I'm sitting in the mausoleum like silence of a public library on my laptop when I scroll down and see Paulo's post of Quephisto and it takes every shred of discipline I have not to completely loose my composure and start cackling (LOL).  That is hilarious!

QUOTE: This is the Peter Parker that the middle age fanboys want so that they can live vicariously through him.

LOL Just when I thought this subject had become deprived of all interest.

QUOTE: What's Teen Tony Stark doing with Peter's face?

Tranny Stark? 

Micheal Roberts wrote: Wha? How did you get that from the preview?

He probably got that from 7 years of 2090909 super repetitive comics about the exact same damn themes, character types and feel to them published by Joe Q.

Wait I thought the middle age fanboys wanted Peter to grow old with them? Who am I supposed to hate here - it's not clear anymore! lol

That seems to be part of the problem.  There are two warring fanboy factions and the book suffers as it keeps getting torn between them both.  Me? I don't like either camp.

Bringing Norman back -- how long after the fact? -- was Very Bad Idea. But at least it sprang from internal logic. It is not a stretch to say that the goop that turned him into the Green Goblin could repair cellular damage enough to resurrect him. This is comics, after all.

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True dat, although I'd like to point out a few items of interest:

1. We saw Osborn carted onto the meat wagon, and he was later a part of the Grandmaster's Legion of the Unliving (although it could now be argued that that particular spectre was Bart Hamilton instead of Osborn).

2. The formula has been gradually retconned into some sort of magic elixir that can do all sorts of stuff.

Here's how it went:

In the original origin story, Osborn stumbled onto some "strange new formulas" devised by Mendel Stromm. Experiementing with one caused it to explode in his face. This apparently boosted Osborn's intelect (or perhaps his ego made him think so), and also drove him mad.

Prior to his death, there wasn't much evidence to prove that the Green Goblin possessed super-strength.

Years, later, the formula was specifically said to have been intended to bestow super-strength and intelligence on the user (apparently because Roger Stern felt that Osborn must've had super-strength in order to stand up to Spider-Man as many times as he did).

The original Hobgoblin modified the formula to provide him with far greater strength than Osborn, and to sidestep the insanity side-effect (or did he?).

Many years after that, it was decided that the formula also bestowed the user with healing powers, which allowed Osborn to survive the jet-glider's impact.

In other words, the nature and capabilities of the formula have showballed over the years.

3. Osborn's death was a major part of that original storyline, and bringing him back undercut it in many, many ways (although it was something of a necessary evil in order to restore Peter as Spider-Man and to end the much-maligned Clone Saga). 

Oh, contraire! Just being able to stand and maneuver on that rocket powered glider of his would have required considerably more than human strength!

QUOTE: Who am I supposed to hate here - it's not clear anymore! lol

Just follow whatever opinion seems the most popular and don't argue.

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Oh, contraire! Just being able to stand and maneuver on that rocket powered glider of his would have required considerably more than human strength!

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Well, okay. There's that.

But I mean more overt/obvious/comic-book-y stuff, like lifting heavy objects.

3. Osborn's death was a major part of that original storyline, and bringing him back undercut it in many, many ways

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That's the problem I had with bringing back Norman Osborn. His death had been a meaningful and necessary one. Since Norman murdered Gwen, he had to die immediately for Peter to be able to close that chapter in his life. However, I understand why the creative teams felt the need for a "shocking revelation" to undo the Clone Saga and get fans back on board.

As far as Norman having super-strength, the Roger Stern-scripted explanation, where the Hobgoblin thinks, "Osborn must've had some secret to be able to stand up to Spider-Man so many times" works for me. The Green Goblin's superhuman strength does make him a more formidable foe.

However, Greg is right that none of the Goblins exhibited much in the way of superhuman strength before the 1980s. Piloting that glider probably would take superhuman ability in real life, but Harry Osborn and Bart Hamilton did it without superpowers. The Green Goblin's superhuman strength appears to be something of a 1980s retcon and the whole healing factor business didn't come along until the late-1990s.