Kafka, Dr. Ashley
Attributes
| Eyes: | Brown |
| Features: | Has rejuvenated and her body became much thinner and sculptural. She also gained height. |
| Hair: | Black |
| Height: | 5' 7" (Estimated) |
| Weight: | 160-125 lbs. (Varies with the artist.) |
Powers
| Abilities: | She's a good psychologist. |
| Limitations: | Her extreme dedication to her patients. It saved Vermin, but he was the only one. |
| Strength Level: | Normal for a middle age woman/normal for a young woman. |
Summary
| Citizenship: | Presumed American. |
| Created By: | |
| Current Occupation: | Unknown |
| Education: | Doctorate in Psychology. |
| Former Bases: | Ravencroft Asylum; E.S.U. |
| Former Occupation: | Director of the Ravencroft Asylum for the criminally insane |
| Known Allies: | Spider-Man, John Jameson. |
| Known Confidants: | John Jameson, Spider-Man and Edward Whelan. |
| Known Relatives: | Mother (unnamed, deceased), Norma (sister, deceased) |
| Legal Status: | Clean |
| Major Enemies: | Shriek, Chameleon, Vermin and Judas Traveller. |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Place of Birth: | Unknown |
| Real Name: | Ashley Kafka |
| Usual Bases: | Unknown |
Background
Ashley Kafka had always put other people first. She was raised by her mother, although it could be said that she raised her mother. Ashley had a younger sister named Norma, whom had been born with severe facial birth defects and was mentally challenged. Ashley looked after Norma, while their mother accused Norma of being the Devil, come to ruin her life. Ashley took care of Norma's needs, plus all of the housework because her mother would fall into a whimpering heap if anything went wrong. Their mother died when Ashley was nineteen years old and Norma was left at a psychiatric hospital, where she died a short time later. Ashley went to college and studied psychology, wanting to "save the world." (Spectacular Spider-Man #196)
"The Child Within"
Dr. Kafka eventually was employed at New York University, home of many violently insane super criminals. One of her first patients was Edward Whelan, who was known as Vermin. She had been reluctant to take such a case but was persuaded by Reed Richards after Vermin was captured, after Sergei Kravinoff's suicide. Richards thought the path to curing Edward of his mutation into the man-rat was psychological, not physical. She used hypnotherapy to treat Vermin and made substantial progress, until he escaped and returned to the sewers. (Spectacular Spider-Man #178)
Spider-Man went to Ravencroft after Vermin's escape to discuss Edward's case but Vermin returned, looking for Kafka's help. The creature panicked upon seeing Spider-Man and attacked him, despite the webhead's promise that they only wanted to help him. Ashley tried to regain Vermin's trust and was bitten for her efforts. The man-rat escaped. (Spectacular Spider-Man #179)
Spider-Man soon returned to Dr. Kafka, this time needing her help for himself. He had been poisoned by one of Green Goblin II's psychedelic pumpkin bombs and was suffering from psychotic delusions. (Spectacular Spider-Man #181)
She talked him through the hallucinations, reminding him that he was a man, not a child anymore. As a man, he was strong enough to deal with his inner demons. Upon hearing from a nurse that Vermin had been sighted in Scarsdale, Spider-Man went after him...as did Dr. Kafka. She found him at Edward's parents home, injured after both he and Spider-Man had been attacked by the Green Goblin. After Spidey had saved him from both the Goblin and the police, Dr. Kafka took Vermin back to New York University. (Spectacular Spider-Man #183)
Back at the university, Kafka continued treating Edward and was actually happy with the fact that Vermin wanted to kill her. She saw it as a sign that the Vermin personality was weakening and that Edward was getting stronger. (Spectacular Spider-Man #184)
"The Horns of a Dilemma"
Soon after, Harry Osborn was defeated as the Green Goblin and was sent to NYU, where Kafka became his therapist. (Spectacular Spider-Man #189 and #190) She put on his Goblin mask, trying to convince him of how the mask was holding him back. He attacked her, demanding the mask back but fortunately for her, he was behind shatter proof glass. She claimed that she got the reaction that she wanted from him, but that was a moot point, as detective Angela Cairn arrived to put him into police custody. (Spectacular Spider-Man #190)
"The Death of Vermin"
Ashley made good progress with Edward, as the transformations into Vermin were becoming less common and had shorter durations. However, he regressed back into Vermin after being kidnapped by the Mutates, other people that had also been experimented on, unsuccessfully, by Baron Zemo. Doctor Kafka was also taken by the deformed creatures into the sewers. (Spectacular Spider-Man #194)
