Enemies: Black Cat, Falcon (Wilson), Gargoyle (Christians), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), Misty Knight, Paladin, Power Man (Luke Cage), Power Man (Victor Alvarez), Billy Bob Rackham, Silver Sable, Stiletto

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York City, USA;

First Appearance: Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#1 (June, 1972)

Powers: Commanche  was originally a street criminal, with no specialized skills. He carries a bow and arrow, although he only used them after having the arrows fitted with weaponry by agents of Rand-Meachum. His specialized arrows contained such things as explosives, electrical charge, adhesive chemicals, and whatnot. He is a reasonably skilled street-fighter, and is familiar with knives and various types of guns.

History: 

(Shadowland: Power Man#2 (fb) ) - Commanche joined the Rivals alongside Lucas, Stryker and Shades.

   Commanche and Shades got sent to Seagate Prison during their time with the Rivals.

(Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#1) - Shades and Commanche were prisoners in Seagate alongside Carl Lucas. They tried to recruit him to sway all of the brothers to follow them, but Lucas knew they were just talkin' jive, and refused to work with them. Commanche pulled a knife to persuade him, and Lucas sucker-punched him, dropping him to the ground with a single blow.

(Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#14 (fb)) - A corrupt prison guard, Rackham, who had abused Lucas (and who was partly responsible for his mutation), took out his frustrations on Shades, Commanche, and any others he could get his hands on after Lucas' escape. Eventually Rackham was fired for his brutality, but Shades and Comanche  wanted revenge, so they slowly dug a tunnel under the prison and escaped.

(Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#14, 15/16(fb), 16) - Shades and Commanche arrived in Manhattan, where they heisted a couple of costumes, so that Rackham wouldn't recognize them when they approached him. While they searched for Rackham, they continued their old, racketeering ways, and in the process they encountered and allied themselves with Flea, another man who knew that Luke Cage was actually the wanted man Carl Lucas. The three men attempted to convince Cage to join their racketeering outfit, in exchange for leading him to Rackham (who had killed reporter Phil Fox and could prove the innocence of Dr. Claire Temple, who had blamed for the murder). Cage went along with them initially to locate Rackham, but he had also had his lawyer friend, "Big Ben" Donovan, have someone tail him. After the group located Rackham, another man, Stiletto, caused the roof to collapse on them. Cage pulled Shades and Commanche  to safety and fought off Stiletto. Shades and Comanche  were arrested and returned to prison.

(Power Man#49 (fb)) - Now employed by Bushmaster, Shades and Comanche were assigned to follow Cage on a mission to capture Misty Knight for him, to insure that he proceeded as planned.

(Power Man#48) - Shades and Commanche observed from their car as Cage went after Misty Knight. They saw Cage get knocked from the building and crash into another building, which collapsed on him. They assumed Cage had been killed, and they left to report back to Bushmaster.

(Power Man#49) - Back at Bushmaster's base in the now-closed Seagate Prison, Shades and Commanche tried to ambush Iron Fist, who had accompanied Cage. Iron Fist easily outwitted and overpowered the two.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#98 - BTS) - Shades and Commanche were hired by Ward Meachum, who had them outfitted with advanced weaponry. Comanche was given a bow and arrow with an arsenal of specialized arrows.

(Shadowland: Power Man#3 (fb) - BTS) - When Shades and Commanche decided to step up their game they came to Deadly Nightshade for new weapons.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#98) - Shades and Commanche ambushed Luke Cage, who was caught unprepared for their new weapons, and quickly knocked out. They left him unconscious, figuring they had showed him who was in charge. However, when he woke up, Cage wanted a rematch and tracked them down. Iron Fist had come with Cage, and they fought the two criminals. With Cage braced for the impact, Commanche 's explosive arrows did him no harm, while Iron Fist proved able to consistently avoid being hit by them. Shades and Comanche  fled, but Power Man and Iron Fist chased after and defeated them. However, as they were being taken away, Shades, whose visor had unwisely left on, blasted the two heroes off the bridge.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#99 - BTS) - Shades and Commanche were sprung on bail by agents of Meachum

