Green Goblin #6

Background

Philip Urich stumbled onto the equipment of Harry Osborn, the second Green Goblin, and stole it to become the all-new Green Goblin! Phil's uncle, Ben, has been digging up dirt on the mean ol' Judge Tomb, and has been marked for death for his trouble. Now it's up to Marvel's newest (and extremely inexperienced) hero to save his good uncle's butt. And he just might be able to do it... with a little help from Daredevil!

Story Details

While shadowing the evil Judge Tomb, The Goblin meets up with Daredevil. DD invites Goblin along on his search to find out who has ordered a hit on Bugle reporter Ben Urich. They travel to a seedy bar where low-life criminal types hang out (Daredevil knows where ALL those places are), and the two shake down a loser named Bennie the Broker. Green Goblin does a real good job at scaring the bejeezus out of the old guy, and he says that he hired out the hit to "a costumed freak calling himself Purge!"

The next day, Ben gets pulled off the Tomb story to chase down the grave-robbing Spider-Man (see the Spidey titles for mo' info!), but a supposed "snitch" leaves a message on Ben's voice mail wanting to meet about Judge Tomb.

That night, Phil dons his goblin-gear, and goes to the meeting sight to stop the assassination of his beloved uncle. Goblin runs into Daredevil, who has been shadowing Ben all day, and both heroes come upon the unsuspecting Purge just as he's about to pull the trigger. Purge has a huge automatic rifle attached to his gauntlet (where can I get one of those??), and sprays the rooftops with gunfire. Goblin uses his glider to shield Daredevil from bullets after being knocked off of a roof. Phil chucks a pumpkin bomb at Purge, and blows him off a roof. Purge is left hanging from a wire, high above the city.

Anyone who has been following Daredevil knows that he just got finished with a big psychological breakdown that centered around an innocent woman biting it after DD accidentally knocked her out of a high-rise window. Daredevil pleads with Green Goblin to save him, that he is a person as well and no one has the right to judge him. DD tries hard to catch Purge, but just misses. The Green Goblin, however, doesn't. Phil swoops down on his glider and plucks the villain from certain death. He also smashes Purge's head into a building ledge, just for good measure. After a quick argument with DD about justice and such, the Green Goblin takes Purge's arm-cannon and throws it through Judge Tomb's window as a little reminder.

The issue ends with a classic cliffhanger. Philip is at his desk at the Bugle, feeling pretty good about himself, when a woman walks up to him and asks to see Ben Urich. When she realizes he's not there, she asks for all information on then new Green Goblin. "I'm Liz Osborn, widow of the Harry - the previous Green Goblin!" Seems like Harry's wife wants to get her late husband's equipment back!!!

General Comments

I enjoyed the plot a lot, but I'm biased because Daredevil is one of my favorite heroes. The Green Goblin did pretty well, seeing as how this is the first time he's actually participated of his own free-will in some super-adventuring. The judge Tomb thing was good, and the end was really cool. It seems like the Goblin is his own brand of hero - part loser, part nice-guy, part furious psychopath.

The only thing I didn't like was the cover. It portrays Daredevil holding up a baton with a bunch of GG's bat-like blades sticking out of it. The blades had the Goblin's face reflected in them. Cool cover, but it didn't hold very true to the story on the inside. Got to have an attention-getter, I guess. Scott McDaniel's back in the driver's seat for this one - thank goodness! Got to love that guy!

Overall Rating

All things considered, I have to give it five webs! Good plot, good co-star, and (as always), great art! I think the Goblin staff outdoes themselves every issue. I would like to score it lower, but in my heart I know that it's worth it. I'm just waiting around for the inevitable Ben Reilly Spider-Man/Green Goblin team-up. That would put all the traditionalists in an uproar, wouldn't it?