The Green Goblin: Bart Hamilton
Real Name: Dr. Bart Hamilton
First Appearance: The good doctor was first introduced as Harry Osborn's psychoanalyst in Amazing Spider-Man 167, although he had probably been treating Harry since Osborn's initial bout with Goblin-hood after Amazing Spider-Man 137. Hamilton donned the mask himself in Amazing Spider-Man 176.
Died In: Hamilton blew himself up in Amazing Spider-Man 180. When the "original" Hobgoblin identity was retconned, Hamilton briefly became one of the main suspects after a bearded gentleman offed Jason Macendale; it turned out to be Roderick Kingsley using facial hair as a disguise, not Hamilton returned to life.
What's His Problem? A classic case of being unable to diagnose psychotic behavior in himself. Treating Harry Osborn for his Green Goblin "delusions," Hamilton began to investigate the claims that Harry made under hypnosis and discovered one of the hide-outs of the original Green Goblin. Thinking at first that he would just write a paper about the workings of a psychotic super-villain, Hamilton began to play with the paraphernalia of the Goblin and became more than a little delusional himself.
Abilities: One assumes that Hamilton was a competent psychiatrist before falling under the siren song of power promised by the Goblin identity. As the Goblin, he fooled the underworld into thinking he was the original (and Spidey into thinking he was Harry), commanding the respect and fear (and inheriting the enemies) the first Goblin had earned over years of dealing with the New York rackets. The Goblin outfit, however, couldn't conceal one truth; Hamilton was a middle-aged guy without fighting skills. He couldn't even snap Spidey's head back using both hands when he tried to punch the Wall-Crawler out.
Weapons: Hamilton had the typical range of Goblin goodies, including several goblin gliders, the usual bag of tricks with pumpkin bombs, razor-edged bats, and a plastic "ghost" he used to engulf and capture Spidey.
Favorite Quote: "Answer me when I ask you a question, you micro-cephalic moron! The Green Goblin will not be ignored!" (Amazing Spider-Man 179, after slapping a Mysterious Hooded Figure he kept bound in his secret Goblin headquarters).
Heroes He Kept Running Into: Hamilton meddled in the Web-Slinger's' life long before pulling on the green tights. After discovering Peter's secret identity from Harry, he planted a hypnotic suggestion in Harry that made young Osborn follow Peter around. Thus Harry was present when Peter disposed of his clone's body down a smokestack, and was able to take pictures that Peter later had a heck of a time explaining away.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: Harry himself had a high opinion of Dr. Hamilton, before the doctor's delusions of grandeur put an end to their sessions. Spidey assumed it was Harry under the Goblin's mask, and spent several issues pulling his punches rather than harm his friend. The mob boss Silvermane, however, pegged the Green Goblin as a trouble-maker from their first meeting, and tried to have him assassinated. A botched kidnapping attempt by the Goblin got Silvermane dropped from a very high place, leading to severe injuries (he had one of the longest help-me-I'm-falling conversations ever depicted in comics; I think he would have gone "splat" about the third line, myself). Harry's good opinion of his doctor didn't survive being imprisoned by him for several days; donning the Goblin get-up himself, he confronted his psychoanalyst and, in a scene that would have made Freud proud, fought Hamiliton to the death for the sake of his own self-identity.
Most Despicable Act: As well as dropping gangsters and imprisoning patients? Hamilton threw Flash Thompson out of a window to distract Spider-Man, making Peter relive the awful moment when Gwen Stacy was thrown to her death; he also deliberately blocked Spidey from getting to the hospital even though he knew Aunt May's life depended on Peter Parker signing surgical consent forms.
By The Way... The full story of the third Green Goblin is available online. Go check it out!
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