Looking Back At A Resurrection

Do you think the Spider-Man writers bringing Harry Osborn back from the dead has worked out? Or, bringing him back from a near-death experience that sent him to Europe to detox, I guess.

I was looking back over an old post where I (inaccurately) predicted Harry's return, originally because I figured I should perhaps update it to reflect how things actually turned out. Except I already did that sometime in the past.

Reading over my extremely bitter post, I started wondering if Harry's return has been worthwhile. I'm still a fan of the arc DeMatteis sent him through leading up to his apparent death in Spectacular Spider-Man #200, and I wonder about undoing it. At the same time, I'm glad that Slott and the rest gave Peter Parker a supporting cast again (something JMS didn't much bother with), and Harry's a part of that. They didn't have to bring Harry back for that, though. Peter has plenty of old acquaintances who weren't considered dead to use (some of which they did dust off), and there's always creating new supporting characters (which they also did, to mixed fan response).

I haven't bought many Spider-Man comics the last 3+ years. 20, to be exact, and Harry hasn't played much of a role in most of those. The biggest role was chiding Pete for becoming a paparazzi in the Slott/Marcos Martin Paper Doll atory. So I can't really speak much to how he's been used. The impression I have is he's still struggling to get out from under Norman's shadow and establish himself. The difference is, it's harder with Norman alive, running superhero teams, being a superhero himself, fathering a kid with Harry's (ex?)girlfriend, and generally throwing his weight around and withholding his approval. I would have thought it'd be worse for Harry when Norman was dead, if only because it's hard to argue with a ghost or a memory, since those won't change, but I obviously underestimated how bad of a father Norman is. Still, it feels like the same old song Harry tried to deal with for years.

Maybe it's been more than that. I have this vague sense Harry actually successfully stood up to Norman at some point, though I could argue he did that when he chose to save Pete's life at the end of Spectacular 200. The last few pages of that issue always get me, but the impact's blunted a little since I know Harry didn't actually die, and Pete, MJ, and Normie are more torn up than they need to be. I figured I'd ask for your thoughts, since I'm guessing someone in the audience has read more Spider-Man the last few years than I.

Also, I plan to get a post up early tomorrow, because I'll be in a different location for a few months, and while they've promised to get the internet running as soon as they can, that still might take a few days. Hopefully not, but if the blog goes silent for awhile, you'll know why.