Spider-Man: Shadow of The Green Goblin

Spider-Man: Miniseries

by J.M. DeMatteis

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Spider Man, Marvel

128 pages, Paperback

Published December 31, 2024

About the author

Also Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally

Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.

Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.

Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice prequel story to the Rise of The Green Goblin a Classic Spider-Man foe. Very recommended

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.12 stars.

[Nicko · Rating 4 out of 5]

1
This was GREAT! Wasn’t sure what to expect as I didn’t quite know any premise going in. I loved DeMatteis’s approach for telling this one. Keeping Peter’s narration constant throughout and mixing them in with the present. Michael Sta Maria’s art, I loved. Reminded me of Stuart Immonen just a little bit. And his action shots aren’t excessive so that when one does come, it feels earned. I thought the one splash page in the middle with Spidey and Darryl was sweet too with it being colored differently and all.

I love how this arc gives opportunity to shine light more on Peter’s early days with his grief and his learning curves with Spidey. Different from what SPIDEY did, but kind of similar. Because it’s Peter’s early days, it’s kind of fun seeing him not so mature yet — still a bit reckless, making mistakes — doing things we know he wouldn’t do now. Like going to his agent lol. Loved learning about the first time he put someone in a hospital too. Just seeing a Peter at this stage is intriguing. But I think what I loved most was seeing how him and Aunt May were dealing with the death of Ben still during this time. All that was explored (even through Darryl) very nicely. Even Peter’s thoughts on what responsibility was at the time.

2
Great again. I don’t think I’ve read *too* much of DeMatteis’ work on SPIDEY but this makes me wanna go out and get them. I just think the storytelling is all there. Plot, character work, action, drama, etc. The Emily Osborn thread is intriguing although it’s moving a little slower than expected this issue, but that’s okay. It’s made up for with the awesome set piece with Spidey vs Sandman but more importantly, the resolve. I can’t recall a Spidey issue in recent memory where Spidey and the villain called it quits and decided to just take a break and talk. Sure, it fits with Sandman’s persona, but I absolutely loved it. I also love how we find out that the next day, Sandman is captured by Torch in another issue from back in that time period. It goes to show DeMatteis really knew what he was doing.

And again, I love the Peter/Aunt May thread, even though they don’t meet face to face here in this issue. But the fact that it’s still fresh and looming in Peter’s mind says so much about him/her and grief itself.

I like Maria’s art — it’s not perfect, sometimes it cuts away from important action beats but maybe that’s intentional. But I love the style, and I love the one panel where Spidey starts going ham on Sandman and punches him in the face — we see his (sandy) eyeball fall out. A cool visual that I think only gets away because he’s made of sand.

Gah, why can’t we get this team on the main title?!

3
DeMatteis can pack so much into these issues. In a good way. Here, I think the biggest thing that stood out for me was the resolve of Peter and Aunt May mending after their grief got the better of them. It was a nice moment and drawn out perfectly, I think. I like how Peter described that it wasn’t all dandelions after that — it gave it a realistic touch.

Also, it’s a small thing, but I really like how DeMatteis or the editors do their research of the timelines and make tiny little factual references to things that had happened back then, that’s already canon.

Obviously, the biggest reveal in this one is how Emily survived. I liked that section of the issue bc it shined more light on not only how Norman and her met/their beginning, but, the ever growing dynamic of Norman/Goblin on their relationship throughout the years.

Peter’s voice continues to be written really nicely here — especially since it’s only been a month since Ben died. Anyway, solid issue!