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#99) - Shades and Commanche  were sent to steal the film of David "D. W." Griffith, who had unwittingly captured on film Meachum meeting with the two of them. They raided his office at the Diamond, and stole every piece of film in his office, except the one they had sought, which was still in the film dryer.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#100) - Shades and Commanche  again fought Cage, as he was part of a raid on Meachum's facility, to gain back the soul of Iron Fist, which had been stolen by Master Khan, who as Meachum's silent partner. Cage cracked a large pillar and dropped it on them, taking them out of the fight.

(Shadowland: Power Man#2 (fb) - BTS) - Shades became a community organizer and quit being a criminal, which also ended his long friendship with Commanche.

(Shadowland: Power Man#2) - Deadly Nightshade, leader of the Rivals gang, organized a group called the Flashmob, comprised of former opponents of Luke Cage, specifically Commanche, Chemistro, Cheshire Cat, Spear, Cockroach Hamilton and Mr. Fish, to tackle the new Power Man (Victor Alvarez), and they soon challenged him on a rooftop. Although the others attacked Power Man, Commanche directed his arrows at the newly arrived Luke Cage, but was knocked out by Iron Fist. 

(Shadowland: Power Man#2 (fb) - BTS) - Commanche was taken into custody on Riker's Island. Later, Deadly Nightshade's solicitor, Ben Donovan, reported to her that Commanche had to stay incarcerated, although he had secured the release of several others of the Flashmob.

(Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire#1) - Alongside Cottonmouth, Commanche and the Flashmob tried to leave spider-infested Manhattan via a bridge, but were stopped in a furious battle with Misty Knight and her Heroes for Hire (Black Cat, Falcon, Gargoyle, Paladin, Silver Sable).

Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin (writer) and George Tuska (artist).

Shades was definitely the idea man of the two, while Commanche was more of a follower.

Following Power Man and Iron Fist I#100, Shades and Commanche  apparently parted ways, as Shades was seen in Marvel Knights I#11 and 12, but Comanche  was nowhere in sight. Shades no longer had access to his Meachum-designed specialized weaponry, so it's likely that Comanche  lost his as well. However, Deadly Nightshade may well have re-armed him for her Flashmob.

His name was initially spelt with one "m", but then doubled up on his later appearances.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Commanche has no known connection to:

• The Comanche nation, one of the tribes of Native Americans, from whom he apparently derived his name.
• or any other "Commanche" characters
  

images: (without ads)
Power Man#14, p16, pan3 (main image)
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#1, p3, pan1 (in Seagate Prison)
Power Man & Iron Fist I#98, p3, pan2 (Commanche & Shades)
Power Man & Iron Fist I#98, p3, pan3 (Commanche arrow, Shades laser blasts wall)

Appearances:
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#1 (June, 1972) - Archie Goodwin (script), George Tuska (pencils), Billy Graham (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#14 (October, 1973) - Billy Graham & Steve Englehart (writers), Billy Graham (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#15 (November, 1973) - Steve Englehart, Billy Graham & Tony Isabella (writers), Billy Graham (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#16 (December, 1973) - Steve Englehart, Billy Graham & Tony Isabella (writers), Billy Graham (pencils), Frank McLaughlin (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Power Man#48-49 (December, 1977 - February, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Power Man & Iron Fist I#98-99 (October-November, 1983) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Ernie Chan (pencils), Andy Mushynsky (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Power Man & Iron Fist I#100 (December, 1983) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Ernie Chan (pencils), Mike Mignola (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Shadowland: Power Man#2 (November, 2010) - Fred van Lente (writer), Mahmud Asrar (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire#1 (December, 2011) – Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning (writers), Kyle Hotz (penciler), Bob Almond (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Shadowland: Power Man#2-3 (November-Deember, 2010) - Fred Van Lente (writer), Mahmud Asrar (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)

Last updated: 01/01/12

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