Previous Post Way back in Amazing #238, some street punk brings the shadowy figure who will eventually become the Hobgoblin to the stash of old weapons he has found. When he does so, the street punk says to the shadowy figure, something along the lines of "I thought this would be of interest to you considering your line of work." This makes sense for: Ned Leeds (reporter) Lance Bannon (photojournalist) Foreigner (assassin) and many of the other suspects at the time. How does it make any sense for Roderick Kingsley who (IIRC) was a fashion designer ? > Did they ever print a letter where someone guessed Hobby's identity correctly? (I mean as Kingsley, not Leeds, because everybody guessed Leeds.) I don't have a complete run from back then, but in 288 Alex Pogel thinks that Kingsley is the Rose; that's the only time he's mentioned in the letter pages that I've seen. Thanks! > > Also - I like to think that Joe Robertson has known Spidey's identity since he and Captain Stacy were working together to try and figure it out, but maybe Stacy kept it from him, I can't decide.

> How does it make any sense for Roderick Kingsley who (IIRC) was a fashion designer ?

Kingsley was also involved in the fringe criminal underworld, albeit only fairly slightly. This is apparent from his first appearance where Belladonna comes back to put a bullet in his brain. However, you also have to remember, Kingsley isn't a nice person. He looks at the suit and for him, it only adds to what he's already doing, already planning.

Got to remember that Stern knew it was Kingsley as he wrote this scene and so for me, the inclination is, he's following the consequence of the Belladonna arc - with Kingsley getting shiftier and shiftier and generally becoming more corrupt. In this setting, Kingsley is like Norman Osborn - they both were criminals before they went fruitloops and rode around on a flying bat (okay, okay, Hobby isn't fruitloops and the Goblin didn't originally fly around on a bat. ). But people forget that Kingsley was already a very minor potential enemy of Spider-Man before he was Hobgoblin, albeit an enemy nontheless...

I also find it a little difficult for Kingsley, who later took so much effort to conceal his identity, would have given the game away on this small time crook. More than likely, the crook knew of Kingsley as a bit player in the criminal world but not necessarily as anybody legit, therefore if he was asked who Kingsley was, at best he may know Kingsley's name but ultimately if he didn't, the best the dude has was 'well, the new Hobgoblin is a criminal like me'. I guess, anyway.