Sadly, Shadow of the Green Goblin is nearly over! But here we get the full story (well, sort of) of Emily’s faked death. Peter Parker relates it to us, but he admits upfront that he wasn’t there for the conversation, so couldn’t possibly know all the details.

It doesn’t change much from what we already knew about Emily: Norman was abusive to her, so she faked her death and fled.

But there’s still some unanswered questions. What were the “other, darker forms” of emotional cruelty? And unfortunately, even JM DeMatteis’s excellent writing can’t fill the already established big plot hole at the heart of Emily’s story: how could she ever for a moment leave her infant son with someone as abusive and dangerous as Norman? And what in the world was she doing that meant she couldn’t try and rescue Harry from that situation after faking her death?

In this same issue we get some backstory on the Emily/Norman romance. I like how Norman is wearing green and purple in that first panel there.

Emily reveals that she had an alcoholic father. (Said father, Harry’s maternal grandfather, actually gets a name in the Sony Spider-Man games. He’s called Stanley, same name as Harry’s second son.) Emily’s family also was much poorer than Norman’s… so Norman instantly looked down on them.

Harry’s other grandfather, Amberson, also gets a mention in this section. His ghost hangs over the Norman parts of this story:

If you are well versed on Osborn family lore, you may remember the “Amberson locks Norman in a dark room all night” incident from Amazing Spider-Man #466.

Peter notes that while he feels sorry for the little boy locked up by his abusive father, that sympathy doesn’t extend to the adult Norman.

Emily likewise has no love in her heart left for Norman, and promises the Proto-Goblin that she will cure him if he can do one thing for her: kill Norman!

Obviously, we know Norman survives. But he’s about to learn the ex-wife he tormented is out for revenge.

Harry stuff and Osborn family stuff aside (Harry actually spends this whole issue unconscious) I love this series so much. Characters who never seem to get their due, like Aunt May and Gwen Stacy, are written so well here. It’s such a wonderful prequel. Man, I would love it so much if DeMatteis did Amazing Spider-Man for a bit.