(Writer) Nick Spencer
(Artist) Pat Gleason
(Editor) Nick Lowe
(EIC) C.B. Cebulski
Date Released 10/14/2020
Issue Number #851
Price Tag: $5.99
Buy: ComixologyorGCC
Story Time: Kindred is moonlighting in the graveyard and digging up George Stacy’s grave. Then we flash forward to Spider-Man not having a good night and stumbles to Dr Strange front door. Meanwhile we find out that Sin-Eater does do what he sets out and to do and blasts Norman with his sins cleansing shotgun. After that Kindred reveals to Sin-Eater that he was just a pawn and nothing more. All the sins and powers fade away from him and it seems that it possess the Order of the Web. Dr. Strange does his thing to get Peter up and running again but it’s all for not since Evil-Silk crashes through the skylight. Kindred is setting the table with the corpse of George and Gwen Stacy. Doctor Kafka finds “cleansed” Norman and he reveals the Kindred must be found and stopped. He also reveals that Kindred is ill-minded and needs help because Kindred is HIS son! Harry Osborn!
The Breakdown
- Mark was Right
- Dinner Plans
- Osborn Old School
- Deal with Demons
- Ntipics
- TaDa!
- Grade
Mark was Right: He did call it. He made a spreadsheet, he rambled on in his reviews, there’s a special patreon podcast on the Crawlspace where he wouldn’t let me get one word in, he even did an article on the usual suspects and thought that JR was Kindred. After fifty plus issues, Kindred is revealed to be Harry Osborn. Least that’s what Norman “claims”. So what’s next? We’ll find out in the upcoming issues. The obvious clues lead us to believe that Harry was the number one suspect, but Kindred said his death was unique and there have been many references to Spect 200, but OMD/BND erased that right? They just said Harry was sick and over seas. Spencer could be playing with continuity here and after Last Remains arc is completed we can all look back and see the bigger picture.
I however have some questions on this reveal that don’t really add up. I’m sure it’ll be answered in time, but let’s humor ourselves.
- Why was Kindred so upset about Peter revealing his identify to Black Cat? Harry didn’t really know Felicia THAT well so it doesn’t make sense for him to be upset. I can see Flash Thompson doing that since he and Felicia dated, but Harry? Could be because he doesn’t want more people drawn into Peter’s circle.
- Harry made Kingpin bow. Fisk would never bow down to Norman and especially not to his SON. It can only be assumed that Fisk is just playing along to get Vanessa back.
- Pre or Post OMD Harry? It’s hard to tell now, but all evidence point to Pre-OMD Harry. Not Harry “Lyman”. Still begs the question on which Harry we talking about and how they connect.
It’s Spencer addressing the reader via Kindred’s narration. Basically he’s saying “I know it took FOREVER to get to this point and COVID delays didn’t help, but we are now here and it’s all a part of the story. I see your frustration and understand it, just bare with me, fun stuff is coming.” that I liked. You read the first 5 pages and say aloud “RIGHT?”. Spencer hears you guys, don’t think he doesn’t.
Dinner Plans: Does anyone else find this completely disturbing? Look I know this to get at Peter, but to go forth with this and even put a wig on Gwen’s dead corpse?! I mean..where did he get that wig? Ebay? Can you imagine the post man coming to the graveyard. “I got a package for Kindred? Need it signed please.” Harry has done something like this before in the past, a dinner and final showdown. Course in Spect 200, no dead corpses were around at the dinner table. So expect a somewhat mirror reflection of that issue when Spider-Man comes bringing desert. Seeing his two greatest failures though, just sitting there with Kindred smiling. That’s gonna set things off. Peter knows that a line has been crossed and he’s not going to take it. It will traumatize Peter to the bitter core and that’s where I think Spencer will bring in Mary Jane so save the day. Peter is going to REALLY NEED her to get over this. You heard it here first!
