Harry Osborn-The Goblin Prince

Part 7: When Harry Met Lizzie

The world as Harry Osborn knew it has just been obliterated. Years of abuse and emotional neglect, combined with rejection, heartache and good old fashioned bad judgment on his own part has led Harry to two drug overdoses. On the heels of the second o.d., he discovers that his very own father is a sociopathic costumed murderer known as the Green Goblin whose latest victim is one of the oldest, dearest friends he has ever had and that his best friend and roommate is none other than the costumed vigilante Spider-Man, his father’s sworn enemy! As a result of the climactic battle he himself has just witnessed (in Amazing Spider-Man #122, his father lays dead (or so he thought), after a pummeling at the hands of Spider-Man and an ill-timed flying piece of metal that ruptured his heart. In a daze, Harry staggers through the gruesome and bloody aftermath, removing all evidence of his father’s dual identity. His own sanity now totally shattered, he formulates a plan of vengeance against his onetime friend...

The Second Green Goblin
It was 1974. Even all of these years later, I can remember the anticipation in my 11-year-old mind at this next chapter in the Spider-Man Saga. After the conclusion of issue #135, when Harry enters one of his father's old lairs and the announcement that next issue will be the blockbuster of the year "The Green Goblin Lives Again!" I was forever hooked on Spider-Man. Yes, this was the moment. It was a long 30 days between issues - and I repeatedly asked my mother to look for Amazing Spider-Man #136 ever time she went to the newsstand (yes, a newsstand - not a specialty shop. Sigh). And finally - there it was - the coolest comic cover I had ever seen up to that point. And you can tell by the scan that it's the well worn original (I don't think I began bagging and boarding until the late 1980's). The dominant image of the Goblin and Spider-Man locked in a struggle to the death, with smaller images of Peter Parker and Harry Osborn also facing off just screamed BUY ME! BUY ME! It illustrated a key reason why I always loved (not that way, perverts) the Green Goblin in most of his various incarnations. When Spidey fights the Goblin, particularly an Osborn – it isn’t a battle between good guy and bad guy – it's personal! The Goblin is the foe that Spider-Man can never find a permanent refuge from, the villain whose legacy will haunt him forever, no matter who wears the costume, or a reasonable fascimilie.

Harry’s first appearance as the second Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #136 (September 1974), starts out on an ominous note, with Harry rigging a bomb in his and Peter’s apartment to detonate upon entry, seriously injuring Mary Jane, who was with Pete at the time (fans of the 1990's Fox cartoon will recognize that this scene was also played out in Harry's first turn as the Goblin in the series, the episode "Return of the Green Goblin," except that Liz Allen accompanied Peter to the apartment). After the first battle in issue #136, which Spider-Man survives only because Harry ran out of little sparklies in his purple gloves, issue #137 features Harry kidnapping Aunt May, Flash, and MJ, and placing each in a different location throughout Manhattan. Each location has a bomb, but only one is real - and Pete has only enough time to reach and defuse one. If he doesn’t make the right choice, the one “most dear” to Peter dies. Fortunately, our hero guesses correctly (it was Aunt May, as if I had to tell you), and after rescuing all three, he easily cleans Harry’s clock. A raving young Osborn is carted away to a mental hospital proclaiming the one thing that Peter dreaded hearing the most – the public revelation of his secret identity as Spider-Man. However, considering that this news is coming from a 20 year old boy with obvious psychological problems who claims to be the Green Goblin, he’s given as much credibility as Barry Bonds when the latter says he didn’t knowingly use steroids.

Of course, at this stage of the game, Harry really had very little chance against Peter. While it can be reasonably assumed that it has been a year since Gwen and Norman's death, and Harry has been training on the glider (and probably working on his fighting skills during this time), he still is no match for a battle hardened warrior like Spider-Man, hence his reliance on gimmicks such as gas and the old kidnapping the loved ones gimmick.

