Spider-Man: "Revenge Of The Green Goblin"

Premiered in 1981.

Spider-Man swings over a group of trick or treaters.

"Halloween's the only time I don't feel conspicuous."  
- Spider-man/Peter Parker

Norman Osbourn, AKA the Green Goblin.

Norman Osbourn (Neil Ross) is riding on a train.  Suddenly, an accident occurs, derailing the train and sending the passengers flying.  The shock restores a repressed memory in Osbourn: he is the Green Goblin, one of Spider-Man's deadliest foes.

Osbourn remembers!

In New York City, Peter Parker (Ted Schwartz) is getting ready to celebrate Halloween.  He dresses up as a clown and takes Betty Brant (Mona Marshall) to a college dance.

Peter Parker and Betty Brant, dressed up for the Halloween Dance.

Peter's "spider sense" starts acting up at the dance.  He sneaks off, telling Betty he needs to go get her "Halloween present" and puts on his Spider-Man suit.

Peter uses his "spider-strength" to open a locked door.

 

He finds the Green Goblin in a lab nearby.  Goblin zaps Spider-Man with a ray that immobilizes him.

A black cat hisses at Spider-Man after crossing his path!

 The villain then dons a helmet called the "memory amplifier," which projects memories like they're movies.  Green Goblin recounts his last battle with Spidey, where they both learned each other's secret identities.

Green Goblin dons his memory amplifier helmet.

Osbourn says his business empire was destroyed when the Daily Bugle reported about his dangerous work conditions.  He vows to punish the Bugle and its owner, J. Jonah Jameson.  Gobby also threatens to tell the world that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

Green Goblin flashes back to their previous battle.

The Goblin takes off and visits the Daily Bugle offices.  He shoots the Bugle's printing press with some sort of beam.  Spider-Man recovers and pursues the Goblin, brawling with him over Central Park.  But the Goblin gets away and drops Spider-Man in the lake.

The next day, every copy of the Daily Bugle disintegrates when touched.  The paper's publisher, J. Jonah Jameson (William Woodson) is furious about this and demands to know who's responsible.

 A stack of Daily Bugle newspapers disintegrates!

Green Goblin attacks Jameson in his office, causing JJJ to accidentally fall out the window.

Spider-Man saves Jameson, but now the Goblin has a chance to tell Jameson that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are one and the same.

J.A. Morris says:
A bit of background on this series:Spider-Man ran for one season in syndication in 1981.  It never ran on a  national network (I only saw it when I traveled out of state or on VHS years later), so it's somewhat obscure.  For more info on the series, check out this excellent fan site.

A trick or treater shows up dressed as Aunt May's "favorite weirdo"!

"Revenge Of The Green Goblin" is a decent Halloween story.  As we said in our review of the Halloween episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man, Green Goblin is the perfect villain for a Halloween show.  The Halloween Dance and the kids in costumes give it plenty of Halloween atmosphere. 

Something that's always bugged me about Spider-Man (in comics, film and television) is that writers often use "the Parker luck" as a  cheap way of creating drama.  Peter Parker often has to run off in the middle of a date to change into his Spidey costume, which angers his girlfriend.  In this episode, Peter is forced to run off, but makes it up to Betty in the end.  She gets her "Halloween present"...

 and he gets a kiss!

The only real problem is the Green Goblin's method of revenge on Jameson.  He causes a day's worth of the Daily Bugle to disintegrate.  I suppose angry subscribers would demand a refund, ergo ruining Jameson's fortune?  I'm guessing a skinflint like Jameson would have insurance for such a thing. 

Halloween kitten!

 While it's not a classic, "Revenge Of The Green Goblin" is a fun episode, and it can also serve as good intro an obscure series.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Jack O'Lanterns.