The Spectacular Spider-Man #43
The Spectacular Spider-Man #43 carries outsized historical weight because it is simultaneously the first appearance of two characters — Madam Belladonna (Narda Ravanna) and ruthless fashion mogul Roderick Kingsley — while also marking the debut of Roger Stern as the series' writer, kicking off a celebrated multi-year run that would define the Spider-Man titles of the early 1980s. Kingsley's introduction here is especially significant in retrospect: years later, Stern revealed that it was while scripting the Hobgoblin's debut in Amazing Spider-Man #238 that he decided Kingsley — 'that sunuvabitch corporate leader I had introduced in my first issue of Spectacular' — was the man behind the mask, retroactively making this issue the true origin point of one of Spider-Man's most enduring villains. The story's fashion-world setting gave Stern room to establish Kingsley as an amoral, predatory businessman from his very first panel, a characterization that paid dividends across more than a decade of Spider-Man storytelling.
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Roger Stern came to The Spectacular Spider-Man #43 having just stepped down from an editorial role at Marvel to become a full-time writer; editor Denny O'Neil offered him the title as a second monthly assignment alongside his Captain America work, and Stern agreed on the condition of minor adjustments to the book's logo. He was paired with penciler Mike Zeck and inker Steve Mitchell for the interior story, titled 'Pretty Poison,' while John Byrne and Joe Rubinstein supplied the cover. Stern has stated that when he wrote Kingsley in this inaugural issue, he had no firm plan to make the character the Hobgoblin — that connection crystallized only later, as he scripted Amazing Spider-Man #238 and recognized Kingsley's amoral voice in the emerging villain.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Madam Belladonna (Narda Ravanna), a chemist-turned-vigilante who weaponizes neo-atropine gas to pursue revenge against Roderick Kingsley for destroying her European fashion house.
- First appearance of Roderick Kingsley, the unscrupulous fashion designer and billionaire who would later be retroactively confirmed as the original Hobgoblin in the 1997 miniseries Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives.
- Roger Stern's first issue as writer on The Spectacular Spider-Man, launching an approximately 19-issue run on the title (issues #43–61) before he moved to The Amazing Spider-Man.
- Interior art by Mike Zeck (pencils) and Steve Mitchell (inks); cover art by John Byrne and Joe Rubinstein; edited by Denny O'Neil; cover-dated June 1980.
- The story is titled 'Pretty Poison' and opens with Peter Parker and fellow grad student Steve Hopkins working in an ESU science lab when Belladonna's henchmen raid it to steal a supply of neo-atropine.
- Supporting character Debra Whitman appears, continuing her role as a grad-student colleague and romantic interest for Peter Parker within the Spectacular series' college-life focus.
- The issue was reprinted in Essential Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 2 (2006), Spider-Man Visionaries: Roger Stern #1 (2007), Spider-Man: Origin of the Hobgoblin (2011), and the Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus (2014).
- A Mark Jeweler advertisement insert variant of the newsstand edition exists, as was common for Marvel comics distributed to military PX outlets in this era.
Cast · 7 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
A robbery on campus leads Spider-Man into the world of fashion and the poisonous villain Belladonna.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).