Osborn Old School: Norman/Goblin personality kept going on and off like a light switch. At first he’s Goblin, then he’s “innocent” Norman, then back to the Goblin. Reminds me of the old school version of Green Goblin when Romita drew him. That’s what happens when you drink the green formula. Hard to tell who was really talking to Sin-Eater before he shot him. Now that Norman has been cleansed, what does do for him going forward. Norman is crazy, but has a strong will to keep on surviving. Considered “redemed” he might become the President of the United States in the 616 universe. He’s redeemed! He’s no longer the Green Goblin…yeah, cause that went SO well the first couple of times! Hey, weirder things have happened this year.
Deal with Demons: Opps, Peter did it again. Strange says that Peter made a deal with a “demonic entity”. Which would lead to OMD, but in this run all he did was throw Norman off the boat. No deal was struck, he just made a choice. Is Strange referring to Sin-Eater or something else? Whatever the case may be we can’t deny that ANOTEHR OMD nod has made it’s stamp in Spencer’s run and he’s not going to stop. This “deal” might be revealed in the LR issues. I’ve been saying this from Day One. Spencer will address the marriage/deal/OMD in some way shape or form. Peter wants to propose to Mary Jane and we’ve seen the right twice already. Spencer is up to something, can’t deny that.
Nitpics:
Wardrobe Malfunction. Gleason put Anya (aka: Spider-Girl*) in Julia Carpenter’s old Spider-Woman costume. Not that this Crawlspacer is complaining since I prefer that costume over the one she’s wearing now. * I just triggered Kelly
Ta Da! Look what came back! The Letter’s section! Guess who made it on there again and is considered a “ASM letter column regular” to much of Dark Mark’s dismay. I’m just a regular…
Nick Lowe: “How’s life treating you Chi-Town?”
Me: “Like I slept with his wife.”
They saved the best for last and this would be my sixth letter being published in Spencer’s run, seventh if you count RYV #2. Does that apply me to the guinness book of world records or something. Being the one person to get multiple letter’s published in ASM book? I’ll ask Mark to look into that for me. Oh that Nick Lowe, what a kidder, we all know Mary Jane is coming back, but he did admit that the people at the Spider-Office aren’t perfect. Yeah well,, OMD/BND and ten years of Slotisms, pretty much confirmed that, but I digress. 
Grade: A Spencer delivered and Gleason did too. A thrilling tale that kept you at the edge of your seat. Can’t wait to see what’s coming up next.
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@Big John: That’s awesome!! Are the the “Cliff” to my “Norm”? LOL
Now I’m hoping that the Rabbi who had the letter in this issue is also on this site.
@ Paul and Mark: I also think Spencer strongly intends this to be the actual reveal. He says as much in this interview (which I loved for many reasons):
https://www.cbr.com/nick-spencer-amazing-spider-man-last-remains-interview/
Love 1)that he’s honest with his mysteries, 2) that he values how much older fans are enjoying his run, 3) that Norman is considered a supporting cast member once more, 4) that this is in essence the next step in the mystery of Kindred, since the big question now is “How did Harry get this way?”
Thanks for another great review Peter!
They published mine too! John from Tulsa. This would be my 3rd. When they called you a regular, I was the “other regular.” Crawlspace-Represent!!
And yes…Mark called it… Still smarting from that, but I’m down to see what Spencer does with Harry.
Viva Crawlspace!
@Hornacek – Ha! No, that was not me. I have two stories when it comes to writing letters. One was that I used the Groo trick back when the Internet was pretty much just Compuserve and such. I sent the Marvel guy at Compuserve a stupid comics theory a day until he broke down to give me the first ever electronic no-prize. He finally broke down and said, “Fine! Here’s your electronic no-prize!” I used to have the printout of that exchange, but they disappeared long ago. That and a sad instance where I was upset with a Conway story and said if he was going to write crap like that, then I wouldn’t be surprised if he did something stupid like have a love triangle between Aunt May, Fantastic Four mailman Willie Lumpkin, and Doc Ock. Lo and behold, that sucker used it before he went off of Spectacular Spider-Man a couple of years later. I’ve never been sure if I should be happy that I didn’t get credit for it or not. 🙂
@Mark Alford
Were you the one writing the letters to Groo asking what mulch meant, or asking about Niagara Falls (“Slowly I turned …”)?
