WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #798 by Dan Slott, Stuart Immonen, Wade von Grawbadger, Marte Gracia and Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Not many villains have pushed Spider-Man to the brink like Norman Osborn and his alter ego, the Green Goblin. Each encounter has involved the use of many pumpkin bombs, goblin gliders and web-shooters, as hero and villain tried to gain the upper hand.
In Norman's last-ditch effort to finally defeat Peter Parker, he stole the ultimate weapon in the Carnage symbiote, turning himself into the Red Goblin. After a few issues of setup, the Red Goblin and Spider-Man finally met face-to-horrific-face in Amazing Spider-Man #798, but instead of only upgrading himself with the Carnage symbiote, Norman gave his Goblin tech a boost as well.
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From Green To Red Goblin
Spider-Man and Green Goblin's final fight was pretty tame compared to some of their previous battles. What made it interesting was that it took place on the top floor of the Daily Bugle news office, with Norman bringing along the highly unstable Tritium on the verge of exploding. Once the element begins ticking down, Spidey proves he's still got some gadget tricks up his sleeve by spinning his biggest web cocoon ever to contain the blast -- and protect himself.
With that danger out of the way, Norman tricks Peter into believing he's on his last breathe when he suddenly transforms into the Red Goblin. Spider-Man, who is usually very quippy, is speechless at what he's just witnessed. This first matchup is where the Red Goblin displays how unpredictable he, and his new toys, truly are.
Carnage-Bombs, Oh My!
These aren't your regular run-of-the-mill pumpkin bombs the Red Goblin is packing in his big debut. Once he hurls a handful at Spider-Man, it's apparent these bombs are coated with the red and black coating of the Carnage symbiote -- hence, Spider-Man's naming them "Carnage-bombs."
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Also, if they weren't creepy enough as is, these Carnage-bombs have vocal chords, along with glowing eyes and mouths, which pack a vicious bite as Spider-Man's leg discovers.
Another thing to keep in mind with these Carnage-bombs is they have the ability to fly and lock on to their target once tossed. Try as Spider-Man might, he just can't elude the small beasts. If Red Goblin were ever in a situation where he needed to fight more than one opponent at a time, he'd have no trouble letting his new toys do some of his handiwork for him.
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Spider-Man may want to put this scenario to the test, because as things stand right now, he's going to need all the help he can get to defeat the Red Goblin. However, Peter does recognize the Red Goblin had the element of surprise on his side. Spider-Man needs to regroup, and possibly dig up some of his old Parker Industries tech (and a new black suit) to even the odds in his war against the Red Goblin.