There is a debate on whether or not the original Green Goblin was supposed to have super strength to begin with. In fact, the original Handbook of the Marvel Universe states that none of the Green Goblins had super powers. I suppose they would have explained Norman's strength that he exhibited in the original Spectacular Spider-Man #2 as that born of a manic rage, much like being high on PCP gives its users apparent super strength (while they probably break every bone in their bodies - and yes, I saw The Terminator). That the Goblin had super strength is something that only firmly took hold when Roger Stern created the HobGoblin, who theorized that there had to be something that allowed Norman Osborn to fight head to head with Spider-Man. Of course, at this stage of the game, there is no reference to a "Goblin Formula," or any "Osborn Journals." You would have thought that once Harry learned the truth about his father, that he would have scoured all of the old hideouts, and discovered the references to the Goblin formula and the super strength it provided. However, it is possible that Harry did, and dismissed the idea of using the formula on himself, because he remembered how the exploding formula had nearly killed his father years earlier (remember, he erroneously believed that he himself was responsible). Also, he believed that the formula had driven his father mad - and at this stage of the game, Harry does NOT consider himself crazy, even though it's pretty clear that he's working on being a full case nut job like his old man. Therefore, he probably surmises that that will be his edge on Spider-Man, that he will be a clearer and more rationale thinker, which will compensate for his lack of super powers.

Oh well.

Now, I might be stretching things, but the fact that Harry gave Peter a pretty dead-on clue as to which location had the real bomb leads me to believe that he had no true desire to kill May – perhaps telegraphing a subconscience “Please Stop Me Before I do Something Incredibly Stupid”(like most of us guys do on our wedding day - but no one ever comes to our rescue). After all, he could simply have blown all of them up while forcing Peter to watch. But then again, supervillain cliché #2 (#1 is wasting your time telling the hero the details of your evil plot which allows the hero time to beat you) is to actually give the hero the means to thwart you. And as we saw several years later during Harry’s final turn as the Goblin during the 1990’s – after he has made his irrevocable choices and is determined to kill Spider-Man – he promises that no harm will come to Peter’s loved ones.

Behind the scenes (and this is all MadGoblin speculation for those of you who question where "reality" ends and my analysis begins), Norman Osborn, believed dead, watches from an ocean away with bitter disappointment as his son fails to honor the legacy he has inherited and embarrasses the hell out of the Osborn name. Norman approaches the only person he dares share some of his secrets with – Donald Menken – his Chief Financial Officer at Oscorp, revealing that he is indeed alive (I speculated about Osborn’s and Menken’s relationship in Goblin Love – no, I’m not talking about that kind of love – there ain't no slash here “Ms”). As there is no other family, and no one else that Norman can remotely trust, he charges Menken with getting Harry put away to where he can do no more harm to himself or his father’s reputation. Norman is so furious that he would just as soon have Harry hidden away in a padded cell, raving madly as punishment for his failure, but Menken is able to convince Norman that he can’t do that – than Harry can be treated. Of course, Menken’s motives are probably not altruistic nor out of any real concern for Harry’s well being. With Norman officially dead, and Harry as the only living Osborn relative, and Oscorp a largely privately held company, the continued survival of the company as an intact entity, and one that Norman will still be able to control and oversee through Menken, depends on there being an Osborn to inherit and run it. And Menken helps Norman see this, one reason among many that Osborn relied on Menken over the years.

