- Green Goblin Reborn!
Infobox comics story arc
title=Green Goblin Reborn!
caption="The Amazing Spider-Man" #96 (May 1971), the first of three non-Comics Code issues that prompted the Code's first update, allowing comics to show the negative effects of illegal-drug use. Note cover-blurb reference to "The last fatal trip!"
Art byGil Kane andJohn Romita Sr. .
publisher=Marvel Comics
date= May - July 1971
titles= "Amazing Spider-Man " vol. 1, #96-98
notable=y
main_char_team=Spider-Man ; Green Goblin;Harry Osborn
writers=Stan Lee
artists=
pencillers=Gil Kane
inkers=John Romita Sr.
letterers=
colorists=
cat=Spider-Man
sortkey=PAGENAME"Green Goblin Reborn!" is a 1971Marvel Comics story arc which featuresSpider-Man fighting against his archenemy Norman Osborn, theGreen Goblin . This arc was published in "Amazing Spider-Man " (vol. 1) #96-98 and was plotted and written byStan Lee , with art byGil Kane andJohn Romita Sr. as inker. It is recognized as the first mainstream comic publication which portrayed and condemneddrug abuse , and in time led to the revision of the rigidComics Code Authority .Plot outline
In previous issues, Stan Lee had established that Spider-Man's / Peter Parker's archenemy Norman Osborn (Green Goblin) had
amnesia and thus forgotten his double identity. At the beginning of issue 96, a cash-strapped Peter becomes the room mate of Osborn's sonHarry Osborn . After changing into Spider-Man, he saves a man dancing on a rooftop, realises he is high on drugs, and finally says "I would rather face a hundred super-villains than throw my life away on hard drugs, because it is a battle you cannot win!" In issue 97, Osborn Sr. regains his memory, turns into Green Goblin and attacks Spider-Man, and disappears mysteriously. At home, Peter is shocked to find Harry popping pills, partly because his love interestMary Jane Watson turned him down. In issue 98, Lee concluded the saga by having Green Goblin locate and fight Spider-Man, and Peter vanquishes his archenemy by showing him his sick son. Osborn Sr. faints, and in the end, Peter and his estranged girlfriendGwen Stacy rekindle their relationship.Historical signifiance
This arc was the first story arc in mainstream comics that portrayed and condemned the abuse of drugs. It effectively led to the revision of the Comics Code. Previously, the Code forbade the depiction of the use of
illegal drugs , even negatively. However, in 1970 the Nixon administration'sDepartment of Health, Education, and Welfare asked Stan Lee to publish an anti-drug message in one of Marvel's top-selling titles.Wright, p. 239] Lee chose the top-selling "The Amazing Spider-Man"; issues #96–98 (May–July 1971) feature astory arc depicting the negative effects of drug use. While the story had a clear anti-drug message, the Comics Code Authority refused to issue its seal of approval. Marvel nevertheless published the three issues without the Comics Code Authority's approval or seal. The issues sold so well that the industry's self-censorship was undercut and the Code was subsequently revised.Lee recalled in a 1998 interview:
Current Marvel Comics editor-in-chief
Joe Quesada called it the one Spider-Man comic that made him a lifelong fan. According to him, Quesada's father "encouraged [me] to read these issues and... I really got hooked... What my father didn’t realize was that he was starting a whole other addiction [to comic books] " [ [http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2007/03/09/comics-in-context-168-o-captain-my-captain/ Comics in Context #168] , Peter Sanderson, 2007]Quote
:"I would rather face a hundred super-villains than throw my life away on hard drugs, because it is a battle you cannot win!"::— Spider-Man in issue 96, line written by Stan Lee
References
*cite book|author=Wright, Bradford W|title=Comic Book Nation|year=2001|publisher=Johns Hopkins Press|isbn=0801874505
ee also
* "
Snowbirds Don't Fly " — the firstDC Comics anti-drug arc, featuringGreen Arrow sidekick Speedy as ajunkie . It also was published in 1971, only a few weeks after the "Green Goblin Reborn" arc.
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