Jason Macendale

Jason Macendale, Jr.
Panel from Web of Spider-Man #93 (October 1993). Pencils by Alex Saviuk.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	As Jack O'Lantern Machine Man #19 (February 1981) As Hobgoblin The Amazing Spider-Man #289 (June 1987)
Created by	Tom DeFalco Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter ego	Jason Philip Macendale, Jr.
Team affiliations	Sinister Six
Partnerships	Gaunt
Notable aliases	Jack O'Lantern, Hobgoblin
Abilities	Highly trained hand to hand combatant, martial artist and spy Expert mechanical engineer and physicists Superhuman physical abilities due to Kraven's formula and cybernetic implants Use of various goblin-themed weapons and paraphernalia (When possessed by demon): Superhuman strength, speed and agility Hellfire powers Ability to create organic fibers

Jason Philip Macendale, Jr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The character first appears in Machine Man #19 (Feb 1981), created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Steve Ditko. In The Amazing Spider-Man #289 (June 1987) he switches identities from Jack O'Lantern to the Hobgoblin.

The character was killed off in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1 in order to make room for Roderick Kingsley to assume the Hobgoblin mantle. Writer Roger Stern recounted that he was initially uncertain of how to resolve the situation of there being two Hobgoblins:

When I was preparing to revisit the Hobgoblin, I went over the story that Howard [Mackie] and JR had done in Spider-Man #68, which was still fairly recent at the time, and I said to the editors, “Wow, they did all this work to revamp the second Hobgoblin—what do you want me to do? I can have Macendale beat my guy [Kingsley], anything you want, because you just went to all this trouble.” I heard back and was told that I could open my story by having my guy kill Macendale. That left things pretty open![emphasis in original]

Jason Philip Macendale was a former CIA agent who was recruited out of college to become an agent for the organization. Macendale proved to be a liability to the organization, due to his violent nature and amoral personality. This rejection turned Macendale to become a mercenary and ultimately a costumed terrorist, as he adopted the costumed alter ego of Jack O'Lantern.

Jack O'Lantern became a regular nemesis for Spider-Man, meeting him in battle the first time in Spectacular Spider-Man #56. He was later hired to retrieve the Hobgoblin's lost battle van and despite the untimely appearance of Spider-Man, pulled off the mission successfully.