So, the answer as to why Harry didn’t blow the lid off the whole Osborn Legacy when he was incarcerated in an institution was simply because no one would have believed him. It could be reasonably assumed that a 20-year-old kid with at least one confirmed case of a drug overdose (we know at least one is confirmed because Jonah and Robbie were discussing disclosing it in the Bugle), a history of drug abuse (the cops had probably pinched some of Harry’s suppliers during routine investigations and knew he was buying – but couldn’t do much with it considering who his old man was), and whose father was apparently brutally murdered, could lose it and dress up like a costumed clown on a power fantasy trip. Also, I don’t believe that Harry incriminated his father anyway, particularly since he had gone to such great lengths to shield his father’s dual life in the first place. Additionally, Menken would have had an army of lawyers swarming Harry so as to protect the Osborn family name, and to protect Harry from himself. This would partially explain why Harry was able to escape criminal charges for blowing up his and Peter's apartment. After all, Harry not only endangered Peter and MJ's life, but ANYONE within proximity of the apartment (I surmise that Spider-Man was able to get Aunt May, Flash, and MJ back to where they belonged before the effect of the drugs Harry had used on them wore off - although now that I think about it - it would have been hard to explain just how Mary Jane disappeared from the hospital considering the regular rounds that medical staff make). However, considering that neither Peter nor MJ would be eager to press their own charges against Harry, and with the Osborn lawyers, it is reasonable to assume he got off with a suspended sentence if he was committed to an instutiton for treatment. Menken probably even picked the psychiatrist who would treat Harry – getting the best that Osborn money could buy – as well as one who could be relied on to keep his mouth shut if he DID learn anything – Barton Hamilton.

Finally receiving the medical attention he has always needed, and without his father meddling in the process, Harry begins to respond to both drug and psycotherapy. However, after awhile, although Harry has stopped being a raving lunatic - he is unwilling to cooperate with his shrink as far as providing any insight into his short, but troubled life. Hamilton decides to use hypnotic therapy to get to the truth. Calmly, in a trance, Harry provides the details of how his life went off track, beginning with the death of his mother Emily and its devastating impact upon his father. To Hamilton, this begins to appear to have the makings of a classic textbook case - rich boy grows up feeling unloved by an abusive father figure, turns to drugs, freaks out, dresses in a funny costume. Hey, some people when they go crazy start shooting at cops or running through town naked. Dressing up in a supervillain costume probably doesn't really rank. Hamilton figures this is going to be some easy money – but then Harry’s story begins to get REAL interesting...

Harry's Return
Harry's story begins anew with Amazing Spider-Man #151(December 1975) - although he is actually "sensed" by Spider-Man before he is seen later by Peter Parker (I'll fill you in more on this later). This issue begins with what none of us knew was going to be one of the most pivotal and notorious events in Spider-Man history - where Spider-Man disposes of what he believes to be the dead body of his clone. Of couse, none of us realized until more than 20 years later just how pivotal this scene was - particularly when Marvel tried to dupe us into believing that it was the clone who was disposing of the real Peter Parker. But I ain't going there. Not now.

On page 2 - Spider-Man's spider sense tingles as he believes that someone is spying on him, but he sees no one and just chalks it up to paranoia and the hell his life has been lately. And as months went by - this seemed like a long forgotten and irrelevant moment - but we all underestimated the Master Plan of new spider scribe Len Wein, who debuted in this issue as the writer of Amazing Spider-Man. In fact, looking back, it's apparent as we are now in an era of plots and loose ends that either seem to go nowhere, linger forever, or are unsatisfactorily resolved, that Wein deserves a lot of credit for some strong and tight plotting during his 30 issue run on Spider-Man. He had one overriding story throughout his entire run (the return of the Green Goblin) and several subplots which moved the characters in the Spider-Man Universe forward, and of course, who can forget that he gave us - the Rocket Racer in issue #172! The one subplot he didn't wrap up, though, was the mysterious house hunter in issue #170 that was looking to buy the old Parker home for the secret it possessed. That was left up to Marv Wolfman, who delayed following up on that storyline so he could conclude it in issue #200. Wein was also the editor at the time - historical note to Marvel fans - it was this dual "writer/editor" situation held by several at Marvel, including Marv Wolfman, that future Editor in Chief Jim Shooter brought to an end - sending ripples and hard feelings through the Marvel Universe that linger to this day.

