The name of this blog comes from Amazing Spider-Man #260, written by Tom DeFalco and pencilled by Ron Frenz. At one point in the story, Spider-Man thinks he has subdued the Hobgoblin but the villain has a trick up his sleeve and escapes to fight another day, boasting: “The Hobgoblin is prepared for any eventuality!”
I was four years old when this issue was published and I re-read it a hundred times while growing up, as its poor condition can attest. I learned to read from my parents and comic books. Old comics can be criticized for their arch dialogue — especially supervillains’ dubious fondness for multisyllables — but I can’t criticize them for expanding my vocabulary at a young age while simultaneously cultivating an enjoyment of reading in those crucial years of my education.
So “Any Eventuality” is a tribute both to a particular comic book that was influential in my early life, and to the practice it gave me in closely reading text and images.
Any Eventuality 