Norman Osborn has now been back longer than he was dead.
Am I the only one who feels that’s strange? Time flies as I clearly remember buying his return issue at the end of the clone saga. He died in ASM#122 in 1973 and was brought back in PP:SM#75 in 1996. It’s now of course 2020, so he’s been back longer than he was dead. His death had cast a huge shadow over Peter Parker, Harry Osborn and the Spidey books as a whole. Bringing him back was highly controversial at the time and was editorially mandated as a way to end the clone saga. But most of the writers and fans at the time weren’t too thrilled about this as they said it cheapened the character and the issue he died in.
So with over two decades of further character development, stories in which he played a huge part, and general reflection on what was gained and what was lost by his return.... was it worth it?