It seems like just another day of classes on page 5 at old ESU, as Peter is brooding about the death of Professor Miles Warren (surely, I don't have to tell you who he was) in the company of none the lovely Mary Jane Watson. MJ thinks she recognizes the person hunched over the water fountain - and sure enough - look who it is.

However, the hip, partying Harry Osborn we knew prior to the famous Amazing Spider-Man #121-122 is long gone, replaced by a simple, almost childlike version of Harry. He is only a fraction of the man he was, overly polite and deferential, and it's clear he's doped up pretty heavily on anti-psychotic drugs, combined with hypnotic therapy (as he no longer remembers that Peter is Spider-Man or his "late" father's connections to the Green Goblin). I remember meeting a guy on lithium who moved and talked like he was in a perpetual fog. Harry appears at a party given by J. Jonah Jameson for those engaged lovebirds Ned Leeds and Betty Brant, and makes peace with Mary Jane over their failed relationship. By the way, the party is a real treat for JJJ fans, as Jonah is at his curmudgeonly and cheapskate best.

In issue #152, Flash tells Peter that Harry has accepted his offer to be his new roommate. After Pete briefly stayed with Flash (in issue #138) after Harry blew up their apartment, Flash decided that he kind of liked having company, and therefore asked Harry to shack up with him. This probably turns out to be an important part of Harry's therapy, as it precluded him from being alone for extended periods of time - which as you know by reading the previous parts of this series - helped get him in trouble in the first place.

At first blush, such an offer seems to come out of the blue, particularly from the manners-challenged Flash Thompson, whose blue collar background and jock personality seems incongruous with wealthly, spindley and nervous Harry Osborn. But it is in character for Flash. For one, even though back to his earliest days he was a bully and buffoon, he was never truly a bad person, something that tends to be forgotten from time to time by various spider-writers (Mackie and Byrne's particularly disgusting take on Flash after the reboot is a prime example). Plus, Harry and Flash both had lousy fathers in common. Also, Flash is a Vietnam war veteran who was changed and matured by his experiences, and who recently returned to civilian life - no mean accomplishment. It's very likely that Flash himself had to spend some time in therapy to deal with his post traumatic stress syndrome, and therefore he probably is very sympathetic towards Harry's attempts to re-adjust after institutionalization.

But it wasn't long before Harry's most important relationship, behind only the ones with Peter and his father, began to take shape.

Issue #156 (May 1976) features Ned and Betty's wedding, and as the ceremony commences, we see Harry sitting next to Liz Allen, who only recently returned to the Spider-Man Universe in issue #132, after more than a 100 issue absence. Of course, this being a superhero comic, there can be no event take place without being crashed by a supervillain and his cronies. This time, it's Z-List supervillain Mirage (a poor man's Mysterio) showing up with larceny in mind. Mirage grabs Liz's purse and poor Harry, with a newfound gallantry and chutzpah, tries to prevent it - only to be swatted away by Mirage. Although unsuccessful, this innocent act of attempted heroism forever changes Harry's life. In issue #157, after Harry is coming out of a therapy session, he is met by Flash who offers him a ride home. Harry tells him that his sessions are going well according to "Dr. Banning." We later learn that Harry's doctor is actually Dr. Barton Hamilton. More than likely when Wein decided to formally introduce the character several issues later, he settled on a name that he actually liked better. It could be speculated that Hamilton was probably only one of a number of doctors in this particular complex, and Harry, who's still a bit wobbly at this point, simply confused names. He tells Flash that he remembers nothing from the weeks after his father died. But right then, Liz Allen is knocking at the window and asking Harry out on a date, referencing his earlier act of bravery (talk about coincidences, but hey, back then we only had 17 pages per comic, so there was nothing like a good coincidence to keep the story moving). Even though "not exactly operating on all thrusters" Harry knows a good offer when he gets it, and he and Liz leave together arm in arm, with a perplexed and puzzled Flash Thompson wondering just what the heck happened.