The Mutates wanted Vermin to be their leader and to get revenge on Baron Zemo for his cruelty towards them. Kafka tried to reason with Edward, to remind him of his progress and how close he was to being free of Vermin. The man-rat threatened to cut her throat and eat her alive but didn't, as payment for her past kindness. Vermin led the Mutates to the surface, where they encountered Spider-Man. He was overwhelmed by the numbers of the creatures and taken back to the sewers. Zemo then arrived to reclaim his "pets" and used his control device over them to threaten Kafka if Spider-Man attacked him. (Spectacular Spider-Man #195)
Even the ever compassionate doctor had a breaking point and she told Spider-Man "Let him take the *#&@ monsters! Let him take them and go!" Edward managed to break free of Zemo's control, thanks for his months of therapy with the doctor. He was about to kill his tormentor when Kafka talked him back from the edge. She even agreed to take in the Mutates at NYU, to find cures for them. Edward also became her assistant. (Spectacular Spider-Man #196)
"The Savaging"
After Dr. Curtis Connors was sent to the Vault to receive therapy for his transformations into the Lizard, Kafka was assigned to aid him. She made significant progress with him, which was undone when Calypso Ezili broke into the prison to regain her reptilian ally. However, Kafka's sessions with Connors had strengthened his will and despite the change back into the Lizard, the creature's mind was now strong enough to resist Calypso's control over him. The Lizard killed its former master and escaped into the Colorado mountains. (Web of Spider-Man #109)
"Shrieking"
When she was next seen, Doctor Kafka was the Director of Ravencroft Asylum. Edward was still working with the Mutates and Kafka had taken on two new super powered cases: Malcolm McBride and Frances Louise Barrison. Malcolm had been the mass murderer known as Carrion and the guilt of his murders weighed heavily on him. In an effort to show Malcolm that he wasn't as evil and insane as he thought himself to be, she showed him Frances, who was screaming in her cell. Barrison managed to break out of the Plexiglas cell and took Malcolm with her, throwing Ashley against the wall for good measure. (Amazing Spider-Man #390) When Spider-Man came to see Kafka, Colonel John Jameson (the Head of Security) told him she was in the medical unit with a concussion and two broken ribs. (Amazing Spider-Man #391)
"Power and Responsibility"
She was soon back to her duties as director and seeing guests, such as Dr. Judas Traveller. Traveller claimed to be studying the nature of evil but his research was much more hands on than he let on. After reading the minds of many of the patients at Ravencroft, he found Spider-Man to be a common factor in their thoughts. Traveller then teleported Dr. Kafka out of the asylum and began his experiment. (Web of Spider-Man #117) She and the rest of the staff were allowed to return to the asylum after Traveller left. (Spectacular Spider-Man #217)
"Aftershocks"
Kafka tried in vain to treat Dr. Miles Warren while he was held at Ravencroft but his refusal to take therapy seriously left her frustrated. She returned her attention to Frances Barrison, whom had adsorbed the Carrion Virus during her previous escape and was nurturing the infection like an unborn child. (Spectacular Spider-Man #223)
"The Trial of Peter Parker"
Judas Traveller soon returned to Ravencroft and held a trial of Spider-Man, under the belief that the webhead was responsible for the creation of so many super menaces. The jury was made up of the asylum's inmates, including Barrison, McBride and Dmitri Smerdyakov, the Chameleon. The mass murder, Cletus Kasady, acted as prosecution and the faulty clone of Spider-Man known as Kaine represented the defense. Dr. Kafka was helplessly forced to sit in the observational booth. She tried to help Malcolm went he was called to the witness stand, fearing that his fragile state of mind couldn't handle the stress of being cross examined by a psychopath like Kasady. Spider-Man was found guilty of "creating" these super-freaks and was about to be executed by them when they were stopped by Kaine and Traveller, whom set the asylum back to order. (Amazing Spider-Man #403)
”Along Came a Spider…”
A detective named Clark had ambitions to be the police chief someday and hoped that capturing Venom would make that more likely. He held Anne Weying on charges of obstruction of justice and called Dr. Kafka to bring him equipment that would neutralize his target. (Venom: Along Came a Spider #2)
