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W.E.B. of Spider-Man #4 revealed the identity of a new Green Goblin who has been terrorizing a young Peter Parker and his allies in one alternate world.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for W.E.B. of Spider-Man #4, available now from Marvel.
Spider-Man has fought his fill of goblin-themed foes. From the Green Goblin to the various versions of the Hobgoblin, it seems like anybody who gets involved with the Osborn family is doomed to adopt a goblin identity. It all stems from Norman and Harry Osborn and the always dangerous Green Goblin persona, but they’re not the only villains to become the Green Goblin. And in an alternate reality of W.E.B. of Spider-Man, another Goblin just emerged, revealed who is behind the most recent appearance of the Green Goblin and he has a long history with the Osborns.
After protecting their New York laboratory from a Green Goblin attack, Tony Stark elected to send the Worldwide Engineering Brigade to their Paris headquarters. On their way to Paris, their plane was attacked by the Goblin with a clear goal of ending the brigade. Luckily, Peter still had his web-shooters and was able to create a plan that allowed the plane to land safely. W.E.B. of Spider-Man #4 by Kevin Shinick, Alberto Alburquerque, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Travis Lanham picks up with the W.E.B. team meeting with their newest member, Amadeus Cho. Peter relays that he does not believe this Green Goblin is the real deal as there have been way too many inconsistencies in his behavior. Cho begins to look into people associated with the Goblin or his serum when a hologram of Iron Man interrupts the meeting to offer his viewpoint.
Before long, the Iron Man hologram is hijacked in a manner similar to an attack in W.E.B. of Spider-Man #1. He blasts a hole through the wall that allows the Goblin entry into the lab. Spider-Man, Cho, and Squirrel Girl took the attack to the Goblin and pursued him through the city. The remaining members entered into a Tron-like setting where they fought the hostile hologram. Spidey’s team soon learns that Mendel Stromm is the new face behind the Goblin’s mask and he’s going by a new name, Cy-Gob.
Stromm’s first appearance took place back in 1966’s Amazing Spider-Man #37 by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Artie Simek. This issue saw Stromm released from prison after serving 10 years for embezzling money from his and Norman Osborn’s company. Recently, in Amazing Spider-Man #72 by Nick Spencer, Frederico Vicentini, Alex Sinclair, and VC’s Joe Caramagna, it was revealed that Stromm had never embezzled but was imprisoned due to a deal made between Mephisto and Osborn.
Stromm was becoming the popular face for the company and was responsible for creating much of their technology as well as the Goblin Serum, all while Osborn was drowning in debt. His deal with Mephisto flipped the table on Stromm but he would use his time in prison to plot his revenge. Upon his release, he created multiple robots set on destroying Osborn’s work before killing Osborn himself. His plan was foiled by Spider-Man, and Stromm seemingly died from a heart attack.
Osborn would eventually exhume Stromm’s body and discover that he took the goblin serum himself allowing him to still be alive. Osborn offered Stromm a new life if he could destroy Spider-Man once and for all in Amazing Spider-Man #411 by Tom DeFalco, Mark Bagley, Larry Mahlstedt, Al Milgrom, and Bob Sharen. Stromm took on the identity of Gaunt and tried to defeat Ben Reilly who was Spidey at the time, but failed. This prompted Norman to try and kill Stromm yet again.
The serum continued to keep Stromm alive but his plans to defeat Osborn or Spidey never panned out. Amazing Spider-Man #5 by Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin, and Caramagna saw Kindred provide Stromm with an army of tri-sentinels, only to take it all back when he was nearing success. Kindred proceeded to tear Stromm into pieces.
WEB of Spider-Man provides an insight into what could have happened had Osborn not made his deal with Mephisto. As this timeline shows, Stromm could have potentially become the Green Goblin since he had taken the serum and was quite the inventor himself. This also creates a new angle for the Green Goblin as Stromm is essentially a cyborg at this point. His technological prowess combined with the Goblin’s ruthlessness creates a powerful enemy for Spidey. He will need the full assistance of the Worldwide Engineering Brigade if he hopes to bring down Cy-Gob.
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