To reiterate, the following is not a complete character summary of Harry Osborn, but rather an overview of the events involving Harry that directly affect (or were affected by) his father, Norman Osborn.
Norman Osborn had met his demise at the conclusion of Amazing Spider-Man #122. And although Norman would return from the grave, there was a time when many of those close to him believed that he was actually dead. Harry thought he was dead for sure, because he had witnessed it happen. After Spider-Man leaves Norman's body to be discovered by the authorities, Harry is shown as a mysterious figure in the background. Before the police arrive and realize that Norman Osborn is actually the Green Goblin, Harry removes the Goblin attire to save his father's name. In Amazing Spider-Man #123, Harry (who's identity as the mysterious figure is still unknown) makes his intentions for removing the costume from his father very clear. He believes that by Norman being in civilian clothes, that a wave of anti-Spider-Man sentiment will be initiated because Spidey would have killed a harmless businessman. He is right, because J. Jonah Jameson immediately assumes Spider-Man's guilt (big surprise). At Gwen's funeral in that same issue we see tension begin to build between Harry and Peter as Harry begin's down the dark path of embracing the Green Goblin. Finally, in Amazing Spider-Man #126, Harry is revealed to be the mysterious figure who observed the death of Norman Osborn. That sets the stage for Harry's first round as the second Green Goblin.
As a subplot to the main story which features the Punisher and the Tarantula in Amazing Spider-Man #135, Harry uncovers Peter's secret identity. The young Osborn, suspicious of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, has his suspicions confirmed when he discovers a Spider-Man costume in Peter’s drawer while Peter is in the shower. This is the first time Harry realizes Peter is Spider-Man, and he is ready to exact vengeance upon the wall crawler.
Harry makes his first appearance as the second Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #136-137. After a bomb explodes inside Peter’s apartment, nearly killing himself and MJ, Peter is worried that someone may be aware of his dual identity. MJ is admitted into the hospital and lingering thoughts of a possible Goblin return cause Peter to head to Norman's former Goblin headquarters. As Spider-Man he waits to see if anyone is still using the old hideout. Spidey's intuition served him well as Harry returns to the lair. A fight ensues and the Green Goblin bests Spider-Man after exposing him to a noxious gas. He plans to execute Spider-Man but fails when his electro blast gloves run out of energy. Spider-Man continues to search for Harry over the next few days and finally finds him at an abandoned Osborn family townhouse. At the townhouse Peter sees Harry's plan, to kill one of the three closest people to Peter: MJ, Aunt May, or Flash Thompson. One of them is in a room with a real bomb and Peter rushes to save them, Aunt May is first on the list. Luckily she was the one with the live bomb. Peter returns to Harry's hideout and makes quick work of taking Harry down. Of course Harry is no match for Peter because he has yet to be exposed to the Goblin Formula. When the authorities do arrive Harry's tells them Peter is Spider-Man, but no one believes him because he blatantly admits to being the Green Goblin as well. Everyone dismisses his rants as gibberish. After Harry's first pass as the Green Goblin he soon begins psychiatric therapy.
Over the next few years Harry becomes the target of a few Goblin copycats. A recap of Harry's involvement with Green Goblin III can be found HERE and a recap of the Hobgoblins' (both I and II) harassing of Harry and his family can be found HERE and HERE.
Norman Osborn becomes a grandfather thanks to Harry and his wife Liz Allan when Normie Osborn is born in Amazing Spider-Man #263. There appears to be a continuity error from Norman’s recollections in Peter Parker Spider-Man V2 #25. In that issue, Spidey sees the birth through the window (not as Parker inside the hospital) and he’s wearing his blue/red not the black costume that he typically wore during the time of Normie's birth.