"Mind Bomb"
Ashley remained the director of Ravencroft and dealt with Kasady, better known as Carnage, on a regular basis. He was an incorrigible threat and resisted every form of therapy she tried with him. Out of desperation, she called in a CIA trained psychologist whose methods she disagreed with to treat Kasady. Matthew Kurtz used a device to painfully separate Kasady form the alien symbiote that gave him his power, then used a mind control serum to get into his mind. The treatment did force Kasady to explain his view of the world in more honest, disturbing detail than he ever had previously but the serum wore off quickly and Dr. Kurtz ended up dead. (Carnage: Mind Bomb)
"The Humanity Agenda"
After Ben Reilly took over as Spider-Man he went after Carrion, who had escaped from Ravencroft. He learned that Carrion was lashing out because he was suffering after learning that Malcolm's mother had died suddenly of a stroke. Kafka arrived and took Malcolm back to the institute, where she modified his medication to prevent more willful transformations. Ben didn't like that Malcolm was being medicated so heavily and they went to her office to discuss what they did at Ravencroft. He was skeptical that the violent patients could be rehabilitated but Kafka was adamant that most of them were the product of trauma. If the trauma could be treated, there was the possibility of healing. Ben removed his mask and asked if she was talking about the patients, or him. He told her that he knew that Peter had told her everything but she needed to know that he wasn't Peter. He didn't want her poking around in his head. As he started to leave, Kafka asked if he needed a friend more than a therapist. He claimed that he didn't need a friend. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #1)
Later, Ben returned to Ravencroft after he had been attacked by the Scorpion in his apartment. Scorpion had defeated him but let him live, which confused Ben. He had also been strangely curious about what motivated Ben to be Spider-Man. Ben demanded to know how Carrion had escaped from Ravencroft and then the Scorpion so soon afterward. She showed him the surveillance monitors, which showed that Scorpion had never left his cell. Ben guessed that Chameleon had impersonated Scorpion but Kafka showed that he was also still in his cell. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #2)
After Spider-Man was attacked by apparitions of Carolyn Trainer and Kraven the Hunter, he knew that his attacker knew his secret. He went to Kafka to try and understand his assailant. She knew he disavowed being Peter Parker but deep down, they were still the same. Ben wanted to focus on another trickster enemy: Mysterio. He nearly choked Beck in his cell, demanding how he was doing it. Beck told him that without his equipment, he couldn't even pull a rabbit out of a hat. Spider-Man believed him and went out to find more clues. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #3)
Ben soon found out that the person behind the attacks was his forgotten clone "brother," Spidercide. He believed that Spidercide had died in their last fight and described it to Kafka. They were interrupted by Dr. Liu, who said that the inmates had escaped. Kafka didn't know how that was possible and Liu said he had hacked the system, showing himself to be Spidercide. (Spidercide can create mutiples of himself and what Spider-Man saw die was one of them.) He showed them that he had freed Scorpion, Shriek, Swarm, Mister Hyde, Mysterio, Chameleon and Typhoid Mary. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #4)
After Spider-Man left to stop the riot, Spidercide sent tendrils up Edward's nose to awaken the Vermin DNA, which Kafka couldn't stop. After Vermin went to the riot scene, she asked Spidercide who he really was. He said he hated Ben and everything he stood for but Kafka told him there is a thin line between love and hate. He may claim to be a monster but she suspected that he knew he was just a man. Spidercide eventually saved Ben from the rioting criminals and he saw how badly Ben was injured. He saved Ben by transferring some of his energy to him, but went into a coma in the process. He was last seen in a medical care room in Ravencroft, watched over by Ashley Kafka. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #5)
"Web of Carnage"
Dr. Kafka again was forced to face Carnage after the alien creature escaped. She demanded to know how it could have gotten past the cell that Col. Jameson had designed himself. (Spider-Man #67) She realized that without the symbiosis with the alien, Kasady's body was atrophying away and the only way to save him was to reunite him with the creature. She was uneasy to aid in re-creating Carnage, but the choice was moot after Spider-Man returned with the alien and needed help to be rid of it. (Spectacular Spider-Man #233)