We next see Harry and Liz together in issue #160, visiting Aunt May, who's in the hospital yet again, recovering from her being in the middle of another Doc Ock and Hammerhead confrontation (Amazing Spider-Man #157-159). Peter and MJ also come to visit May, and Harry suggests that they double date sometime. It's ironic, considering that years later, these two couples were married and living in the same apartment building!

Oh, remember back in issue #151, when Peter's Spidey sense went off as he was disposing of his clone? Well, seems like it wasn't just a false alarm, as in issue #161, ole J. Jonah Jameson pulls out a package of pictures that was sent to him anonymously - featuring Spider-Man disposing of the body of another Spider-Man - this time one with Peter Parker's face! (Spidey had taken the mask off his clone briefly).

But back to the lovebirds (oh, speaking of lovebirds, issue #162 features the first meeting between J. Jonah Jameson and the woman who would be the second and current Mrs. J. Jonah Jameson, Dr. Marla Madison. No, don't thank me, it's all part of the service for you like-minded Spidey continuity hounds). Harry's relationship with Liz was literally a whirlwind romance, particularly as slowly as time moves in comics. From what we can tell, Liz never even met Harry until issue #156 at Ned and Betty's wedding. In issue #163, we see the two of them sneaking away to the rooftop of Peter's new apartment building for some serious, uh, snuggle time (they were there attending a party thrown by Glory Grant to furnish Pete's apartment). And then in issue #166, Harry formally announces their engagement. Holy crap! How did that happen?

We know quite a bit about Harry, and we know that when an Osborn falls in love, they fall hard and fall quickly. His father did the same with his wife Emily and later his nurse, Kolina. Harry fell head over heels for MJ pretty fast as well. I would surmise, that even beyond his current vulnerable and drug controlled behavior, that Harry is very susceptible to the charms of a young lady, perhaps subconsciencely seeking that "mother" figure that he was deprived of early in life due to Emily's premature and unfortunate death. We have discussed before how needy Harry was, and how that probably turned off women such as Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson, who would find needy men too cloying and smothering. But, it's actually perfectly understandable - Harry has a lot of unmet emotional needs, and I'm talking sexual. For example, when I was out trolling for babes (you know what studs we fanboys are), I wasn't looking for a woman like my mother, or a woman to take care of me. My mother was (and is) still alive, and I had already had that relationship. Even though she remains a crazy whacked out old bat to this day, I suppose she didn't ruin my life as much as she could have. So, I wasn't looking for a substitute for that relationship. However, Harry probably would be. And in Liz, who is a nurse (remember, she told Mary Jane back in issue #133 that she became a nurse to take care of her stepbrother - Mark Raxton - the Molten Man!), Harry finds not only a metaphorical, but a professional care taker! The perfect woman for him! Even Dr. Hamilton notes in issue #169 that Liz Allen was the best medicine Harry Osborn could have.