4
Good landing. I kinda like how this might explain or boost Norman’s origins into becoming the Goblin himself with the whole Nels/Proto secreting a toxin that makes ppl hallucinate. It’s an interesting comic/concept because at various points throughout these issues, Peter tells us that he’s not 100% sure about the events he’s narrating for us, and that some parts are ones that he’s made up in his head, hoping happened. And so if we’re to look at those parts as what Peter wished, it becomes a testament to what Peter wants to believe. And a look into his true self and heart, if you will. Nels’ death was anti-climatic and Emily not having the antidote was called from miles away. But to me, those didn’t matter. To me, the best parts about this story was Peter’s narration and his voice about who he was back then, what he’s learned, and how it’s shaped him to who he’s become. This is one of the better Spidey comics I’ve read in years. Also, shoutout to Maria’s nightmare sequence in the beginning. Terrific art.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded why so many reboots and alternate universe versions have happened for Spidey. The innocence and newness of his awesome powers and responsibilities gets lost by around issue 100 naturally as he gains experience and age. This flashback reminded me of the struggles with strength and how the inexperienced hero can be as dangerous as the rampaging goblin. I liked how they showed Norman as a “goblin” inside before he became one on the outside too.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is easily one of the best SM stories I have read in a while and omg its JMS so not surprising and he writes it so well showing a time in Peter's life where we thought we knew everything about that time but we didn't and I love the way he fills in the gap 1 month after Ben died and how May and Pete both are going through something and what happens next as they get through their grief, the argument and all that and the mending.

And also introducing this new villain Proto-Goblin and who he was, why he was abducting Harry and his hatred for Norman, and that lies in his tragic origin and you feel bad for him and thats hallmark for good writing when you can make even the villain sympathetic and then themultiple confrontations he has with Spidey and you see Pete making mistakes and it makes sense considering he is still new to the whole thing and it adds dimensions to this fight and I love it.

It was kinda awesome seeing it and then the thing with Harry and his Mom and expanding on how Norman and her met, how abusive he was and that personality shifts and if he really was the goblin and Norman was just the mask, kinda like Batman thing and it really changes your perspective on a lot of things and I like how by the end you see him become the goblin and also show how Peter was unaware of who he would become, and if he had known, would he have done things differently?

Also I love how this is Future Peter narrating his past events and that make him an unreliable narrator and you wonder how much of what he says is true and how much he made up, and its a fun way to approach writing and also gotta commend the art, its awesome!!

I love this book! One of the best Spidey stories in a long time!!

[Ángel Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante, pero perfectamente olvidable historia de Spiderman cuando era un chiquillo, contada por el legendario J. M. DeMatteis y dibujada por un señor cumplidor y tal, que ni fu ni fa. En fin, estamos ante uno de esos retcons que tampoco retconea nada: Norman Osborn era un hijoputa desde jovencito. Vale. Harry Osborn era gilipollas desde jovencito. Vale. Gwen Stacy era Gwen Stacy desde jovencita... y, bueno, ya pueden ver por dónde va esto. Lo único reseñable es que a Harry le crece una madre, con historia personal compleja y tal, y que además no palma al final de la historia, con lo que se queda ahí para que cualquier guionista la utilice. Odia mucho a su ex, así que... aunque, para mí, el Duende Verde la cascó en el mítico episodio en el que... uh... bueno, en el que la cascó, el de la muerte de Gwen, en el que queda empalado por su propio aerodeslizador, más tieso que la mojama; el que ha salido después es un clon, o el Camaleón haciendo el papel de su vida, o... bueno, lo cierto es que me importa un bledo.

En fin, una historia hecha con oficio, sí, pero que también suena un poco a más de lo mismo, un poco cansada y un poco cansina, como el propio señor DeMatteis a estas alturas de la peli, sin su colega del alma, el muy llorado señor Giffen, que le daba vidilla. Como nosotros, la verdad, los viejos del lugar. Ah, pero hay algo que honra, y mucho, a nuestro querido Jean-Marc: no se acerca ni con pinzas a la caricatura en la que Marvel ha convertido a su personaje más icónico; sus historias se sitúan en la época en la que Peter estaba casado y tía May fallecida. Y, mientras mister DeMatteis siga escribiendo sobre el auténtico Spiderman, ahí estaré yo (y como yo, muchos) para leer sus historias.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know that thing about hogtying yourself by writing between the raindrops of established canon? I think I've mentioned it before in like, Star Wars comics reviews and such. Sometimes, you can get around it by telling stories that don't have to touch on anything else. But Shadow of the Green Goblin keeps trying to force itself into Osborn canon (which is dubious enough on a good day), and it makes itself jump through unnecessary hoops to introduce and then de-introduce characters across four issues, while having a main villain that's just not that interesting to begin with.

