OK, I picked this up on sale the day after, but I still feel like my point stands. From 2017,
Spider-Woman #13, "Good Old Fashioned Hob Kabobs" Written by Dennis Hopeless (Hallem), art by Veronica Fish.
We saw another issue from this series (with another sharp cover)
some time back, but Jessica has to acknowledge she was in a good place then: she had her "manny" Roger--new Porcupine--Gocking and longtime
Daredevil supporting character Ben Urich to help with her kid, which frees her up to do stuff like fight the Blizzard! Who she takes care of pretty quickly, but was cold, so she heads home for a dry costume and a hot shower, only to find Ben there, as Roger had "...some sort of appointment." It feels like Ben didn't want to lie, but also couldn't really explain why Roger was out, because he had a meeting, at what appears to be a Bar With No Name! (Which is somehow a franchise in the 616, despite a ton of murders at the first one we saw, back around
Cap #319!)
Later, Jessica makes a visit, to Moon's Hollow, NY: she explains, it was originally an extortion racket by a bunch of villains' "fed up wives and girlfriends," but they turned it into a festival town and went legit. While most are thrilled to see her, she does get a chilly reception from Olivia, Roger's ex. Back in NYC, Ben has a rooftop chat with Roger: Roger seems to legitimately feel he could be useful as the Porcupine (Sandman had gotten jobbed by him in the previous issue!) while Ben knows Roger is just smitten with Jessica, and advises him to not act on it, as she needed their support right then. Roger seems to accept that, feeling out of Jessica's league, but then has to hide Ben, as someone was coming...and he didn't think Jessica could lose both of them. A batch of villains come in, on Hobgoblin-style gliders--even someone in an older Beetle suit; those should fly? The bad guys stomp on Roger, for turning on them, forgetting where he was from. I'm not positive who all these guys were, or at least what suits these guys were wearing: there was a Unicorn and a Ringer, although they may or may not have been the originals. I don't think that was the old Beetle, he was still M.A.C.H.1, right? One might be a seriously 'roided up Mad Dog; but their boss was the Hobgoblin! Who was upset over Roger breaching a contract with him, so Roger is left, tied up, with a pumpkin bomb on his lap, and Ben doesn't get to him in time! Shaken, Ben tries to find the words to tell Jessica...to be continued!
Ben's usually a better reporter than this, 'cause check some facts: Roger was a big guy in a big spiky suit; no way one of those little pumpkin bombs could've atomized him. There would've been chunks everywhere...hmm, unless Hobby got that
good pumpkin bomb from the first
Spider-Man movie. Anyway, pretty sure Roger wasn't killed, but I'm also not sure he's been seen recently. (If Ben hasn't been back in
Daredevil of late, I would be beyond surprised.) I had to look, since I thought Hopeless and/or Fish might have done that
Axis: Hobgoblin series: they did not, but seem to be staying with that model for Hobby. Namely, really, really smarmy and smirky.
