In this feature, I examine comic book fights that were particularly notable in the wrong side winning (or at least that the fight wasn't won the "right" way). This really isn't a big deal, of course, as it doesn't really matter if the "wrong" person won a fight. But it's fun to talk about!

If you want to suggest a fight for future inclusion in this feature, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Don't suggest a fight in the comments!

This week, based on a suggestion by Andy N., we take a look at a fight so controversial that it was eventually retconned!

I just noticed that Andy N. also suggested this week's Drawing Crazy Patterns. Funny coincidence!

As always, on the first page we establish power levels and on the second page we look at the fight.

Hobgoblin first showed up in Amazing Spider-Man #238. After fighting Spider-Man a few times, the villain actually INCREASED his powers in Spectacular Spider-Man #85, when he got super-strength...







He was then roughly on par with Spider-Man, strength-wise, which is really, really strong, as we all know by now...





So, how did he do against Spider-Man?

Pretty darn well, although it was clear that Spidey was better than him (but that's not saying a whole lot, as Spidey is better than everyone). Here they are from Amazing Spider-Man #251...













As Amazing Spider-Man #261 establishes, Spider-Man at his peak can beat up Hobgoblin at HIS peak...



but still, the guy is quite strong. After all, he can take on Spider-Man head-to-head and make a win seem feasible! That, alone, is impressive.

So how was he killed in such an unimpressive manner?

In Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1, writer Jim Owsley decided to do a story that was based on Spider-Man being completely out of his element, not only in terms of being outside of the United State in a country where he doesn't speak the language, but stuck in a deadly game of espionage. Peter Parker and Ned Leeds are sent to Germany by J. Jonah Jameson to investigate a bad guy named Charlemagne. Wolverine shows up and tells Peter to back off. We soon see why, as Leeds is murdered...











In Amazing Spider-man #289, however, writer Peter David revealed that Ned Leeds was the Hobgoblin (something that obviously was not in Owlsey's mind at the time) and showed how he REALLY died...









David's position at the time, and now, is that Foreigner operatives are very highly trained, so that it is not a shock that they did so well against the Hobgoblin. That argument makes some sense. I'll certainly stipulate that the Foreigner's agents are very highly trained, but I think the problem is not so much that they won so much as it is that they DOMINATED him. It wasn't even a real fight - they just kicked his ass like he was a chump.

This, of course, led years later to Hobgoblin Lives, a mini-series where writer Roger Stern (who created Hobgoblin back in Amazing Spider-Man #238) explains that the fight was actually proof that Ned COULDN'T be the real Hobgoblin (Stern had established early on that the Hobgoblin used patsies at time to pretend to be him)...





I appreciate David's position, but I tend to lean towards Stern's way of thinking - a guy who could go toe-to-toe with Spider-Man shouldn't get murdered THAT easily.

Okay, that's it for this installment! Feel free to write in with suggestions for future The Wrong Side editions to bcronin@comicbookresources.com