Re:Felicia- I think that Harry is protective of her because she’s Flash’s ex- either he’s protecting her out of respect for Flash’s memory or Flash is waiting to be reunited with her in heaven and that won’t happen if she dies before she makes amends for the evil she did as the Queenpin.
Re:Kingpin- I think the idea is his love for Vanessa is making him irrational, which is arguably not out of character. What bothers me is this- if Kingpin knows Kindred is Harry, then why not try to threaten Liz or Normie or MJ to get leverage over him. I could see the Kingpin struggle with how to handle immortal villains like Apocalypse or Sinister- since he can’t kill them and they’ve been immortal so long that all their loved ones are dead- but Harry still has living friends and relatives.
Oh, and you have at least 2,994 more to go to equal T.M. Maple who had about 3,000 letters published over a span of 20 years or so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._M._Maple
Love the tag, buddy! My thoughts on the first two questions (since Paul Penna did an excellent job answering the third):
1. Why get upset over Felecia? Well, Harry cares about Gwen and Peter allowed her to die. He cares about MJ and Peter allowed her to tie herself into a deal with Mephisto. Harry doesn’t care about Felecia as much as he sees Peter moving on to another woman and dragging her into his cesspool of a life without ever answering for his crimes on the first two. I think that was just a red herring.
2. Kingpin bowing – I wrestled with that one for quite a while. I don’t think Kingpin knows who Kindred is. All he has seen is the evil power that Kindred displays in front of him. Kingpin probably hasn’t even thought that it might be a person like Osborn, just that it is a demon that has taken an interest in Kingpin’s dealings. Kingpin didn’t listen to him once and paid the price. He won’t do it again. I think that was also a red herring.
And congrats on the letter! There was a Groo comic (do you remember those?) where they got so many letters from this guy and he sent them once a week or so and they just dedicated a whole two or three page letter column to his letters. I figure that is our bleak future if you keep writing them.
I strongly believe that this was indeed the true reveal of Kindred, but I am not above realizing that this could all just be Spencer playing with us and waiting for another true reveal fifty issues from now (give or take).
It would seem to me, that Harry did die in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. While in hell, he became a demon and decided to get revenge on Peter. He set Mysterio loose from hell, to act as his proxy.
Then, One More Day happened.
Demon Harry/Kindred (or, possibly Mephisto) used the alteration to the timeline to make it so Harry never died and Mysterio never died, restoring them to life in this new version of reality.
Which begs the question, is Harry Lyman Kindred? I see three possibilities. 1. There are two Harrys. One is Kindred/Harry Osborn from the pre-OMD timeline and the other is the innocent Harry Lyman who never died. 2. Kindred is Harry Lyman. He has either been aware of the past timeline this whole time and has been lying about it, or he recently had his memories of being in hell reawakened. 3. Kindred exists within Harry Lyman as a separate personality. When Harry was reborn, he had no memories of the past timeline and is completely innocent. But, the demon Kindred exists within him, manifesting and setting out for revenge against Peter. After Kindred turns back into Harry Lyman, Harry has no memory of what Kindred has done.
I like the final option better, as it’s very similar to when in older comics, Norman was unaware of his identity as the Green Goblin. And, just as that did, it sets up greater conflict as it would make Harry “innocent” of his crimes as Kindred. Or, at least, that is an argument that can be made.
It’s also very in line with what has been set up, with references being made to Peter’s sin being hiding that Norman was the Green Goblin, while his memory of being the Goblin had been erased.
Will Peter make a different choice with Kindred once he learns the truth? There’s good drama there.