But we really don't know a whole lot about Liz Allen. We know that when she was "young and stupid," in high school (and who wasn't), she liked the flirting and the teasing, but apparently grew weary of that, as in issue #28, she tells Peter that she's ready to move out of the "dumb blond" phase of her life. She enjoyed the chase, but only to a point. She liked Peter, but could never really get him to take her seriously (although as clueless as thick headed as Peter can be at times - I don't blame him there - Liz was pretty hard to pin down in those days - always messing with his and Flash's heads). If we look at Liz in the original context of the early 1960's, with a rich father (we know he was rich due to a reference made by Betty Brant, that Liz wanted everyone to know "how rich she is"), she grew up probably not imagining a life beyond marrying some other preppie and settling into Junior League type existence - planning and attending parties and other social events and all that sort of nonsense. But her relationship with her stepbrother changed all of that, although it wasn't a relationship we learned about for more than a hundred issues (one of the annoying coincidences of comic books is that everyone seems to be related to a supervillain in some way, shape, or form). Although “only” a stepbrother, Liz for some reason still felt responsible for him. With a last name such as “Raxton,” Mark was probably NOT the biological son of Liz’s father, but of Liz’s stepmother. Liz’s biological mother must have died (or bailed out) when Liz was very young, and her father remarried, this time to a woman with a son. It seems reasonable to assume that Raxton was several years older than Liz. After all, when we first met him in Amazing Spider-Man #28 he was already a partner with Spencer Smythe and had developed the liquid alloy that was spilled on him, turning him into the Molten Man. Mark may have been a teenager when Liz was born, and already out of the house and on his own by the time we first met Liz, which would explain why he was never mentioned in those days - he was already gone. My guess is that Liz was very young when her mother died or left, old enough to know what was going on. She probably had difficulty adjusting to a stepmother, like so many young children do, but someone who helped her out through all of the turmoil was her "big brother" Mark. Having lost his father, Mark could provide a sympathetic ear for "Little Lizzie" (as he probably called her) and a shoulder to cry on. She no doubt grew to love and adore him - plus, if he were already a partner with a scientist such as Smythe, she might have idolized him - which could explain why she was attracted to Peter Parker in high school. That young, scientific genius might have reminded her somewhat of her beloved stepbrother. This goes a long way to explaining Liz's extreme patience with and forgiving nature where Mark was concerned, considering his violent turn in future years, as well as why she became to nurse specifically to take care of him as the physiological changes to his body as a result of being covered with the alloy began to kill him.

However, totally devoting her life to Mark must have left her little or no time for anything else, including a social life. Therefore, Liz probably had to be a pretty lonely young woman. When she gets her life back after Raxton apparently dies at the end of issue #133 (but of course, he's not dead, you know), she has no friends outside of Peter and "the gang" and has probably been so long removed from the dating game that she feels awkward and self-conscience. Of her old boyfriends, Peter is seeing Mary Jane, and Flash is pre-occupied with some of his own problems (not the least, as we learn soon afterward, is that he has been carrying a torch for Sha Shan, the woman he met in Vietnam, and who will soon re-appear in the spider titles). Besides, both of those relationships come with some baggage from her high school days.

And in on his white horse comes Harry Osborn. Sweet, innocent, heroic Harry who tried to protect her against the supervillain. Unlike the obnoxious and egotistical Flash Thompson, and the pre-occupied and apparently self-absorbed Peter Parker, Harry is totally attentive and devoted. He clearly worshipped the ground that she walked on (an observation that Spider-Man himself makes in #173), always had time for her and made her feel like she was the most important person on the planet. Harry was probably the type of sap who brought her flowers all of the time and rubbed her feet at the end of the workday (I'm sure a nurse who spends all day on her feet would appreciate such treatment), and makes the rest of us schmoes look bad. In short, he treated her like a queen. And after spending so many years taking care of others, she decided she probably liked someone spoiling her a little bit. And while admittedly Harry's personality has been neutered somewhat by his therapy and drug treatments, it isn’t out of character for him. He would have treated MJ the same way. He would have given her everything she wanted, but his own neediness made her feel smothered. For Liz, however, this was not a turnoff. While, for example, she still liked both Flash Thompson and Peter Parker, it's apparent that neither one would really need her. Liz may very well have been the type who needed to be needed. This could also explain her devotion to Raxton, and her choice of occupation. Some people are simply that way. And Harry's strong emotional needs, coupled with his rebounding from his father's "death," and release from the hospital and trying to find his way, fed right into Liz's nurturing nature (that's a tongue twister). In issue #172, Liz thinks to herself about how Harry is much more confident than he was when they first started daring, and that "I'd like to think I helped in Harry's rehabilitation." Perhaps it didn't hurt that he was rich as well, although she apparently had once had money of her own, and it did take several years for Harry to come into his full inheritance. So, we can see that it doesn't take a whole lot for Harry and Liz to have fallen madly in love with each other in a very short period of time.

