God I was so slow catching up to these, sorry. I think Spidey fandom kind of felt the novelty wore off, because I just didn’t see people talking about them for ages. There is plenty to appreciate in USM though, there really is!

In issue #22, Harry was faced with his “dead” wife Gwen, but not exactly his Gwen… a amalgamation of all the Mysterios. And at the same time, the AI voice of his terrible father was constantly playing in his ears. Surely Ultimate Harry can’t escape the fate of his original counterpart? Surely he’s going to become a villain?

Well, actually, nope!

We finally ditch the one-month timeskip for this comic and land right in the middle of the previous issue’s action. The fight to bring down the Kingpin continues, and Harry obeys Gwen’s every command.

You’ve got to wonder how much of the Gwen Harry loved is in there. But Harry is still on her side. So on her side, in fact, that when Peter calls out for his best friend’s help…

… Harry chooses Gwen instead.

I’m going to post a whole page here because it’s such a good Harry page! Here he is, torn between Peter and his father and Gwen, the path he always goes down.

Harry knows Peter is a better hero than him, and there’s no doubt some jealousy there. But MJ told him to his face back in USM #20, he could be a good man one day.

Is that day today? Peter is given an absolute thrashing by the Kingpin… but he rises up again, ready to fight.

And that leads us to the thrilling conclusion!

Harry observes what’s left of his wife converse with certified bad guy Captain Britain, clearly conflicted behind the mask.

Peter defeats Kingpin and his whole family lives! Of course! It’s totally badass… but Captain Britain is waiting in the wings. And Harry’s the only one who can do something about it.

Captain Britain disposes of Kingpin and installs Mysterio as ruler of the city. Mr Negative and Kingpin kill each other in a very well done scene. And now back to Harry!… And Gwen.

I don’t think it’s ever explained how Gwen regained her physical form like that…

Yep! Exactly the sort of response you want from the person you pledged your life to! Harry is having a VERY BAD DAY and now the technoghost of his dead father is getting involved.

And then… We don’t see what he does! The action simply to Harry with Peter, saying he’s going to delete the Norman AI.

Harry apologies to Peter for leaving him in his hour of need, too.

Then we move on to a very important conversation!

Harry is so important to this universe, being the one who taught Peter that with great power comes great responsibility, and I really appreciate that.

I agree with Peter here, really. With no power comes great responsibility.

This is such a great scene to illustrate their friendship. In every universe, Peter is Harry’s guiding light.

Later, Peter tells MJ he believes Harry is “on the edge”-

-but I think he’s gonna be okay.

And that’s a wrap on Ultimate Spider-Man!