"A New Day Dawning"
The final security breach under Dr. Kafka's administration involved the Chameleon, whom Kafka was treating in preparation of his standing trial. Federal agents would soon be arriving to take him to trial and she feared that he wasn't ready for it. "To take him away now--would undo all of the work we've done here. His mind would collapse again. Don't they realize that Ravencroft is the last chance for men like Dmitri? That if Ravencroft fails...the world will pay the price?" Later, she fooled Head of Security Jameson into thinking that Smerdyakov had escaped from his cell, when he had been taken to the asylums basement for the continuation of his treatment. (Spectacular Spider-Man #241)
"Face Dancing"
She was well aware that she could be arrested for what she had done and didn't appreciate his snarky transformations as she spoke with him. He soon convinced her that he was ready to take his therapy seriously, then bashed her head against the wall. (Spectacular Spider-Man #242)
"Who Am I?"
After she came to, she found John Jameson unconscious on the Ravencroft grounds, shot by the Chameleon, whom had impersonated her. (Spectacular Spider-Man #243)
"Backlash"
Back at their security station, Ashley went over all of the information she had gained from him over their months of therapy, including his hideouts and the list of everyone he had ever impersonated. They decided to check all of the listed hideouts but ended up getting captured by Dmitri and held in an electrified cage. (Spectacular Spider-Man #244)
"Kravinov's Revenge"
Spider-Man arrived at Kraven's old estate, where John and Ashley were being held, only to be drugged by a dart shot by Alyosha Kravinoff. He ended up in the cage with them and escaped after telling her that Chameleon's freedom, and the injuries he incurred on anyone, was her fault. This snapped her out of her delusion that Dmitri would never really hurt anyone, that she knew him too well. (Spectacular Spider-Man #245)
"The Legion of Losers"
She and John were free, but they were quickly fired from their jobs at Ravencroft by Senator Roeberg, whom had been a friend of Ashley's. Roeberg had called in a lot of favors to reopen Ravencroft for her but Chameleon's escape had been the last straw. (Spectacular Spider-Man #246)
Concurrent to the Chameleon episode, Dr. Kafka was also treating David Kalen for depression and survivor's guilt following his brother's death. Kalen had come to Ravencroft by his own will, meaning that he was free to leave at any time, despite Kafka's belief that he was still too dangerous. She called Spider-Man to talk to him, knowing the respect that Kalen had for him. Kalen still refused to stay and burned his way through a wall in an escape attempt. Spider-Man pulled Ashley to safety and went after Kalen, whom he persuaded to return to his cell. (Sensational Spider-Man #16 and #17)
"Powerless & Responsibility"
A few days later, Kalen escaped again, using his disintegration powers to burrow through Ravencroft's walls and into a tunnel under the building. Ashley correctly guessed that David planned to use his powers to disintegrate himself in a suicide attempt. (Sensational Spider-Man #18)
John's father, J. Jonah Jameson, had recently been assaulted at the Daily Bugle by Mad Jack (whom had also put hypnotic suggestion in John's mind after he was shot by the Chameleon) and put in the hospital. Ashley and John had become a couple and she went with John to see Jonah. Later, she, John and Marla Jameson went out to lunch, where a black cat rubbed against John's leg. He got up suddenly and walked out of the restaurant, went to the hospital and attempted to smother his father with a pillow. (Spectacular Spider-Man #247)
Spider-Man stopped John from killing Jonah but John swore he had no memory of attacking his father. Ashley suggested hypnosis, and while under her influence they found the psychological suggestion that Mad Jack had used to control John. They destroyed the suggestion but that had the side effect of changing John into his mindless alter ego: the Man-Wolf. (Spectacular Spider-Man #248)
The transformation was mental, not physical, so when a half naked John was found prowling the streets by Spider-Man, he was easily subdued. Kafka soon joined with them and took them back to her apartment to finish the hypnosis. (Spectacular Spider-Man #249)
"Citizen Osborn"
