Norman Osborn is not impressed with the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year "Goblin Mode"

Gold Goblin #2 art — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Goblin Mode (Noun, slang): "a behavior that is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations."

That's the Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2022, an honorary dictionary entry given to a word or term that defines some aspect of the year, as voted by OED users.

So does 'goblin mode' sound like Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin/current Gold Goblin to you? Maybe not the lazy part, but certainly the self-indulgent, greedy parts.

Perhaps that's why Osborn bristles so hard in December 21's Gold Goblin #2 from writer Christopher Cantwell, artists Lan Medina and Antonio Fabela, and letterer Joe Sabino when his elderly secretary suggests that everyone "just hole up and go full Goblin Mode for a few days"amidf Limbo's attack on Earth during the current Spider-Man/X-Men: Dark Web crossover.

"Not like that," she nervously says in response to Osborn's subsequent stink-eye death glare. "I meant just like…eating snacks and wearing pajamas!"

"Am I fired?" she demures.

Fortunately for her, she's not fired, and Osborn takes the wheel of an SUV to drive his secretary home before returning to his own family home with his daughter-in-law Liz Allen to take shelter with their family.

But Osborn hallucinates his childhood puppy - who he actually killed as a child - causing him to slam into a tree.

This leads to a chain of events in which Norman meets with Dr. Ashley Kafka, the scientist who removed Ben Reilly's memories turning him into Chasm, asking her to remove the memory of his previous misdeeds, to match the purging of his "sins" by the Sin-Eater.

But this triggers Kafka's transformation into the Queen Goblin, who is the physical embodiment of the sins that were previously purged from Osborn's soul - and who plans to destroy Osborn for all he's done.

Goblin mode indeed.

Gold Goblin #3 goes on sale January 4, 2023.

Norman Osborn is one of the best Spider-Man villains of all time and one of the best Avengers villains ever.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)