Roderick Kingsley

Roderick Kingsley
Roderick Kingsley unmasked as Hobgoblin in Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #3 (1997). Art by Ron Frenz.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	As Roderick Kingsley: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #43 (June 1980) As Hobgoblin: The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983)
Created by	Roger Stern Mike Zeck (Roderick Kingsley) John Romita, Jr. (Hobgoblin)
In-story information
Team affiliations	Astonishing Avengers
Notable aliases	Hobgoblin, Devil-Spider
Abilities	Master of hypnosis and drug induced mind control Highly skilled business and criminal organizer Talented fashion designer Superhuman physical attributes and intelligence Use of goblin-theme weapons and paraphernalia

Roderick Kingsley is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the first character who would claim the Hobgoblin alias. He first appeared in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #43 then as the Hobgoblin in The Amazing Spider-Man #238, and was created by Roger Stern, Mike Zeck and John Romita, Jr.. In 2009, the Hobgoblin was ranked by IGN as the 57th greatest comic book villain.

Roderick Kingsley first appeared in The Spectacular Spider-Man #43. The Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern and artists John Romita, Jr. while working on The Amazing Spider-Man in the early 1980s. Like other writers Stern found himself under pressure to have Spider-Man fight the Green Goblin again but did not wish to bring Norman Osborn or Bart Hamilton back from the dead, have Harry Osborn become the Green Goblin again or create yet another Green Goblin. Instead, he decided to create a new character as heir to the Goblin legacy and developed the Hobgoblin.

The character's identity was not initially revealed, generating one of the longest running mysteries in the Spider-Man comics. According to Stern, "I plotted that first story with no strong idea of who the Hobgoblin was. As I was scripting those gorgeous pages from JR [John Romita, Jr.], particularly the last third of the book, and developing the Hobgoblin’s speech pattern, I realized who he was. It was Roderick Kingsley, that sunuvabitch corporate leader I had introduced in my first issue of [The] Spectacular [Spider-Man]." A handful of readers deduced that Kingsley was the Hobgoblin almost immediately. In order to throw them off the scent, and in the same stroke provide a retroactive explanation for his inconsistent characterization of Kingsley in his early appearances, Stern came up with the idea of Kingsley having a brother named Daniel who sometimes impersonates him, sealing the deception by having the Hobgoblin conspicuously appear in the same room as Daniel Kingsley in Amazing Spider-Man #249.