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Cover: John Romita Jr. & Al Milgrom

The Amazing Spider-Man #239

Name: The Amazing Spider-Man #239
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Apr 1983 · Marvel · 0.60 USD; 0.25 GBP; 0.75 CAD

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“Now Strikes the Hobgoblin!”

About this Issue

Amazing Spider-Man #239 delivers the first direct, full-scale physical confrontation between Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin — the second appearance of a villain whose introduction Roger Stern had deliberately engineered as a fresh alternative to an overcrowded Green Goblin legacy. Where most new Spider-Man villains of the era sought an immediate, humiliating victory over the wall-crawler, Stern's Hobgoblin retreats when outmatched, displaying a cold strategic intelligence that set a new storytelling template for long-form villain construction. That careful pacing — the Hobgoblin would not return for five more issues — gave the character an air of genuine menace, and kicked off one of the longest-running 'secret identity' mysteries in Spider-Man history, one that would not be fully and satisfactorily resolved until Stern's own 1997 miniseries Hobgoblin Lives.

writer Roger Stern · artist John Romita Jr. · inker Frank Giacoia · colorist Glynis Wein · letterer Diana Albers · cover John Romita Jr., Al Milgrom

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CGC 9.8 · 612 in census $165

CGC 9.6 · 831 in census $121

CGC 9.4 · 605 in census $52

CGC 9.2 · 361 in census $52

CGC 9.0 · 247 in census $37

CGC 8.5 · 243 in census $37

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CGC 8.0 · 160 in census $37*

CGC 7.5 · 98 in census $37

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CGC 5.5 · 25 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 16 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 7 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 12 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 · 4 in census $20

CGC 3.0 · 4 in census $20*

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VF $24.99 Newsstand $30 VG $30 The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #239 (1983) Marvel Comics $36 🔥Marvel Comics The Amazing Spider-Man issue #239 NEWSTAND EDITION🔥 $75

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History

Roger Stern conceived the Hobgoblin after feeling editorial pressure to resurrect Green Goblin storylines, but refused to bring Norman Osborn or Bart Hamilton back from the dead or turn Harry Osborn villainous again, choosing instead to create a new character who would inherit the Goblin's equipment and mythology. Stern reportedly kept the villain's true identity so tightly guarded that he did not disclose it even to then-editor Tom DeFalco, intending to string out the mystery for roughly as long as Stan Lee had taken to unmask the original Green Goblin. Stern directed artist John Romita Jr. to base the Hobgoblin's costume on the Green Goblin's design but give it a more medieval quality; Romita and Stern differ slightly in recollection on how much direction was given, though both agree the final costume design was primarily Romita's work. Stern left the series after issue #252, before his planned identity reveal at #264, and the resulting editorial vacuum led to years of contested and retconned resolutions to the mystery he had seeded in this very issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published April 1983 by Marvel Comics; cover-titled 'Now Strikes the Hobgoblin!'
Second appearance of the Hobgoblin (first appearance was Amazing Spider-Man #238, March 1983), and the first full battle between Hobgoblin and Spider-Man.
Written by Roger Stern; penciled by John Romita Jr. (breakdowns); inked by Frank Giacoia; cover by John Romita Jr. and Al Milgrom.
The Hobgoblin's secret civilian identity is glimpsed but not revealed — he is depicted in disguise reading newspaper accounts of his own crimes, establishing the deliberate long-running mystery that would define the character across the decade.
Cameo appearances by Harry Osborn, Madame Web, Captain Jean DeWolff, and the Black Cat (still comatose from injuries sustained in her battle with Doctor Octopus).
The story establishes a key character beat: the Hobgoblin escapes rather than fight to the finish, with internal monologue revealing he was unprepared to face Spider-Man — a calculated vulnerability unprecedented for a new Spidey villain of the era.
Reprinted in Marvel Tales #258; also collected in the trade paperback The Amazing Spider-Man: The Origin of the Hobgoblin (which collects ASM #238–239, 244–245, 249–251) and in Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 23 (2021).
The Hobgoblin character introduced across #238–239 was later ranked by IGN as the 57th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time (2009), and has been adapted extensively in animated series and video games.