And the strength of their relationship probably never really changed, even after Harry worked through all of his problems (for awhile) and began to run Oscorp (we'll get into Harry's final fall from grace at a later date). Remember, after Harry's death, Liz made an almost seamless transition to running Oscorp on her own. Although Harry had a controlling interest in the company, it was still his father’s business, his lasting legacy from Norman, and under no circumstances would he have considered just turning it over to someone who was unqualified. And the Oscorp Board wouldn't have simply stood back and allowed that to happen, either. So, I suspect that in more ways than one, Liz probably was truly Harry's partner, his equal. As he grew into his father’s old role, he probably discussed business at length with Liz, made her an administrative assistant at first, and eventually even put her on the Board of Directors. He relied on her to be his eyes and ears, to catch the social cues and the body language from other Board members that he might miss. He likely encouraged her to circulate among employees, to see what they did, ask what their concerns were, and helped Harry keep a pulse on what was going on within his company (flash forward several years to Spectacular Spider-Man #240 (November 1996) - and after Harry's death and Liz is running the company, she's telling Foggy Nelson, her boyfriend at the time, that "I think it's important that the boss be accessible to the employees - to hear their grievances") By the time of Harry's death, Liz had proven her competency so that Harry's wishes (spelled out in his will) that she run the company in his absence went unchallenged (that is, until Norman himself came back and gave Liz the boot).

There really is something sweet and wonderful about Harry and Liz’s relationship. But this is a superhero comic - and you just know that things aren't destined to go smoothly - particularly when both parties in this couple are related to supervillains!

Harry and Liz's relationship gets its first real challenge in issue #172. After Harry asks Peter to be his best man, the two see Liz hurridly run by and not acknowledge them. Harry begins to grow worried, and for good reason. Turns out that the Molten Man did not die in issue #133 (was there any doubt?), and he wants Liz to steal some drugs and chemical supplies from her hospital. Unfortunately, she is caught and jailed, which makes Raxton even more desperate to seek a solution to his dilemma, that the alloy is causing his skin to dissolve - only temporarily relieved when he dived into a polluted river at the end of #133.

Desperate and out of options, Raxton commadeers a pharmaceutical company and threatens to blow it up if Liz doesn't show. Sadly, Raxton has gone completely insane (not that I'm sympathetic to the plight of your average supervillain, but when your body tempature is running at several hundred degrees and rising, and you're literally melting where you stand - yeah - I can see that he might have some issues), and has called Liz to his side so that she may die with him. Of course, our web slinging hero ain't about to let that happen, and he rescues Liz before she goes up in a big fireball with her stepbrother.

Unfortunately, the same aspect of her personality that made her feel responsible for Raxton's care all of those years, also makes her feel responsible for his untimely death and those of the people he's injured. She runs from Harry, crying that she destroys everything and everyone she cares about. And things just get worse for the young Osborn. In issue #174, he and Flash find Peter, and tell him that Liz's apartment has been cleaned out, and that she left no forwarding adress.

You can imagine the effect this has on poor Harry, whose entire life has recently revolved around Liz and their future together. But, for some reason, Harry seems not to be simply distraught, but violent. When poor, thick headed old Flash tries to make Harry feel better, by suggesting that she wasn't good enough for him if she runs out on him after all he's done for her, Harry leaps on him and threatens to kill him!

Peter and Flash take Harry to Dr. Hamilton, who calms him with a sedative. He tells the two that he will take care of their friend, and as they leave, Hamilton muses about how Peter Parker doesn't look a thing like he imagined he would. Hmmm. And not only that - just what is that weird mask hanging in Hamilton's office?

I don't have a very good feeling about this.

NEXT TIME: Ack! Not again! The Green Goblin returns! But wait - who is that guy in the green and purple tights? Is he a true heir to the Legacy, or just a pretender? That's in Part 8 of "The Goblin Prince”!