 The seeds for the tumultuous events of Amazing Spider-Man #121 and #122 were planted in Amazing Spider-Man #119. In that issue, Peter observes Harry saying goodbye to his father, when suddenly Harry collapses to ground. Peter tries to help, but Norman forcefully removes and yells at him claiming that "[Norman] is quite capable of handling this [himself]".
The next time we see Harry it is in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #121 where he is bed-ridden after overdosing on L.S.D. The family doctor, Ray, wishes that Harry were in a hospital where he could receive better treatment, but he respects Norman's wishes to keep this incident private.
Norman even removes all of Harry's "friends" (Peter, Gwen, and MJ) blaming them for the condition of his son. Later, Norman receives news that his company’s stock is down 13% which causes Norman to start losing control of his sanity. He begins to have delusions involving Spider-Man as his delicate psyche begins to fracture as he eventually reverts to the Green Goblin persona. Norman returns to one of his Goblin hideouts and once again embraces his alter ego the Green Goblin. He resolved to exact his revenge upon Spider-Man and this time in doing so, he kidnaps Gwen Stacy who was at Peter’s home waiting for him. When Peter returns to his apartment he finds Gwen's handbag and one of the Goblin's pumpkin bombs, he knows he has to move quickly. Spider-Man tracks the Goblin to the Brooklyn Bridge (although Peter refers to it as the George Washington Bridge) where his recent contraction of a head cold becomes a liability. Peter was not able to muster up enough strength to deliver the knock-out blow to the Goblin, allowing the villain to quickly recover from Spidey's attack. Just as Peter reached Gwen, the Goblin sneaked up and knocked the 'doomed' girl's unconscious body from atop the bridge. Spider-Man attempts to save his falling girlfriend by sending a web line down to catch her. He succeeded and was at first thankful for his wonderful web-shooters. Unfortunately, he quickly realized that the sudden jolt from the web line had snapped her neck, leaving the Goblin as well as himself responsible for her untimely death. The story ended with the Green Goblin taunting Spider-Man over Gwen's death and then promising him to be next! In Amazing Spider-Man #122, Spider-Man, enraged by the Goblin's brutal plan, continues fighting him on the bridge. But Spidey's fury blinds him and he gets sloppy is knocked out by a bridge cable, allowing the Goblin to escape. Peter returns to the Osborn estate but does not find Norman, only Harry. Harry pleads that Peter stay with him, but Peter, set on revenge, ignores his friend's request. Peter then heads over to the Daily Bugle where he luckily receives a tip from Joe Robertson that leads him to a Goblin hideout. When Peter arrives he finds Norman, who is anticipating the arrival of his mortal enemy and he is prepared to kill him too.  In the ensuing fight, Spider-Man is able to subdue the Green Goblin, but the Goblin sends his glider to attack Spider-Man from behind. Spider-Man ducks to avoid the glider and the Goblin is impaled, causing his “death.” Peter feels no retribution in watching the Green Goblin die and he leaves Norman's lifeless body behind still garbed in the Goblin costume. However, there is a mysterious figure watching all these events transpire and who will play a pivotal role in maintaining the legacy of the Green Goblin. The mysterious figure is later revealed to be Harry Osborn. Harry's attempt to redeem his father is outlined HERE.  Another wrinkle gets added to this tragic tale when one considers the events of Amazing Spider-Man #509-514, aka Sins Past. During Sins Past, Peter discovers an affair between Gwen and Norman that resulted in the birth of a twin son and daughter. This helps Peter to realize why Norman targeted Gwen in the first place, since there were many people that Peter held dear to him. It also helps to answer the question as to whether Gwen was just in the wrong place (Peter's apartment) at the wrong time or whether the Goblin actually sought her out intentionally during Amazing Spider-Man #121.  He most likely abducted Gwen purposefully, because she had told him that she wanted him to have nothing to do with raising these children. Prior to her death, Gwen had told Norman that she would have Peter help raise the children and that he was the "only man fit to raise these children." This most certainly caused Norman to harbor increase resentment toward Peter, since Gwen had desired him to be the "father" to his children.
In Marvels #4, one part of a retcon series by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, photographer Phil Sheldon witnesses both the Green Goblin leaving the apartment with Gwen Stacy and her death on the bridge. Phil was on a mission to help clear Spider-Man's name from the death of Captain George Stacy, which is why he was in contact with Gwen around the time of her death. The callousness of the public response to Gwen's death along with witnessing a Marvel fail causes Phil to retire from photojournalism and pass the mantle to his assistant. The moments following Gwen's death were chronicled from the perspective of one of the police officers that witnessed the tragedy in a retconned story featured in Peter Parker Spider-Man (V2) #26. After the Green Goblin fled the Brooklyn Bridge, Spidey returned to Gwen's lifeless body and held her in his arms. Two cops approached the web-slinger, but he reacted violently toward the officers forcing them to back off. As one of the police officers recalled the events of that day, he noted that Spider-Man took Gwen's death very personal. The officer felt sorry for Spidey and when he saw Peter Parker later on at the police precinct, he told the young photographer that Spider-Man did his best to save Gwen. Peter thanked the cop, who later admitted that he was glad that Spider-Man is 'on our side'. This particular retcon begs the obvious question. If the cop noticed just how personal Spider-Man took the death of Gwen Stacy, how could he not eventually piece together Parker's alter ego? In Amazing Spider-Man #121 Spider-Man refers to the Brooklyn Bridge as the George Washington Bridge and even goes further to say that Norman took her to this bridge because George Washington was his favorite president. Future books refer to it as the Brooklyn Bridge. The interior art of Amazing Spider-Man #121 looks more like the Brooklyn Bridge than the George Washington.
|  Norman insists Peter stay away from Harry, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #119
 Norman has delusions of Spider-Man attacking him, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #121     Left: The Goblin arrives at Peter's apartment and finds Gwen Stacy, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #121 Right: Gwen's neck is snapped when Spidey tries to catch her with a web line, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #121   Norman is impaled by his own glider, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #122
 Phil Sheldon witnesses the Goblin abduct Gwen, as seen in the retconned story Marvels #4  |
