Roderick Kingsley is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally created by Roger Stern and Mike Zeck for Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #43 (June 1980), the character was later brought back in the 1997 storyline Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives, in which he was revealed as the first and most prominent incarnation of the supervillain Hobgoblin, created by Stern and John Romita Jr. in The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983), and previously revealed to be the assassinated Ned Leeds in 1987, the latter being retroactively revealed to have been a brainwashed patsy manipulated by Kingsley over the course of the Hobgoblin Lives storyline. A conniving fashion designer in New York City, Kingsley gained access to one of Norman Osborn's lairs that housed the Green Goblin's equipment. Kingsley upgraded the inventions and perfected the Goblin formula, which enhanced his physical abilities and intellect without insanity. Adopting a Halloween-themed appearance and an arsenal of weapons similar to that of his predecessor, including explosive "Pumpkin Bombs", razor-sharp bats, and a high-tech "Goblin Glider", Kingsley became the criminal mastermind known as the Hobgoblin. He has persisted as one of the superhero Spider-Man's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up web-slinger's rogues gallery. In 2009, the Hobgoblin was ranked by IGN’s as the 57th-greatest comic book villain of all time. The character has been featured in various media adaptations, such as television series and video games. Publication history Roderick Kingsley made his first appearance in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #43 (June 1980) and was created by Roger Stern, Mike Zeck and John Romita Jr. The Hobgoblin's identity was not initially revealed, generating one of the longest-running mysteries in the Spider-Man comics. According to Stern, "I plotted that first story with no strong idea of who the Hobgoblin was. As I was scripting those gorgeous pages from JR [John Romita Jr.], particularly the last third of the book, and developing the Hobgoblin's speech pattern, I realized who he was. It was Roderick Kingsley, that sunuvabitch corporate leader I had introduced in my first issue of Spectacular". A handful of readers deduced that Kingsley was the Hobgoblin almost immediately. In order to throw readers off the scent and provide a retroactive explanation for his inconsistent characterization of Kingsley in his early appearances, Stern came up with the idea of Kingsley having his brother Daniel Kingsley