Back under her hypnotic influence, John fully transformed into the Man-Wolf. She hypothesized, as Spidey protected her from the Wolf, that John was punishing himself for attacking his father by becoming that which he hated: Man-Wolf. His anger and fear over the course of his life festered in his subconscious, feeding the Man-Wolf. She persuaded him to let go of his negative feelings and he changed back to John. (Spectacular Spider-Man #250)
"No One Dies"
The good doctor recently made a cameo in video form, giving background information on a former patient, Marcus Lyman, aka Massacre. (Amazing Spider-Man #655)
"The Aggressive Approach"
Lyman turned out to be her undoing, as he killed Dr. Kafka and other doctors during an escape. He took one of her eyes to get past the retina scanner security system. Spider-Man (Octavius) swore to avenge her death. (Superior Spider-Man #4)
"Ravencroft"
Ashley's clone arrived to the asylum and stunned John Jameson, Norman Osborn and Wilson Fisk. They were unaware that the murdered woman had been cloned. (Ravencroft #2)
A series of tests were run by Dr. Malus, who found that she wasn't a clone, shape shifter, artificial life form, hologram or alien. She was stunned and had no idea why they were confused by her. John informed her that she had been killed by Massacre. Norman Osborn was also present and he refused to believe that she was genuine. John shoved him aside and said that since Osborn didn't trust her, it was good enough for him. Kafka left with John, telling him that she wasn't sure if she was real or not but remembered their relationship. At that moment John was attacked by Mr. Hyde with a shiv. Hyde was stopped from stabbing John by Misty Knight's security team but a guard was stabbed. (Ravencroft #3)
The situation fell apart after a mob of mutated humans took over the asylum, led by William "Bud" Connor. He had been a friend of Captain America and went to the asylum after the war for help with PTSD. Instead he was experimented on by various mad scientists. The other mutants were also former patients of the asylum and they wanted to destroy the building and everyone in it. Kafka tended to the injured guard with Knight and Osborn. Knight escaped with Osborn's help. (Ravencroft #4)
The mutants also wanted the journal of the founder of the asylum, to find proof of the experiments. Ashley and the guard were used as bargaining chips to persuade John to find the journal. The attack by the mutants was ended by Fisk, Scorpion, Hobgoblin, Misty Knight, Punisher, Taskmaster, and Moonstone. After the crisis ended, Fisk called a press conference and declared John to be the new warden. John announced that Ashley would be head of staff. (Ravencroft #5)
"Sins Rising"
As the revived Sin Eater and his followers stormed the asylum looking for Osborn, Norman was checking the security cameras for the patient that he intended to use as a weapon against the cult. The "weapon" turned out to be the Juggernaut, and Kafka was the only person besides Osborn to have access to his room. She was tricked to come out of the security room by one of Sin Eaters followers. Sin Eater touched her head and corrupted her mind, forcing her to open Juggernauts door. He lunged at Ashley as soon as the door was opened but was shot by Sin Eaters supernatural shotgun. (The Amazing Spider-Man: The Sins of Norman Osborn #1)
"Last Remains"
Osborn, as the Green Goblin, fought and fled from Sin Eater as the long dead cop had killed Juggernaut and absorbed his power. Spider-Man fought by the Goblin's side, as he still wouldn't let a man like Norman Osborn die. But after they had momentarily escaped, Osborn got under Peter's skin and he was thrown from the underground craft they had used. The stranded Osborn was found by the Sin Eater, who killed him and absorbed his power and sins. The gun had the power to not really kill a victim but to render them changed, remorseful for their sins. When Norman awoke, he begged the Ravencroft guards to save themselves and that he didn't deserve to be helped. Doctor Kafka was there, and agreed with him. She had found the work he had been doing secretly at the asylum. He suddenly asked where the Sin Eater had gone and was told he had disappeared. Osborn knew that who had revived the previously dead Stan Carter was worse than him and had to be stopped. The puppetmaster behind the Sin Eater was named Kindred and Osborn was desperate to find him. When Norman said Kindred needed help, Kafka asked why he was so concerned about helping such a dangerous man. Norman told him that Kindred was his son, Harry. (Amazing Spider-Man #851)
"Beyond"
