Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son #4
American Slayed
Spider-Man has been knocked outside of a warehouse owned by Norman Osborn. Inside, Norman’s sons Harry and Gabriel Stacy are in a fight to the death. When the gathered FBI agents outside try to force their way in, they get blown up by a booby-trapped door.
Hearing the blast, causes Gabriel Stacy to go and see who is trying to see what’s going on. This gives Harry the chance to untie Front Line reporter Norah Winters. He tells Norah to escape through the secret tunnel and relay its existence to Agent Owen outside.
Back outside, Spider-Man is helping with the injured officers when Gabriel appears above them. He tells them that this is between him and Harry and that nobody has to die if they do not interfere. Spider-Man tries to attack Gabriel but is blasted into the side of a building with the American Son’s built-in repulsor rays. That’s when a police sniper tries to take a shot at him. The bullet bounces off Gabriel’s armor. Angered at this cowardly attack, he uses his repulsors to damage the chopper, forcing Spider-Man to save those people from getting hurt. That’s when Norah Winters emerges from the warehouse and is astonished to see Spider-Man has caught the chopper in a massive web.
Gabriel has gone back inside where Harry is preparing to set the warehouse to self-destruct. Harry refuses to shut it down and as the building begins burning to the ground, Gabriel keeps on blasting him with repulsors in an effort to make him stop. However, Harry refuses and mocks him for trying so hard to be Norman Osborn’s son when Harry has been doing everything in his power to distance himself from his father. This is all a ploy to make Gabriel grab him, playing into Harry’s trap. He reminds Gabriel that the American Son armor was designed for him to wear and that he can activate it’s voice commands when he is touching it. He then orders the armor to disassemble and then tells Gabriel that the difference between the two of them is that Harry doesn’t need his father to fight his battles and punches his half-brother out. That’s when both Spider-Man and the FBI get into the building and help evacuate Harry and Gabriel out of the burning building. When they leave, Harry tells them to leave the armor to burn.
Not long after this, Harry Osborn has re-opened the Coffee Bean as repairs are being made to the shop. He is visited by Norah Winters comes under the pretense that she had come to thank him for giving her such a huge story. Harry sees right through this and asks what she has really come to talk to him about. She admits that she has come to express her concerns because she saw his prescription for highly addictive painkillers.[1] He admits that he was abusing the drugs but after his encounter with his half-brother, Harry has kicked the habit again and assures her that he’s got his head on straight again. However, that night when Harry goes to bed he takes a couple of pills and lays sleeplessly in his bed.
While at the Raft penitentiary, Norman Osborn is filled in on what is going on with is children by a SHIELD agent that is still loyal to him.[2] He learns that due to a paperwork error Gabriel has been incarcerated at a mental health facility in Rochester. Norman is pleased to hear this and even more pleased to learn that the American Son armor was recovered and been shipped upstate. At that moment, Gabriel receives a package in his cell. Opening it up he discovers the American Son helpe inside. Speaking to him, the armor asks if he missed it.[3]
Recurring Characters
Harry Osborn, Gabriel Stacy, Spider-Man, Norah Winters, Norman Osborn
Continuity Notes
Harry has had substance abuse problems that date back to Amazing Spider-Man #96-98.
Norman Osborn became the top cop of America after he killed the queen of a Skrull invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion #8. This included becoming the head of SHIELD, which he renamed HAMMER. Osborn fell from grace after a failed coup of Asgard in Siege #1-4. Although SHIELD is back, at the time of this story there are still some agents loyal to Norman.
This story suggests that there is a lead-up to Gabriel becoming American Son again. However, as I write this (December 2020) neither Gabriel nor American Son has been seen again.
Topical References
The pain-killers that Harry was taking are identified as Oxycodone, better known by its commercial name of OxyCondin. It is a highly addictive opioid that has led to a drug abuse crisis the likes of which were never seen before. This story was written during the height of the opioid crisis. That said, the reference to a specific real-world drug should be considered topical.
