If anyone ever told you comics always stay the same, make them read Gold Goblin this week in trade paperback. Gold Goblin is the new form Norman Osborn has taken now that his sins are cleansed. Thanks to events in Amazing Spider-Man, Norman has a new path, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten those sins. In the new series, Christopher Cantwell and Lan Medina flesh out Norman’s struggles and new direction as a hero, but with sins haunting him, how long can that heroism last? This story puts him to the test and makes the case that he may not be 100% on board with being a hero.
Norman Osborn is a near-impossible character to redeem, but with a little superhero comic magic, he’s on the right path. He’s turned good only to return evil countless times, has done terrible things to actively ruin Peter Parker’s life and even committed war crimes. The dude is all bad, yet Cantwell and Medina have the task of making us think, “maybe not?” It’s also fighting against history, which reminds us legacy characters always return to their original form.
Gold Goblin #1 opens with a baseball bat hitting a baseball. Norman has taken his grandson to the batting cages, and while this is a hopeful and fun activity, we soon learn Norman can’t get out of his head. Much like that bat hitting a ball, there’s a battle going on that Norman can’t escape as visions and thoughts enter his mind an interesting metaphor that parallels a moment in the final scene. Norman questions his goodness early on, but by the end, he’s signing things like a baseball Hall of Famer.
This miniseries is smartly written. Cantwell deals with ideas surrounding guilt, heroism, and truly awful crimes. The humanity of Norman is apparent from the first page, yet by the end, he’s signing a skull and none the wiser. One can see he actively wants to be better, yet he’s doing something quite disturbing unaware of what it means.
Credit: Marvel
Cantwell continues to make you question if Norman is or can ever be good, yet he continues to try. There are different examples of his past sins come back to haunt him and you, along with Norman, will wonder if he can salvage this life. It all leads to a throwdown with Queen Goblin, who is directly involved with his sins being taken away.
Medina and color artist Antonio Fabela create a dark atmosphere in this series, especially in the first issue. The costume for the Gold Goblin sticks out like a shining beacon amongst all that darkness. It’s an interesting concept when you consider the demons Norman is wrestling with since it’s symbolic of the great hope he wants to achieve in proving he can be a hero and a good person. An iconic villain with a flaming pumpkin head makes an appearance and he looks relatively cool in this issue.
The last two issues devolve into an action fight fest, with the art looking a little unfinished at times. It all built towards the end, but the tighter and more impactful emotional moments seem to fall away in favor of punching and tossing goblin bombs.
Gold Goblin is a compelling psychological narrative well worth exploring. As a reader tired of Norman Osborn, I was invigorated by this series with its unique direction for the character. It asks that if a person is removed from their sin, can they ever outgrow the acts themselves? Gold Goblin is a fascinating look into a complicated mind.
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