Dr. Kafka had tried to attempt therapy with Max Dillon but the session failed when Electro's cell blew up. Ravencroft was low on funds, especially after the debacle with Electro. She was met by Marcus Momplaisir, a representative of the Beyond corporation. He asked her to join them in rehabilitating their employee, Ben Reilly. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #75) Ben spoke with her after being distracted during a training session with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. Ben began to tell her a story about Ben Parker and May Parker but his memory oddly failed. She suggested he take two days off to get his head straightened out. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #77)
During a therapy session, Kafka helped Ben with a recurring dream of his uncle having a missing face. Kafka helped him see his uncle's face and understand that he believed in him so much and he wanted to prove him right. He felt relieved and held up Kafka in joy, even though she said it was inappropriate. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #84)
She witnessed a fight between Ben and Doctor Octopus in Maxine's office. She told him to wrap it up quickly, because they had a session later on. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #85)
Ben had a session with Dr. Kafka after he attacked a criminal called Hellbomb, and a building suffered severe damage. She was concerned about his impulsiveness and he was reluctant to talk to her. Eventually he told her that he didn't trust the company anymore, and didn't trust her because she worked for them. (He had learned from Doctor Octopus that Ben was being used by Beyond because he was psychologically unstable and easily manipulated.) Kafka confessed that she didn't trust them either but had negotiated with them to have autonomy. She had been told that their sessions were not being monitored, but they were. He said the findings made too much sense, because he knew there was something wrong with him. She confessed that she knew he was a clone and she was also. His memories had been tampered with because his past made him too complicated. Ben had asked Beyond to remove the memories but Kafka had ended that practice because it was too dangerous. Removing memories meant tampering with a clone's personality and identity, the basis of their stability. Pulling the wrong memory could risk removing all implanted memories.
She had created a device that would stitch his mind back together, but the constant tampering with his brain was disturbing his sense of reality and making him paranoid. It was why he attacked Hellbomb. He said that it wasn't the reason. Beyond owned many other companies and was chaotically diversified, which was it's cover. They were involved with many other things besides superheroes. He was about to tell Kafka about the U-Foes when a gun emerged from the wall and hit him with drug darts. Ben was dragged away for memory erasure and after the procedure began, his memories began to collapse. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #86)
After the procedure, Dr. Kafka tested Ben’s memory by asking him to identify pictures of his enemies. Later, Kafka spoke with Maxine Powers, asking when she could leave Beyond. Powers told her that she was a clone and had no human rights and Dr. Malus had falsified her blood work. Powers called Kafka out on her betrayal and Kafka tried to analyze her concern with betrayal. Powers told her to not bother, as she had she had used drugs to end her insecurity. She wanted Kafka to get back to work but if she refused, Beyond had other uses for a clone. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #87)
Kafka was soon changed into a red monster, created by combining her with the metaphysical sins of Norman Osborn. Maxine renamed her the Queen Goblin. Beyond scientists had programmed her to attack without knowing why but without questioning. She broke out of their restraints and killed them before flying away. She went after the hard drive that had been stolen by Octavius and found Janine (Ben’s girlfriend) and Mary Jane, who had gone to the Daily Bugle. Queen Goblin mused to them how as a therapist, she had heard horror stories from her patients lives and she had wondered how people could be so cruel. Seeing Janine and MJ terrified in front of her, she understood. Ben arrived and she sent her glider after him, while she destroyed the the hard drive. Ben took Janine away from the fight, leaving MJ behind. She was stunned that Ben abandoned her but Queen Goblin reassured her that she was still there. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #88)
