ASM 289 would be a nice, clean ending for this block, but there’s a few loose ends to tie up. Starting with 2 issues of Web in which Christopher Priest tries to strengthen what turned out to be the end of the Rose and Hobgoblin mysteries with some backstory. Which is kind of funny, him still being here after getting fired and all. But Michelinie’s off to write ASM and Web has no regular team, so why not? Somewheres along the road, once I’d collected the whole Hobgoblin saga, I learned of these 2 issues and felt I had to have them. I don’t remember them too well, though. The cover gives you a real “didn’t we just do this?” vibe. It’s Priest, Steve Geiger, Art Nichols and Bob Sharen in control as we return to Ned Leeds’ funeral, with a note saying this story takes place during ASM 289, and shows us something we didn’t see last time.
It’s funny, Priest of all people having to try to make “Ned is the Hobgoblin” stick, considering he killed Ned to try to prevent it from happening. And this angle of “gee, shucks, we were trying to be good guys in a bad system” just gets worse the more times it comes up. Rose and Hobgoblin were criminals, and delighted in it. This doesn’t land at all. We check back in with Peter Parker, now placing his phone call to MJ from ASM 289, then recapping Spider-Man Vs. Wolverine briefly. He wishes he had someone to talk to. Switching to Spider-Man, he swings home to talk to Felicia about all he’s recently been through. One thing ASM 289 certainly didn’t do is explain what all the other suspects were up to, if they weren’t the Hobgoblin. So Priest begins working on that.
You’d think a couple of killers like Johnston and Varley coulda done better than hitting Roddy in the shoulder. Did they just kill Kingsley? It’s kind of left open. Spider-Man arrives home and finds Felicia has gone out, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Elsewhere, Richard takes a call from Varley about the hit, which still doesn’t confirm Kingsley’s death, then does his now-usual bit complaining about how it’s all gone wrong. Alfredo appears, saying he’s going to go sweep The Hobgoblin’s old hideouts to make sure there’s nothing incriminating to Richard in them. Peter Parker is sitting on a dock, thinking he might as well quit being Spider-Man on this low note, when a shadowed figure who’s obviously Wolverine locates him. Then we replay the scene fro 289 where the new Hobgoblin kills The Rose’s top guys and learns of the file that drove much of that issue. In the aftermath of that scene, Richard declares this has all gotten too crazy (Again, for the millionth time) and thinks he should burn his mask, and The Rose is dead. Alfredo breaks into the spot where Hobby kept his battle van, remember the battle van?, and begins looting it.
A lot of stuff in superhero comics would never fly in real life. For example, if Batman showed up in an alley, you’d probably laugh at him rather than be scared. A guy shooting knives out of his hand and into your face, tho, that seems like it ought to scare you. I guess this guy’s just real dumb. As the pointless battle continues, we cut to Hobgoblin attacking Alfredo, then back to the fight, which Peter has largely ignored the end of. Wolverine wants ot chase down the fleeing goons, but Peter has no interest, so they part ways. Alfredo is fleeing Hobgoblin’s warehouse. Wolverine puts on his costume for some reason and catches up to those goons. Then a web hits one of their guns.
Geiger’s been doing some swiping in this, but more obscure stuff that I recognize, but can’t immediately source. That Spidey in the bottom right is a lift from Rick Leonardi’s cover to ASM 253, tho. Spidey and Wolverine mop up the goons, and The Arranger pulls up to try to tell Spider-Man to go see Kingpin, but then Alfredo’s car speeds by with Hobgoblin chasing it, Alfredo on the phone with Richard as he goes.
The dumb kind, Richard. The dumb kind. But we’re not done plugging holes in this story just yet.