Web of Spider-Man 48 - Inferno

The All-New All-Daring Jason Macendale the Replacement Hobgoblin pursues Spider-Man into the sewers.

Web of Spider-Man #48

Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Alex Saviuk
Inker: Keith Williams
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: J. Cohen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Spider-Man briefly hallucinates about the demons and flees the Daily Bugle. Coming to his sense he realises New York is even worse then he imagined and sets off to find Mary Jane. Others deal with the demons in their own way. Gloria Grant's date Eduardo Lobo takes out a fork-lift truck with a pipe, winning her affections. The Kingpin punches a demon into oblivion, irritated by the distraction. Meanwhile the Hobgoblin is struggling with the changes inflicted on him and thinks he's mad when he sees a giant lizard the size of a man. Spotting Spider-Man he follows him as the wallcrawler reaches the studio where Mary Jane had a session then goes down into the sewers where the model and her crew are under attack by demons. The Hobgoblin catches up with Spider-Man and is now much faster and more powerful, with Spider-Man at times barely able to sense his foe's blasts. Meanwhile Mary Jane comes up with the idea of setting off a gas explosion to deal with the demons and when Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin come into view the latter's cape proves highly flammable. Out in Queens Aunt May sees the storm over Manhattan and worries about Peter.

Although Inferno still has two more Spider-Man issues to go we've come to the climax of the Hobgoblin part of the story. However with so much else going on in the issue we get little more than the Hobgoblin coming to terms with how he's been changed, with his face taking time to become truly demonic, and then a brief fight with Spider-Man. But it's sufficient to establish the Hobgoblin's new enhanced powers and gives the character a sense of dignity and menace for about the first time since he took over the costume. It somewhat puts the character's weakness in earlier issues in perspective as they have been setting up his search for strength and greater power whilst it also provides a personal angle to the conflict as the Hobgoblin blames both Spider-Man and Harry Osborn for the events that led him to become a demon and now seeks revenge.

There's a few scenes of other characters with some interesting moments. Harry Osborn pops by Aunt May's and from his thoughts it seems as though he knows Peter helped him last issue - so has he remembered Peter's identity? It's a subtle moment not touched upon for a while. Another mystery comes with the strange super strength of Eduardo Lobo but the standout moment has to be with the Kingpin. Coming out of his office to find his henchman the Arranger and various thugs cowering from a demon in the reception the Kingpin calmly destroys it with one punch and then tells his subordinate to get back to day to day business whilst he makes further plans for dealing with Daredevil. Despite being less than two pages long the scene is promoted on the cover and provides a fantastic moment that is all the better for its briefness.

This issue is struggling to balance the immediate needs and the ongoing storylines but manages to provide a good set of moments to bring a satisfactory conclusion to the Hobgoblin saga that serves to re-energise the character and make him a viable threat going forward.