George Hill was a low level thug who robbed a bank one day. While he and the other two thugs tried to make their escape, they almost hit Aunt May with their getaway car. Enraged, Peter Parker left momentarily to become Spider-Man and chase down the thugs. He caught two of the three thugs, while the third thug, Georgie, escaped into the sewers. Not wanting to spend his afternoon in the dark, dank, odiferous sewer, Spider-Man let George go. While making his way through the New York Sewer System, George stumbled across a secret hideout once belonging to the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. Realizing the value of what he found, George contacted Roderick Kingsley, a crooked fashion industry mogel, who had criminal ties to the underworld. Kingsley was very interested in what George had found and had him load all the hideout's contents into a van. After finally emptying the van, Kingsley told George to dispose of the van so it couldn't be traced to them. While driving away, Kingsley detonated an explosive in the van on George, ensuring that all ties to their earlier theft of the Green Goblin hideout would indeed be severed.