Amazing Spider-Man #23
The Goblin and the Gangsters
The Green Goblin shows up to a mobster hangout and demands the thugs to bow to his superior skill as he wants to take over Lucky Lobo's mob. The gangsters and the Goblin don't see eye to eye and the Goblin flees and gets a write-up in the paper about him attacking mobsters. Pete heads over to The Daily Bugle's office, he sees J. Jonah Jameson meeting with Frederick Foswell, formally the mobster known as the Big Man. Deciding to give Foswell a second chance, Jameson gives Fredrick his old job back.
Meanwhile, The Green Goblin is up to no good and gets a list of unreported taxable income about Lucky Lobo's companies from a henchman. The Green Goblin gives the information to Foswell and he reports on it at The Daily Bugle. While swinging around, Spider-Man notices speeding police cars and a raid and watches as the Goblin throw a pumpkin bomb at one of the mobster's getaway cars. The Goblin leads Spider-Man into Lucky Lobo's hang out and leaves the two there to destroy each other.
Spider-Man temporarily ducks away to call Aunt May and as the mobster follow him in, he traps them as well as Lucky Lobo himself. Lucky explains the Goblin wants to shove Lucky Lobo aside so he can gain control of the mob and be "boss of the underworld". As the Green Goblin and Spider-Man fight, Spider-Man runs out of web fluid and the Goblin runs out of tricks in his bag as he flies away. Yet, the Goblin doesn't have luck on his side as he finds out that the police have caught the entire Lucky Lobo gang.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Green Goblin, Lucky Lobo, Frederick Foswell
Continuity Notes
Aunt May scolds Peter for being out late, that happened last issue.
Frederick Foswell was revealed to be the mobster known as the Big Man and arrested back in Amazing Spider-Man #10.
The Green Goblin, aka Norman Osborn, makes his first appearance out of costume. It is an unnamed, non-speaking appearance as another member of J. Jonah Jameson's Midtown Business Executives Club. The fact that he is secretly the Green Goblin is not revealed until Amazing Spider-Man #39.