At the Bugle, MJ was dangling from some debris on a top floor of the building as Queen Goblin taunted her from her glider. She said that she was intrigued by the possibility of probing the mind of a failed actor, night club owner and former Stark employee. Kafka began to use a new power, her Goblin Gaze, on MJ but was distracted by a man also clinging to wreckage on the Bugle. She promised that he wouldn't fall, telling him that admitting to a problem was the first step to freedom. She then hit him with a mace. Mary Jane hit her with a right cross, just long enough to distract her as the Black Cat arrived. Cat knocked her off of her glider and got MJ to explain what happened. MJ left to guide people to safety and Goblin Queen taunted Cat about how black cats had been used by witches as spies. Others couldn't see the cats for what they really were, but she could see right into Felicia. The goblin used her gaze on her, reading her mind and telling her that the world would be better without her. Cat stepped off of her glider and began to fall to the street but was caught by Peter, despite him having not fulling recovered from his radiation poisoning. Safely on the ground, MJ gave him his costume and he went after Queen Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #89)
As they battled for nearly an hour, Queen Goblin had gotten bored knowing every maneuver that he would make before he made it. (Beyond had downloaded terabytes of information regarding Spider-Man.) She dragged him all over town by his web, crashing through skyscrapers and the subway. She eventually used her Goblin Gaze on him over the East River, convincing him that he was the cause of his own problems. As he sank into the water, her voice taunted him, telling him that his friends didn't believe in him and that May had wished that he had died instead of Ben. The trick was that he was already coping with chronic self doubt. Before he drowned, a hallucination of Ben Reilly told him they both deserved to be Spider-Man because they were both amazing. He swam back to the surface and knocked the Goblin off of her glider and into the water. The glider's A.I. picked her up and she escaped, out of Beyond's tracking area. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #90)
At her hideout, Queen Goblin was trying to remember who she was but every attempt was interrupted by uncontrollable laughter. As she laughed, all that she could think about was hurting people. She knew that Beyond put Norman Osborn's sins into her, that it's his evil that she felt. He thought he was free of being the Green Goblin but she was going to show him that no one walks away. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #92.BEY)
”Hobgoblin”
After two Hobgoblins showed up working together, they turned out to be Roderick Kingsley and Ned Leeds.
”Gold Goblin”
”Spider-Man’s First Hunt”
At one of Kraven’s mansions, Queen Goblin realized that the ceremony had only been partially successful. While Norman’s sins were gone Ashley was still in a Goblin form. She had looked at every mirror in the house, hoping to see a change but they all showed the same image. Kraven had gone after Spider- Man but had been beaten and buried alive. Not sure if she felt guilty or desperate to believe she’d changed, she went to fix things. She found Spider-Man attacking the Lincoln Tunnel, where Mary Jane and Paul were trying to escape. She stopped him as he rained explosives onto the commuters, telling him that this wasn’t his destiny. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #34)
Kafka was still the Queen Goblin and acting as therapist to Ben Reilly and Janine Godbe (Hallows Eve). They found Spider-Man and Betty Brant at a building that was hiding Dr. Gerhard Winkler’s mind control device. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #47)
She had told Ben and Janine the Winkler device could restore his memories She taunted Betty that she had brainwashed Kingsley, who had in turn brainwashed Ned, ruining Betty’s life. Spider-Man tossed her aside to protect Betty and Eve went after them. Chasm eagerly sat in the Winkler device, saying he hoped to repay Goblin for her help. She didn’t want him to, as helping him had made Ashley Kafka into Queen Goblin. Despite everything she tried, she was still a monster and Ben was going to pay for it. Spider-Man came back and told her she was going back to Ravencroft. She’d tried to have revenge against Norman, Ben and Spider-Man and he refused to let any more be hurt. He then knocked her out with her own mace. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #48)
Image Gallery
Appearances
Thanks To
The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
Some of the above information is extracted from the various versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent Marvel Encyclopaedias.