Untold Tales of Spider-Man #10
Call her...Commanda!
Spider-Man is out on patrol when he spots a break-in of a penthouse apartment. Going inside, he catches the international jewel thief known as Commanda red-handed. However, her attractive figure catches the wall-crawler off guard. Seeing that she is dealing with a pubescent teenager, Commanda shifts her armor into a more revealing outfit to distract the young hero. While Spider-Man is distracted she orders her drones to attack him. As he dodges these machines with the aid of his spider-sense. Spider-Man quickly realizes that Commanda is mentally controlling her drones through a device on her headdress. When he tries to strike her, a force field goes up to protect Commanda from the blow. The force of the impact almost breaks Spider-Man's hand. That's when the drones combine into a snake-like object that restrains him. Still, he manages to fire a web-line to yank off Commanda's headdress. When the drones become inert, Commanda trips over her feet and falls backward, striking her head on a nearby coffee table. However, she is playing possum in order to draw Spider-Man close enough to blast him with her wrist-blaster. While the wall-crawler recovers from the attack, Commanda makes her escape.
The following morning, Peter Parker and his Aunt May listen to the radio news while having breakfast. The top story is about Doctor Octopus robbing a bank in Denver, followed by a story about the Crimson Heart -- a massive ruby -- that will be put on display at the Hotel Imperial.[1] Going to the Daily Bugle to develop his photos, Peter discovers that Commanda's face is blocked from view by her drones, almost as if this was done on purpose. Still, he tries to sell these photos to J. Jonah Jameson, trying to convince him that her obscured face will add an air of mystery that will boost of circulation. Outside of Jonah's office, Betty Brant is refusing to tell Sally Avril the identity of their freelance photographers. That's when Jonah and Peter walk out of his office. Overhearing Peter and Jonah's conversation, Sally realizes that Peter is one of the Bugle's photographers who takes photos of Spider-Man.[2] Betty instantly becomes jealous when it turns out that this is a girl that knows Peter. She gets even more upset when Peter cancels their date because he didn't get paid as much as he expected and money will be tight with his Aunt May's mortgage payment coming due. She becomes even more angry when Sally suggests that she and Peter take the subway together to get to class on time.
On that way back to Queens, Peter tells Sally that he has been taking photos of Spider-Man for the Bugle since the Vulture first appeared, and asks her to keep it a secret. Sally finds this interesting, and Peter doesn't like the tone of her voice. However, Peter is more concerned about where he stands with Betty Brant right now. He thinks about how Betty was forced into helping Blackie Gaxton recruit Doctor Octopus in exchange for wiping out her brother Bennett's gambling debts. Unfortunately, when Peter tried to help her as Spider-Man, Bennett was killed in the ensuing battle. Betty blamed Spider-Man for her brother's death.[3] When they arrive at school, their classmates are talking about how Tiny McKeever did not show up at school that day.[4] That's when Avril mentions how she saw Liz Allan's father on the news to promote the display of the Crimson Heart and wishes she can see it. Since her father is in charge if the display, Liz offers to arrange a private showing for her friends. Overhearing this, Peter asks if he can tag along. Liz agrees, but both Flash Thompson and Jason Ionello are unhappy to hear that Parker will be joining them.
Later that day, Peter joins his classmates for a private tour of the ruby display. Peter slips away to take a look at the security layout to see how Commanda might break in. His absence is noticed by both Flash and Sally Avril. Flash assumes that Peter chickened out, as usual, but Sally tells Flash that he wouldn't think so if he knew what she knew. Peter doesn't like the sound of that, but has other things to worry about. Later that evening, Commanda breaks into the hotel and uses her drones to knock out the security guards and disable the security system. She interrupted by Spider-Man who easily takes out her drones. Deciding to change tactics, Commanda retracts her armor to create an even more revealing outfit and tries to seduce Spider-Man in the hopes of getting her to join his side. It appears to work, and she lifts up his mask in order to kiss him. However, Spider-Man only allowed this to go on in order for Commanda to get close enough for him to rip her headdress off and crush it in his hands. With her drones rendered useless, Commanda begins screaming for help, drawing security and hotel staff into the room. As it turns out, Commanda is a welcome guest at the hotel and convinces the owner that Spider-Man was trying to steal the ruby. With no way of convincing them of the truth, the wall-crawler is forced to flee from a hail of bullets fired by the security guards. Although he failed to capture Commanda, Spider-Man is satisfied that he has foiled her attempts to steal the ruby before it is moved out of the city.
Meanwhile, Sally Avril and Jason Ionello pay a visit to the Parker home. There, Aunt May tells them that Peter hasn't come home yet. Deciding to try nad get a hold of Peter later, Jason asks if it is necessary that they involved Peter in their scheme, Sally assures him that it is crucial that they get his assistance.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Commanda, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Jason Ionello, Sally Avril, Wilson Allan
Continuity Notes
At the time of this story, Doctor Octopus has been going on a crime spree across the country after he escaped from Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #11. This story Peter suspects that this will be the next target of Commanda's robbery spree. He will return to New York and clash with Spider-Man again in Amazing Spider-Man #12.
When Peter first started selling photos of Spider-Man for the Daily Bugle in Amazing Spider-Man #2, it was under the condition that Jameson didn't publish his name in the photo credits. Peter reasoned at the time that it was necessary to protect his double identity.
Spider-Man tried to rescue Betty and her brother from Doctor Octopus in Amazing Spider-Man #11. Although everyone believes that Bennett Brant was killed then, he survived as explained in Venom Vol 2 #21. He will turn up alive again in Venom Vol 2 #1.
Unknown to everyone but Peter Parker, Tiny McKeever lives in an abusive home as revealed in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #2.
