Ultimate Spider-Man #73

Background

A dumbstuck Harry witnessed the violent defeat of his father. Peter tried to comfort his old friend. The only words Harry could mutter were: "I'll kill you all." That was the last time Peter, or anyone, saw Harry until a few days ago when he resurfaced, back in Forest Hills. Later, Harry showed up at Peter's house and accused Peter of stealing his girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson.

Story Details

One week ago, at a safehouse in the mountains, Harry is having odd flashbacks. Nick Fury visits him. They talk, Nick tells Harry he can go home and live with his grandfather. Harry's father Norman is locked away, safe. Norman killed his wife, and a great many more people. Nick rigged it so that Harry is legally an orphan and now has all his father's money. Nick does recommend continuing therapy.

Six days ago. Harry sees Peter and Mary Jane, in front of the school, in love. Five and four days ago. The flashbacks are getting stronger, and Harry visits one of his father's old labs. Then, three days ago, Harry gets an odd phone call. A man meets him outside. They drive to a place outside the city, to a place in the woods.

The man is called Shaw and used to do dirty work for Norman Osborn. Harry overheard them in the past. Shaw gets a bit angry. He tells Harry that Norman kept him in hypnotherapy since he was eleven years old. Harry doesn't understand. Then Shaw says the magic word, and bang, Harry remembers everything. His father, the Green Goblin, Spider-Man, Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

Shaw presses a button on a remote, and a trap door opens. It's a bunker; it's now Harry's.

General Comments

What can I say? It is revealed that Norman was an even bigger SOB than we already knew. Keeping his son in hypnotherapy for several years, just because he's a control freak, well, that's some scary stuff. Any sane person would go insane just by that therapy thingy. Putting Harry in the league of his father when Shaw said the magic word...

And what's inside the bunker? We'll have to wait until the next issue. When I think back to how the Hobgoblin got his stuff in the original Marvel Universe, this could be the Ultimate version of it. Rather cool twist. But Hobbie hasn't been seen yet, leaving more than enough for speculation. But that's something I'll leave to you!

Overall Rating

I would have liked to give this issue 3.5 webs, but since the whole book is actually a flashback, I'm not going to. Sure, this is part of a bigger story, but now I have to wait for the next installment to see some actual progress. At moments like these, I'm glad they decided to put out 2 issues this month.