The Liz Allan-turns-symbiote storyline has started, and (the late) Harry plays quite a big role!

I want to do a “Where did we leave Liz?” summary before I get started but honestly… I have no idea where we did leave Liz because her characterization both post and pre Harry’s second death has been all over the place. Marvel.com posted a write-up about her the day this comic came out and it basically boils down to, “She was nice, now she’s vaguely evil, but we’re not completely sure why.” And I’ve always been baffled by that Why, so… Maybe this comic will explain it a bit? Let’s see.

We open with Liz mourning Harry and remembering the good times they had together.

You’ll note Harry is drawn a lot more handsome than he usually is! He sort of looks like a combo of himself and Peter, which is a bit odd to my eyes.

This flashback takes place, I believe, somewhere in between Amazing Spider-Man #157 (where Liz and Harry start dating) and Amazing Spider-Man #166 (where they announce their engagement.)

What a dull gravestone post-BND Harry has! Not even an epitaph! He’s had better ones.

Here we see Harry took up painting after his treatments with Dr Hamilton (placing this flashback after the events of ASM #167, I think.)

It might not have been intentional, but this is a great callback to Spider-Man 3, where Harry was seen creating art in his spare time.

Liz finds a secret phone while clearing out Harry’s things. She answers it, but whoever is on the other end (who could it be?? I legit don’t know) hangs up.

Liz flashes back to an important conversation she once had with Harry, where the two of them mused over how coming from money didn’t make them happy at all. Liz hurls the phone and it breaks a mirror behind which lurks Harry’s Goblin equipment. (More shades of the Raimi trilogy there, this time Spider-Man 2.)

Liz ventures into the room past the mirror. It was only a secret to her, though, we know this is the same Goblin equipment Harry was keeping around to protect his family.

Another flashback, and here Harry discusses his “voices” and it’s handled sympathetically! The bar is rock-bottom these days, but hooray!

“If you don’t do everything you can for others, you feel like you don’t deserve to be happy,” Past Harry tells Past Liz, but that doesn’t really add up with the Liz we know now, who’s complicit in some pretty terrible things.

Harry tells Liz to “just laugh” at her own voices. But she’s not very inclined to.

Normie – who is now Red Goblin, don’t forget – objects to his father’s stuff being removed from the house. This results in a pumpkin bomb rolling into the lap of his younger brother Stanley.

It’s interesting that Stanley calls Liz “Aunt Liz.” She isn’t his biological mother – that would be Lily Hollister – so I guess she’s essentially his Aunt May.

Normie is still mourning Harry a lot. (We’re seeing this in Red Goblin too.) Liz comforts him, but then she has to head off and do Alchemax mad science stuff.

Dangit, Liz… You used to be a nurse!

Liz meets up with a Dr Hakam, who I’m guessing might be a new love interest for her going forward.

Liz has brought a vial of the symbiote with her, something she thinks will be able to do a lot of good in the world.

But in the meantime she has kids to raise. As she’s teaching Stanley not to be selfish with his toys – oh, of course he would have a Spider-Man toy- armed men suddenly attack her office.

Liz gets Stanley (and his Spider-Man toy) into a safe room. It’s interesting that she’s so motherly with him. You know one thing I’d really like to see in the future? Lily returning in her new persona of Queen Cat and staking a claim on her son.

(Of course, then the writers would have to explain why Stanley is white now…)

Liz is shot in the altercation, but luckily she still had the vial in her pocket. The symbiote is freed and it begins to bond with her. She tries to fight it off by following Harry’s advice-

-but it doesn’t work. Liz is Misery now!

I’m very interested to see where this story goes. And boy is it good to see Harry again!

Check back later for more Liz-sery…