The Amazing Spider-Man #122
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Amazing Spider-Man #122 concludes 'The Night Gwen Stacy Died,' a two-part arc that permanently dismantled the Silver Age convention that a superhero's supporting cast was untouchable — before this story, it was not considered common for major characters close to a hero to die. The issue delivers the (apparent) death of the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, impaled by his own remote-controlled glider in a grim irony that keeps Peter Parker from becoming a murderer while denying him the clean justice he craved. Its final page — Mary Jane Watson refusing to leave a grief-stricken Peter — quietly launched the relationship that would define Spider-Man's romantic life for decades, decisively shifting MJ from a one-dimensional 'party girl' to a figure of genuine emotional weight. The arc's release is widely credited as a watershed moment that helped bring the Silver Age of comic books to a close and established that superhero storytelling could carry the full moral and emotional cost of tragedy.
In "The Goblin's Last Stand!", Peter Parker is consumed by grief and fury after the Green Goblin takes Gwen Stacy’s life, setting him on a path of vengeance that tests his limits as both a hero and a man. Written by Gerry Conway and brought to life with powerful art by Gil Kane, inks by John Romita and Tony Mortellaro, and vivid colors by Dave Hunt, this pivotal issue captures the emotional weight of one of Spider-Man’s most defining moments. The cover by John Romita perfectly frames the storm of rage and sorrow brewing beneath the mask.
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Writer Gerry Conway took over Amazing Spider-Man from Stan Lee at only 19 years old, beginning with issue #111, and the decision to kill a major character grew out of a collaborative conviction — shared by Conway, inker/visual consultant John Romita Sr., and editor Roy Thomas — that Peter Parker's life had grown too comfortable and needed a genuine, irreversible shake-up. The creative team originally discussed killing Aunt May, but Conway argued her death, while sad, would not constitute real tragedy for a young man; he proposed Gwen Stacy instead, and the idea was accepted with what Conway later described as surprisingly little ceremony. Stan Lee, then stepping back from day-to-day writing duties to become publisher, gave a distracted sign-off before a business trip to Europe, and was reportedly upset when he returned to find the deed done — an anecdote whose precise details all four principals told differently over the years, and which remains disputed. The pencils for both parts of the arc were provided by Gil Kane, with John Romita Sr. and Tony Mortellaro sharing inking duties, and Romita also produced the cover for #122.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: July 1973; release/on-sale date: April 1973. Published by Marvel Comics.
- Creative team — Script: Gerry Conway; Pencils: Gil Kane; Inks: John Romita Sr. and Tony Mortellaro; Cover art: John Romita Sr.; Editor: Roy Thomas; Letterer: Artie Simek; Colorist: Andy Yanchus.
- The issue is the second and concluding chapter of the 'Night Gwen Stacy Died' story arc (ASM #121–122), titled 'The Goblin's Last Stand!' on the splash page.
- Norman Osborn (the original Green Goblin) dies in this issue, impaled by his own malfunctioning glider after attempting a remote-controlled sneak attack on Spider-Man — the first death of a Spider-Man villain of his stature in the series.
- The issue's closing scene — Mary Jane Watson closing the door and staying with a grieving Peter rather than fleeing — marked a turning point in her characterization, setting the foundation for her eventual role as Peter's primary love interest.
- Harry Osborn secretly recovered his father's body after witnessing the death, preventing Norman's Green Goblin identity from being exposed to authorities — an event that seeded Harry's own arc as the second Green Goblin, beginning in ASM #136.
- In a Marvel fan poll (The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time), ASM #122 was voted the 19th greatest Marvel issue of all time, with its companion issue #121 ranking 6th.
- Marvel published an official Facsimile Edition of ASM #122 (released June 28, 2023), reprinting the original issue complete with period advertisements. The storyline has also been echoed or homaged in numerous adaptations, including the 1992 independent fan film 'The Green Goblin's Last Stand' directed by Dan Poole, Brian Michael Bendis's Ultimate Spider-Man, and the MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
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Reprints
Reprinted in L'étonnant Spider-Man #24 (1973), O Homem-Aranha #55 (1973), Edderkoppen #4/1974 (1974), Super Spider-Man #171 (1976), Strange #100 (1978), Strange #104 (1978), Die Spinne #123 (1978), Marvel Tales #99 (1979), Spiderman #60 (1979), Edderkoppen #8/1979 (1979), Spindelmannen #8/1979 (1979), El Hombre Araña / El Asombroso Hombre Araña #118 (1982), Marvel Tales #192 (1986), Clásicos Marvel #13 (1989), Edderkoppen klassikere #1/1990 (1990), The Amazing Spider-Man 30th Anniversary Poster Magazine #1 (1992), Spider-Man! #DE-595 / 2 (1994), Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin #[nn] (1995), Spider-Man: The Death of Gwen Stacy #[nn] (1999), The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time #2 (2001), Spiderman de John Romita #52 (2003), Spider-man: De bästa Spider-Man-historierna! #1 (2004), The Essential Spider-Man #6 (2004), Os Maiores Clássicos do Homem-Aranha #3 (2004) + 31 more
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