On its surface, Hobgoblin is about a big, destructive battle between Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin.

But in the Ultimate Spider-Man line, it's always important to look beneath the surface for the real heart of the story. In this case, it's about relationships.

On one level, the focus is the friendship between Peter Parker and his friend, Harry Osborn, whose father became the evil Green Goblin early in the Ultimate run. Norman Osborn was never shy about ruining lives, and it seems his son was no exception; with the proper prodding, Harry transforms into the Hobgoblin and continues his father's path of destruction.

As Peter's and Harry's alter-egos duke it out, there must be some thinly buried recollection that they both like the same girl.

At the same time, the story digs even more deeply into the tumultuous relationship between Peter and Mary Jane Watson. For all their youth, their love isn't in question; Peter's ability to trust Mary Jane is. Sure, she didn't tell him about her "thing" with Harry. More importantly, she is impetuous when it comes to danger, her concern for Peter often overriding her own self-preservation instincts, and Peter has trouble coping with the potential for her injury or death. "Every time you DON'T listen to me you get thrown off a bridge!" he screams in a particularly tense scene. It might sound a little silly out of context, but it's kinda sorta true.

It's a whole lot for a boy -- and remember, Peter Parker in the Ultimate universe is not the experience-hardened Spider-Man of mainstream Marvel, he's a very young, well-intentioned teenager with great powers and responsibilities thrust upon his unprepared shoulders.

It probably doesn't help that Peter's moving to a new home, he's having trouble in school, he's struggling with the ongoing deception of his aunt, and S.H.I.E.L.D., which had promised to ensure Harry's safety, dropped the ball.

Ultimate Spider-Man continues to set the benchmark for superhuman stories with a dominant human side. Spider-Man is slightly less important to this book than Peter is, and the series is far stronger for it.

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
7 October 2006