In an attempt to redeem the Green Goblin namesake, Harry has a brief stint as a super hero in Web of Spider-Man #66-67. Harry is drawn into conflict when Tombstone extorts the now reformed Molten Man to do his bidding. Spider-Man ultimately convinces Harry to give it up because he is completely outmatched and has to much to risk, namely his family. Harry's Green Goblin past once again begins to haunt him as he starts to have delusions involving his deceased father. During the Child Within storyline, featured in Spectacular Spider-Man #178-183, the rat-like villain known as Vermin has broken out of custody and gone on a killing spree. Meanwhile, Harry begins to be haunted by the ghosts of his father, who has takes concern with the way in which Harry is raising his son Normie. These visions lead Harry to briefly lose control and lash out at Normie, only to regain his grip and apologize for treating his son harshly. Harry questions the Norman ghost if he ever loved him, Norman says yes. However a Spider-Man ghost appears alongside Norman and tells Harry, “Norman didn’t have any love in his heart.” This begins to push Harry over the edge and his hatred for Spider-Man is fueled. Harry than attacks the Spider-Man ghost but stops after Peter tells him Norman killed Gwen. Harry remembers that to be true and he turns to his father who retorts, “you are going to side with the man who killed me [Norman]?” Harry has truly begun to lose his grip and after encouragement from Norman, he dons the Goblin garb and attacks and captures Peter. With Spider-Man held captive, Harry exposes Peter to a hallucinogen that causes Peter to see his former friends and family that have died over the years (Uncle Ben, Gwen, his parents, etc.). Peter loses control when he sees his parents and begins to believe himself responsible for their deaths. Harry also states to Peter during one of their slugfests that Norman became the Goblin because of Harry (needing to provide for Harry) and that killing Gwen must have been an accident. But Harry has a history of perpetuating distorted memories (see Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #14). In the final confrontation involving Vermin, Peter, and Harry, Peter is able to neutralize Vermin and then confront Harry one on one. Harry tells Peter that he wants his life and Peter obliges. Ultimately, Harry can’t do it, he can’t kill Peter. He leaves Peter unharmed but tells him that he won’t forget him and he won’t stop hating him. Some quick commentary. Since we know Norman wasn’t dead, what if this delusion was engineered by him? Maybe Harry’s robot/construct Parker parents attack on Peter after his “death” was hatched because Harry saw how much pain Peter carries regarding his parents. Harry continues to beconstantly tormented by the conflicting emotions he has toward Peter in that he seeks revenge for his father’s death, yet he does not want to hurt those close to Peter because he cares for them as well. In Spectacular Spider-Man #200, Harry is in the process of initiating The Osborn Foundation. This foundation is a project with philanthropic purposes and an attempt to restore his father’s name while doing charitable deeds within the city. Harry, who is an a weakened mental state, loses control when he sees Spider-Man, who is preemptively trying to thwart Harry’s “big plan for the city” as the Green Goblin. As the Green Goblin and Spider-Man battle one another, Harry detonates a bomb that will kill the two of them in the Osborn Foundation building. Mary Jane and Normie are in the building as well, and Harry realizes what he has done and immediately brings MJ and Normie out of the building. He then realizes he has to save Peter as well. Harry goes back inside and saves Peter just as the building explodes, outside of the building Harry collapses and dies shortly thereafter. Harry mentions that he had experimented with the Goblin formula (before taking it) and we later learn that this toxic unstable formula is responsible for his death. In the one shot story Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil, Daily Bugle investigative reporter Ben Urich is on his way to interview Liz Allan Osborn for his new book. Urich is writing a book disclosing many details around the super villain the Green Goblin. When he arrives, Urich finds himself amidst a skirmish between Spider-Man and Goblinettes, that is, female Green Goblin robots. Norman’s grandson, Normie Osborn, is kidnapped during the scuffle. The Goblinette’s state Normie is going to receive the Goblin Legacy. Spider-Man, Urich, and the Molten Man eventually trace the Goblinettes to a secret Goblin lair, constructed by Harry Osborn, and they find out that the Goblin Legacy is the Goblin formula itself. Spider-Man is able to save Normie before he is dropped into a vat of the serum, and the lair is destroyed in the process. Ben Urich is convinced that it was Harry Osborn that killed Gwen Stacy, not Norman, noting that the Goblin’s behavior changed from crime boss to psychotic. As a monkey wrench to the Brand New Day story line, Harry’s body is exhumed in this story and proven that he is dead…possibly a body duplicate. Harry’s mind controlling devices are similar to those he employed in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #14, in which Peter fell victim to. At the conclusion of the story, Ben states that the Green Goblin is dead forever, little did he know…He also changes the title of the story from “Legacy” to “Dynasty” because it is “not a legacy anymore.”
But the story doesn't end there. Like any good Osborn, Harry has a knack for evading death. And the events of Brand New Day bring us to Amazing Spider-Man #581 where Harry explains his escape from death's grip. In short, he says he took the Goblin serum, it was in his system, it brought him back. Peter then retorts, I thought the Goblin serum killed you (telling Harry that Spider-Man told him that those were Harry’s dying words). Harry says that he said that because he was “high” on Goblin serum. Harry goes on to say that he himself didn’t pull it off, it was someone else who took care of it. The art shows Norman Osborn bribing two medics at a morgue. But Harry doesn’t mention his father’s involvement, its not clear whether Harry knows it was his father that did it. Norman also had the help of Mysterio who is charged with the task of switching the autopsy reports, and getting a genetic duplicate for the coffin all for the right price. Mysterio reminds Norman that he has to be the one to “sell this”, with graveside visits are references to his departed boy.
The story of Harry and Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin continues to be written. |  Harry discovers Peter's alter ego, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #135
 Harry escapes Spider-Man during their first confrontation, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #136
  Left: Normie Osborn's birth, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #263
Right: Normie's birth as retold by Norman, as seen in Peter Parker Spider-Man V2 #25
 Peter convinces Harry to give up the Goblin and focus on his family, as seen in Web of Spider-Man #67
 Harry has delusions involving his deceased father, as seen in Spectacular Spider-Man #179
 Harry refuses to kill Peter despite his father's wishes, as seen in Spectacular Spider-Man #183
 Harry saves MJ and Normie from the bomb he planted, as seen in Spectacular Spider-Man #200
 Ben Urich ponders the legacy of the Green Goblin, as seen in Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil
 Norman and Mysterio make arrangements to fake Harry's death, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #581 |
