Spider-man: The Animated Series, 112 (May 27, 1995) - “The Hobgoblin, Part Two”
Written by: Stan Berkowitz Directed by: Bob Richardson
LAST TIME… on Spider-man.
Hobgoblin spends his time ping-ponging between working for Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin) and Norman Osborn, when he’s not kidnapping Harry and putting Aunt May into a coma (or “Seizure,” according to her quack doctor). Oh! And He’s feeling pretty chuffed about blowing up a building (with pumpkin missiles) right after Spider-man jumped into it, which admittedly would kill most people, so I can appreciate why he would be feeling optimistic.
AND NOW… the continuation!
The Breakdown
Yeah, so Spider-man basically just escapes by hopping out the back window, which is pretty much what I would have expected. I know it’s what I would do if I possessed the power of super-parkour. Anyways, they fight a bunch more until Spider-man escapes in the sewers.
So, Hobgoblin heads back to Fisk’s tower to report in, and finally collect the money he’s owed for kidnapping Harry, but Fisk quickly reveals a video recording (via hidden camera) that shows Hobgoblin re-colluding with Norman. Since betrayal is a universal no-no in the world of organized crime, Fisk orders the Goblin’s execution, but then ol’ Hobby turns around and completely overwhelms Fisk’s people with pumpkin bombs (the first time is always the most shocking). With no other choice than to retreat, Fisk leaves his enterprise in Hobgoblin’s traitorous hands. [Never mind that the Kingpin’s base of operations is in his privately-owned skyscraper, and that at a certain point you’d think the general public might take notice of a cackling maniac in a Halloween costume, flying into-and-out-of the giant Heli-pad-draw-bridge at the top of Fisk Towers. New York must take that “possession is 9/10th’s of the law” rule seriously.]
Turnabout is fair play though, so Fisk and Norman decide to put their differences aside and team up by… hiring Spider-man? Yep, Fisk provides Norman with directions for the secret underground tunnel into his crime tower, which Norman passes on to the Web-head so he can fight the Hobgoblin for them. And that works ...pretty well, too. Spider-man fucks up the Gobin’s shit, rescues Harry, and hightails it out the same way he came in (instead of just escaping out the giant five-story-sized exit that Hobgoblin wisely used). Wanting to ensure that his base of operations remains a secret, Fisk orders his lackey, Smythe (the same dude who built the spider-slayers a while back), to blow up the escape tunnel with Spidey and Harry still inside. Since this is Spider-man’s show, he makes it out just fine, but the tunnel is destroyed, so he's left to wonder what that mysterious crime-base was all about.
With Harry safe, there’s really nothing else to- Oh oops there’s still a few minutes on the clock, so, uhh… Hobgoblin comes back for one more quick fight! Sure, we might as well do that. Thankfully, Spider-man is able to deke his adversary out, by knocking him off-balance and into the river, and… that IS the all fighting we have time for, so we’ll have to wait until next season before we hear from the Hobster again.
All that’s left is for Pete to visit Aunt May, who conveniently recovers from her seizur-[Coma! That was a fucking coma! Was the concept of a coma honestly too much for the censors!? No, I will not let this go!], and reveals that the real reason she passed out is because Pete’s room was too much of a pig-stye for her to cope with. Haha fair enough. I guess Peter will need to move back in with Aunt May, so she can keep doing his chores for him.
Aw!
The Verdict
I think it just boils down to this, as a surface level adaptation for children, there is nothing specifically wrong about this episode. Even as a cynical adult, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy this little trip down memory lane. The fact is, this episode (in conjunction with the previous one) introduced me to the Hobgoblin, paving the way for me to discover his comic book counter part, where he’s considerably more interesting.
I suppose my only “problem” is that this episode leaves me with about as little to praise as criticize. For the most part it’s just one fight scene after the next, with very little story, and virtually nothing of consequence that would impact future episodes. If nothing else, this arc served as a prime opportunity to bring Spider-man’s awareness to the Kingpin’s enterprise, which sort of happens (in the sense that he sees the hideout) before it’s breezed over and forgotten.
Not bad, not great, no harm, no foul.
2.5 stars (out of 5)
Parting Thoughts
So, to reiterate, the Kingpin has this nifty skyscraper where he does his crime with fancy computers that connect him to all the other crime across the globe [… I’m pretty sure that’s just the internet], replete with a giant door (pictured above) that swings down like a draw-bridge-to-the-sky, so military-grade aircraft and giant killer robots can come-and-go as needed. I always wondered what the rest of New York thought about that. I can’t help think that the office workers from the buildings across the street must have witnessed some awfully strange goings-on over at Fisk towers. An occasional helicopter I can understand, Fisk is a billionaire after all, but surely the flying Kaiju-scorpions, and trick-or-treaters with laser guided missiles, must have raised a few eyebrows. I guess once you’ve lived in New York for a while, nothing fazes you.
After Hobgoblin has taken over Fisk’s tower (man, the ground floor reception staff must have been having one doozy of a day), he calls up Norman and demands that Oscorp be legally signed over to him, lest he kill Harry. Now, that is a pickle, to be sure, but it’s also kind of an empty threat. Surely someone attached to the government (or the banks, maybe) are going to flag any transaction of an entire corporation to SURNAME: Goblin GIVEN NAME: Hob (unless that’s short for Hobbes?). Honestly, Fisk and Norman should have just waited him out. It’s not like he can spend his newly-stolen fortune without revealing his identity.