ENVY

"Stan's synopsis for the Green Goblin had a movie crew, on location, finding an Egyptian-like sarcophagus. Inside was an ancient, mythological demon, the Green Goblin. He naturally came to life. On my own, I changed Stan's mythological demon into a human villain."

Steve Ditko

"Steve wanted him to turn out to be just some character that we had never seen before. 

Because, he said, in real life, very often a villain turns out to be somebody that you never knew. And I felt that that would be wrong. 

I felt, in a sense, it would be like cheating the reader. ... if it's somebody you didn't know and had never seen, then what was the point of following all the clues? 

I think that frustrates the reader."

Stan Lee

"Stan wouldn't have been able to stand it if Ditko did the story and didn't reveal that the Green Goblin was Norman Osborn. I didn't know there was any doubt about Osborn being the Goblin. 

I didn't know that Ditko had just been setting Osborn up as a straw dog. I just accepted the fact that it was going to be Norman Osborn when we plotted it. 

I had been following the last couple of issues and didn't think there was really much mystery about it. 

Looking back, I doubt the Goblin's identity would have been revealed in Amazing #39 if Ditko had stayed on"

John Romita, Sr.