There's nothing overly wrong with this when taken in a vacuum. The story's okay, the art's pretty good, the Peter/Aunt May conflict is something we don't often get to see because this is set so early in Spider-Man's career, but when you look at it as a whole as part of the Spider-Man canon, it feels unnecessarily convoluted, all in aid of writing off a villain that I'm sure most people haven't thought about in a very long time.

Sometimes, plot points are left alone for a reason. DeMatteis's other outings, the Clone Saga stuff with Ben Reilly and the Kraven story from last year, were much better attempts than this.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give the OG authors the reins to the characters they used to write...

This is a DEEP cut to the Spider-Man stories of the late 90's. Around 1997, they had a studio wide initiative to write "-1" stories for their popular series. They were meant to give readers a look at the characters before they became the legends they would become.

"Peter Parker: Spider-Man" #-1 - written by Howard Mackie
"Spectacular Spider-Man" #-1 - written by DeMatteis
...and several more

That's where we get the Proto Goblin and we can thank JMD for a LOT of the Spectacular Spider-Man stories of the mid to late 90's. Remember those holo-foil, gatefold, and chromed out covers of the 90's? Lots of those stories were written by DeMatteis.
(he's also responsible for DC greats like the Elseworlds story, 'Speeding Bullets' and 'JLA: Gods & Monsters'

THIS, is essentially one looooong 'Flashback' told to us by an adult Peter, looking back and remembering it all as best he can. It adds layers to characters that, at the time, may not have been written as ...deeply as they are now. The Osborn family with its layers of abuse, DID, and PTSD...

[Steven desJardins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old-school Spider-Man, a flashback story set early in his career. The problem with a character who's been around as long as Spider-Man and has had so many stories written around him is that his supporting cast tends to have a long and tangled backstory and the tendency to make connections between characters leads to flashback stories like this one, where high-school Peter meets characters who were originally introduced when he went to college, there's a conversation with Sandman which foreshadows later developments with the character, and so on, it's all a little precious. But what makes it work is the sheer love the creators have for the character and his history, and their ability to imbue a very young and inexperienced Peter Parker with nuance that those early stories lacked. (It would be a mistake to say that Stan Lee never did subtle, but it wasn't exactly his hallmark.)

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, but not at all what I expected it to be and therefore a tad disappointing.
The cover art looks fantastic and is what drew me to the book, however it is a bit misleading. The Green Goblin does not appear in the book whatsoever and the story is a bit pointless and unnecessary in my opinion.
If I think of it as a standalone story, it’s actually pretty good and well-written, but if I try to uncover it and think of it as canon, I wouldn’t like it much at all.
I think the return of Emily Osborn and the events that unfold are clearly not meant to have happened, but rather just an excuse to come up with new ideas and sell more books; they decided to go along with it. Also the main villain (Proto-Goblin) isn’t very interesting.
However, the way the book deals with emotions and dialogue is very good.
Overall, decent book but wouldn’t really recommend it.

[lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

i actually really liked how the writers approached the portrayal of peter’s beginning days as spiderman and how it wasn’t all just exciting but actually very scary for peter like for example, he once put a burglar in the hospital with a single punch because he did not yet know the full extent of his strength. This story just feels very authentic because of how flawed our hero is, mask on or off, Peter is just a good guy who always wants to do the right thing.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flashback stories are usually a mess. The writer will fumble the continuity, or something else happens in the story which makes zero sense in context of the history of the character.

This mini-series is fantastic. It adheres to continuity by bending the rules ever so slightly. The story and artwork are both rock solid.

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good. I was a little confused about the timeline of this though. Was Spidey telling a story that happened in the past? I did appreciate the heart to heart with Sandman; that was nice.

[trevor]

marking this as read since I finished the four issues that will make up this edition.

[Bharat Krishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10. Basically no notes.

[Remington Grenier · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reflection on grief and mental health.

[romy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norman Osborn when I catch you Norman Osborn!

[katie2346 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️
was so locked in