The Hobgoblin's identity was not initially revealed, generating one of the longest-running mysteries in the "Spider-Man" comics. According to Stern, "I plotted that first story with no strong idea of who the Hobgoblin was. As I was scripting those gorgeous pages from JR Romita, Jr., particularly the last third of the book, and developing the Hobgoblin’s speech pattern, I realized who he was. It was Roderick Kingsley, that sunuvabitch corporate leader I had introduced in my first issue of "]"." A handful of readers deduced that Kingsley was the Hobgoblin almost immediately. In order to throw off the scent and in the same stroke provide a retroactive explanation for his inconsistent characterization of Kingsley in his early appearances, Stern came up with the idea of Kingsley having his brother Daniel Kingsley sometimes impersonate him, sealing the deception by having the Hobgoblin conspicuously appear in the same room as Kingsley in "Amazing Spider-Man" #249.