(spoilers ahead)

It’s here! Harry fans the world over have been VERY eagerly anticipating this comic, which sees J.M. DeMatteis return to writing our favourite character. This prequel is full of callbacks and thematic parallels, plus it finally does something with a certain character I know all Harry fans wanted to see more of since her first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man over half a decade ago. Let’s jump right into it! Here’s all the Harry-related takeaways from the comic:

Emily Lyman is back!

Back in 2018, Harry’s mother made her triumphant return. Turned out that she was never really dead, she’d faked her death to get away from Norman! And then… this was never expanded upon. Emily faded into the background and all the many, many questions posed by her return and her relationship to Harry went unanswered.

But here she is! She is the person controlling Nels van Adder, the Proto-Goblin (who first appeared all the way back in Spider-Man -1 in 1997) and she wants him to bring her Harry. But surely she and Harry can’t actually meet, because they don’t know each other during future-set events? Well, we’ll have to see about that.

Harry and Peter’s first meeting is retconned

Once upon a time, this was their first meeting:

But older Peter is narrating this story, and he wants to clarify to us that this was just the first time he met Harry as Peter, not as Spider-Man. The first time he actually met Harry was when he saved him from the Proto-Goblin!

I love love love how Peter saves Harry here the same way he would fail to save Gwen many years later. And the “got you” (remember Harry’s catchphrase in his Goblin era?) is just the icing on the cake.

Peter doesn’t forgive Norman

In the current Amazing Spider-Man, Peter seems to have completely forgiven Norman for his crimes (including the murder of Gwen?!?) and even works for him. DeMatteis is not having any of that nonsense. His future-Peter says:

To which I can only say, “Thank god.”

Norman’s abuse of Harry is likewise taken seriously. Whenever he allows himself to show love for Harry, he quickly covers it up by berating him.

“I believe that Norman genuinely loved his son,” future Peter narrates, “but I think he was ashamed of that love. He viewed it as a weakness. And weakness (real or imagined, in others and in himself) was what Norman Osborn loathed most in the world.”

There’s a little callback to a past Green Goblin story

When we first (re)meet Proto-Goblin, he’s having a little dinner party with mannequins of his family because he misses them so much.

That reminds me of another creepy Goblin-based dinner party, the one Harry throws for his kidnapped family in Spectacular Spider-Man #189.

Harry and Gwen’s friendship is adorable

There’s a little retcon here regarding Gwen and Harry. In the 2022 miniseries Gwen Stacy, Gwen and Harry met after Gwen’s mother had already passed away (that’s what they bonded over, dead moms) but in this series Gwen’s mother isn’t dead yet. She is sick, though.

Gwen and Harry are absolutely adorable in this. It helps that this is the best-written Gwen I’ve seen in ages. Wow, she’s even allowed to get angry!

Gwen and Harry have a real brother-sister relationship in this. (Which is gonna make seeing them as a married couple in Ultimate Spider-Man next month a bit weird.)

We really get a sense here of how devastating it must have been for Harry when Gwen was snatched away from him by his own father.

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This is a great comic, I can’t sing its praises enough. All the characters – Peter, Harry, Gwen, Aunt May – are treated with the respect they deserve but don’t always get.

If you want a copy, you can get it here on Amazon!