Quote:
(1) In short: Stern had wanted Roderick Kingsley to be him, but DeFalco had worked with the secret plan of making him the Rose and built up Ned Leeds as a red herring, also for his editor. Owsley tried to sabotage this by killing off Ned Leeds (whom he believed to be the guy whom DeFalco would reveal as the Hobgoblin), and when PAD had the matter dropped into his lap, he thought the clues inevitably led to the conclusion that Ned had to have been the Hobgoblin.
This is such a disappointment when reading the recent Stern omnibus. I mean you get more than halfway through the omnibus and the Hobgoblin hasn't even appeared (okay yes, Roderick does in some very minor, forgettable roles, but I digress). And you get to the end and it really feels like you're just reading half a story. You're really no closer to finding out the Hobgoblin's identity or that it is really even a plot line.