man for aggravated assault. Shortly after, Peter receives a phone call informing him that his Uncle Ben's grave had been vandalized. Peter goes to inspect the grave, but while he's there he receives a phone call from a mysterious individual who claims to know that he is Spider-Man. Peter rushes home to find his house ransacked and Aunt May missing.
Not wanting to risk the health or safety of his wife, Peter asks MJ to leave NYC until this situation has been handled at the onset of Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2. Peter, as Spider-Man, then heads to Riker's Island to confront Norman Osborn, Peter's number one suspect for the recent vandalism. The two converse through the glass wall of Norman's cell (very Silence of the Lambs-esque) and Norman begins to play mind games with Peter.  At first Norman denies any involvement in the kidnapping, but then, to toy with his nemesis, he informs Peter that he may have shared their "little secret" with a mutual acquaintance. Osborn goes on to say that he told "a friend" that if he ever Peter ever succeeded in landing him in jail then this "friend" will kidnap, torture, and execute Peter's oldest living relative. As if that wasn't enough, Norman explains that he may just be taking advantage of the vulnerable Parker and that none of that information may be true. A frustrated Peter Parker leaves Riker's Island.
Spider-Man then begins tracking down every possible lead he can find to locate his missing aunt, but all of his efforts are fruitless. The Owl using Spider-Man to his advantage and sends him after Electro and Vulture, claiming them to be responsible for the kidnapping. But, as it turns out, Electro and Vulture had nothing to do with that crime and The Owl had sent Spidey after them to settle his own personal score with the duo.
In Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6, Peter returns once again to Norman's jail cell in an attempt to solicit aid from the villain. Norman then proceeds to tell Spider-Man about the last person to seek help from him and the tragedy that ensued from that. According to Osborn, one of the security guards had befriended him in an attempt to have Norman, a renowned biochemist, diagnose the strange sickness his wife was suffering from. Norman obliges the security guard and even provides a glimmer of hope as she appears to recover after using Norman's suggestions. But that relief was short lived, because the security guards wife has now slipped into a coma and will soon die. Norman then tells Spidey to, "ask [him] again for this favor you wanted…", in other words, be careful what you wish for. The plot thickens as Norman alludes to the fact that he is not safe in this prison cell and that the recent burglaries of his (Osborn's) offices are all part of a bigger picture.
The conspiracy that Norman was referring to is fleshed out further in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9, when Peter confronts the person behind the mysterious phone calls, Mac Gargan. When Gargan and Peter meet, Peter immediately attacks Gargan but the villain claims that Aunt May is still alive. Peter eventually settles down and decides to hear Gargan out. He claims to be the one responsible for kidnapping his Aunt May, and he says that he was working for Norman Osborn, but that this kidnapping is the “tip of the iceberg” for Norman’s plans. Gargan goes on to tell Peter the history of super villains and that they were created in the forties when the “ruling class”, companies responsible for putting governments into office, desired to keep emerging super heroes at bay, and away from discovering the corruptness which this "ruling class" has been utilizing to prevail. This “divide and conquer” tactic led to contracted super villains, of which Norman Osborn was one of the favorites, until he went out of control with the Goblin persona. Another facet to this "divide and conquer" strategy is that there is supposedly one or two villain organizers assigned to every hero. This explains why so many villains kept pestering the same heroes and why no one important was ever killed. This corrupt administration is no longer operating but there were some famous names in the “original cabal". Due to that Norman has become a target because he knows where “all the bodies are buried” and he is a sitting duck in prison.  So Norman Osborn orchestrated the kidnapping of Aunt May in order to solicit Peter’s help to break him out of prison, he has to help him or Aunt May dies. Peter reluctantly decides to help break him out, and in the process of doing so he receives help from the Black Cat.
Spider-Man and the Black Cat break Norman out of prison in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10. The prison break does not go flawless, as expected, and Norman gets separated from his two rescuers. Spider-Man is able to evade the guards through an exit that leads into the East River. When Spider-Man reaches the surface he's greeted by a slew of his former villains, twelve to be exact, which form the Sinister Twelve led by the Green Goblin. Thankfully MJ called the Avengers, Daredevil, and the Fantastic Four who are able to help Peter to take down the Sinister Twelve in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #11. Unfortunately, the Goblin snares MJ from her home and brings her to that all too famous George Washington Bridge, awaiting Peter's arrival. A mind-controlled Doctor Octopus, who has been programmed to kill Norman Osborn., arrives at the scene.  The Goblin quickly deters him with a handful of pumpkin bombs as he then resumes his attack on Spider-Man. MJ, armed with a handgun, takes a shot at the Goblin, but the recourse from the gunshot sends her over the edge. Spider-Man, aware of the fate of Gwen Stacy, shoots multiple web-lines down to save MJ, as to not snap her neck in the process.  As Peter rushes to MJ, the Goblin prepares to slaughter the vulnerable couple using his glider. However, a lightning bolt strikes and hits the Goblin as well as Doc Ock, who had just resurfaced, and sends both of them plunging into the water below. Peter soon finds his Aunt May buried alive in the grave site of his Uncle Ben, he had reached her just in time to save her life. The story concludes with a letter written from Norman to Peter thanking him for providing the intellectual and physical challenge as Spider-Man as they have provided his life with both structure and meaning.
This is certainly not the last we'll see of the Green Goblin as the villain disappears once again into the shadows. Some interesting tidbits from this story include the age of Norman Osborn. According to Peter Parker, Norman is 55 years old at the time of this story (for more of the implications from this, see Osborn Timeline). Also, in the Venomous story arc (issues 5-8), Eddie Brock sells his symbiote to the highest bidder. But when that bidder doesn't satisfy the symbiote it finds a new host, Mac Gargan. This event will influence Osborn's life once he becomes the director of the Thunderbolts and Venom II becomes a team member. Finally, Peter states in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 that Norman has spent 2-3 months in jail, so he's certainly seen a trial, it is still unclear though as to what crimes he was charged with during his trial. Additionally, although it is never explicitly shown on-panel, the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #1 lists Norman Osborn as having been picked up by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents somewhere in France after this series of events. Pity this wasn't ever seen in the pages of a comic book, it certainly would have been interesting to see that arrest. In the next chapter (ie The Gwen Stacy twins), Norman is depicted as 'operating from the shadows', most likely these 'shadows' are prison walls. After Norman's 'death' Norman operated clandestinely in Europe, that is most likely the reason he headed for France after his creation of the Sinister Twelve.
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