Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #15

Jun 17

Jun 17 Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #15

Under my Skin Part 1

Men all over the city suddenly stop and turn their heads as they sense — on some primal level — to hear a strange humming sound. This is happening as an attractive dark-haired woman arrives in New York City. Emerging from her limo, this woman is only mildly amused by the hustle and bustle that is downtown Manhattan.

Meanwhile, at their apartment, Mary Jane Watson asks Peter Parker if she wants to watch a marathon of forensic shows with her. Peter politely declines, telling her that her taste in television is giving him nightmares. She asks him again, pointing out that she always watches his shows with him. When Peter jokingly posits a theory that all women are secretly super-villains, Mary Jane tosses a pillow at him. Going to the bathroom to wash up, Peter concedes to watching one episode and then suggests that they take Flash out to the basketball court.[1] Suddenly, blood starts gushing out of Peter’s nose and ears and he collapses on the bathroom floor. Hearing the crash, Mary Jane rushes into the bathroom to check on him. Peter asks her if she hears the humming, but she doesn’t know what he is talking about. His spider-sense then begins going off like crazy, a feeling he’s never had before.

At that same moment, Captain America is on patrol on the rooftops of New York City when suddenly a helicopter carrying Nick Fury arrives. Fury hopes Cap isn’t too busy, telling him that SHIELD needs his help. At that same moment, the mystery woman is walking across the street, ignoring traffic. When a cab driver yells at her, she tosses the cab into a nearby building with a simple wave of the hand. Walking into a bank, she orders the security guard clear a path and surprisingly he complies. When two other guards attempt to stop her, she orders them to kill each other and they start fighting to the death.

Later that day, an unruly mob suddenly appears prompting the NYPD to respond by deploying riot squads to try and quell the people. The chaos attracts the attention of Spider-Man and Captain America who arrive on the scene to investigate what’s going on. Captain America asks Spider-Man what’s going on, but all the wall-crawler knows for sure is that there is a strange buzzing noise that is drawing him to the roof of the bank. Spider-Man, who is acting more obnoxiously than normal, ignores Captain America’s suggestion of investigating with caution and runs up the side of the building to find out the source of the buzzing. At that same moment, the NYPD helicopter arrives at the rooftop and one of the officers on board asks the woman, who now has an army of loyal followers carrying her around in a chair, what she wants. When she commands the helicopter to go down it is suddenly smashed by some unseen force and goes falling to the ground below. Inside the building, Captain America reports back to Nick Fury as he witnesses the bank employees trashing the offices. When he tells Fury that Spider-Man is about to reach their target first, Fury tells him that the wall-crawler’s involvement will complicate things.

When Spider-Man reaches the roof, he orders the mystery woman to put her hands in the air and attempts to fire webbing at her. However, something makes him intentionally miss. Angered by this attack, the woman tells the web-slinger that if he tries attacking her again she will make the city suffer. Still, Spider-Man tries to fight the woman, who is incredibly agile and fast. Captain America arrives and tells Spider-Man to get away, however, the woman — who calls herself the Queen — unleashes a powerful scream that causes Spider-Man a great deal of pain. Impressed, with Spider-Man’s drive to keep fighting, she orders her slaves to restrain him and pulls up his mask. Captain America then attempts to stop her by tossing his shield, but one of her thralls jumps in front of the weapon. Surprisingly, this woman — whom Cap calls Ana — knows Captain America and he orders her to stand down.[2] However, she refuses to do so and begins throwing her thralls at the Star-Spangled Avenger. She then knocks Steve Rogers to his knees with his own shield. Spider-Man is surprised to hear that Captain America knows who they are fighting and breaks free from the people who are trying to hold him back. However, the Queen unleashes another loud scream. She tells the web-slinger that there is no shame in defeat and that he couldn’t stand up to her because it is nature’s way. With that, she kisses Spider-Man on the lips.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Captain America, the Queen, Mary Jane Watson, Nick Fury

Continuity Notes

What’s not overly stated here is the fact that Flash is currently in a catatonic state following a car accident that put him in a coma circa Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44-47. He will remain in this state until Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3.
Captain America and the Queen’s past history is detailed in Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #17.