Haven’t done an Ultimate Spider-Man post in a while and that’s because Harry wasn’t in issues #11 or #12! But now with issue #13 we know EXACTLY where he is and it’s baaaaad.

At the end of USM #11 Peter got a text message from a previously MIA Harry. He was preoccupied with other things, as Uncle Ben had just deduced his Spider-Man identity, but he hurried off to meet up with his crime-fighting partner.

And theeeen… We cut to Christmas with USM #12. Yep, we’re left in the dark about where Harry has been… for now. Christmas is fun! We finally meet MJ’s family: her mother, her sister and her Aunt Anna. Okay hang on a sec, can I talk about something other than Harry for a minute?

The portrayal of MJ’s mother Madeline in this annoys me, because in the source material of ASM, she was never an “occasional mother”. She was an abuse victim who did her best for her daughters until she died before her time. She’s never gotten her due in either ASM or any adaption and I’ve always been disappointed by that.

But anyway!

Keep an eye on Peter all throughout the Christmas celebrations. Something’s off about him. He doesn’t talk! People talk around him, not realizing he’s not saying a word. And Gwen keeps calling MJ, but MJ’s too busy to answer. Until finally…

Harry is missing. MJ reaches out to Peter…

…and it’s not Peter.

Peter has been replaced with his picotech suit, which can take human form. And the real Peter? MJ doesn’t know where he is, but we do:

Him and Harry have been kidnapped by Kraven the Hunter!

So that leads us to USM #13. It’s a month later, meaning Harry and Peter have been captive for two months, and it’s not looking good for them. While back home Peter’s son Richard is going out on his own as Spider-Man (Spider-Boy?) with the suit that will inevitably become Venom, Harry and Peter are at the mercy of Kraven in Mole Man’s kingdom. Mysterio is also there to witness proceedings.

Poor Peter and Harry have been tortured. (Not that Harry is above doing the same himself to supervillains.) They have been through a LOT, but we don’t see it. I wonder if we’ll ever get a flashback to those two months, because surely something like that would affect their psyches a lot.

You see what I mean? They’re going to need so much therapy!

Even after having been tortured, Harry is adamant nothing could get him to kill Peter. Oh, my heart. But, is that comparison of his and Peter’s strength going to haunt him now?

Kraven knows full well who Harry and Peter are and if they fail his Hunt, their families will die as well. Pure evil!

While Harry talks, Peter just sits, quietly seething. Then, Kraven hits a button and the men are shot into the savage land below.

Harry lands in a tree but Peter catches him.

And here’s a “gotcha!” Whenever Harry’s 616verse Green Goblin catchphrase is used in a Peter and Harry story, you want to sit up and pay attention. Will there be a dark echo of this scene down the line when Harry and Peter almost inevitably end up on separate sides?

It reminds me of this scene from 616’s Shadow of the Green Goblin, now canonized as the first time Peter and Harry ever met:

But back to Peter and Harry fighting for their lives!

The bomb collars turn out to be a sadistic ploy by Kraven but our favourite duo are in big trouble nevertheless.

Can I take a moment to say how much I love the art in this issue? It’s absolutely stellar.

Personally, if I had to guess, I would say Harry is going to kill Kraven at the end of this. Not just injure him like he’s been doing with other supervillains, outright kill. Hey! I don’t blame him.

Ah, damsel in distress Harry! When a dinosaur appears on the scene, Peter flies into action to protect his friend.

Peter turns out to have super dinosaur fighting powers, but…

And that’s where we leave Harry in this issue. A few pages later, we end with Richard encountering Felicia, the Black Cat. I love her new design!

And we’ll leave things there. Next week will be a busy one as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is about to hit Disney+! I will probably be posting things about it on this blog’s new Bluesky account, as I have left Twitter for obvious reasons.