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Bumblebee |
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| Alias: Karen Beecher |
Titans Member
Joined: Teen Titans [first series] #48 |
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| Bumblebee Quick Bio: Super-smart Karen Beecher created a high-tech Bumblebee suit as part of a ruse to bolster her boyfriend Mal's reputation on the team. As a result, Bumblebee not only eventually joined the Teen Titans, she later married Mal as well. When exposure to a strange energy shrank her to six-inches tall, Bumblebee joined other freakish heroes as a member of the Doom Patrol. |
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BUMBLEBEE:
Original Costume |
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BUMBLEBEE |
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Karen Beecher makes her costumed debut as Bumblebee
in TEEN TITANS #48 [1977]. |
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Mal and Karen attend Donna Troy's wedding
in TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #50 [1984]. |
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Origins & Early Years
Karen Beecher met Mal Duncan during the later days of the Teen Titans' first incarnation. She saw that Mal struggled with feelings of unworthiness of being in this young superpower group, and agreed to help him. They worked together on developing the Gabriel Horn, and it was during this project that they fell in love.
When the Teen Titans reformed, Mal joined as the horn-blowing Herald. Still, Karen felt that the Titans did not appreciate Mal, so she went back to the drawing board and came up with the uniform and equipment of the Bumblebee.
Assuming this new heroic identity, she broke into Titans' Lair: a move which led the Titans to believe that she was an enemy. This was a natural assumption, since she also "attacked" the Herald. Her plan was meant to give Mal a chance to flex his powers and look good in front of his teammates, but Mal's teammates rallied to his defense, and a brief but intense battle ensued, which ended when the Bumblebee escaped, her identity still intact. Karen learned a valuable lesson when she saw how much Mal's friends respected and cared for him.
Later on, Karen revealed her identity to Mal and the Titans and apologized for her actions. Eventually, the Bumblebee joined the Teen Titans, where she served until the group's break-up.
For a time, Karen worked as a librarian in New York City and took night classes in physics, computer technology and political science.
I Married Mal
When the Titans split up yet again, Karen retired from super-heroing and married Mal. She eventually received an offer to work at the San Francisco branch of S.T.A.R. Labs as a research technician, and she and Mal moved there, where she took up freelance writing, specializing in science fiction and fantasy.
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Titans L.A. Together! [from left to right]; Matt Logan, Bumblebee, Flamebird, Captain Marvel Jr., Beast Boy, Hero Cruz, Terra and Herald [Bushido not pictured].
From TITANS SECRET FILES #2 [2000] |
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Although Karen assisted the Titans on a few cases, and even a short-lived revival of Titans West, she remained in semi-retirement. Bumblebee aided the Titans again during the Technis Imperative conflict, which involved the Justice League as well as all Titans, past and present.
Later, Beast Boy's obnoxious cousin Matt took it upon himself to hold a membership drive party for an all-new Titans West. Gar reluctantly agreed to have the team re-form, and Titans West was re-dubbed Titans L.A. - with members that included Beast Boy, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, Terra, Hero Cruz, Captain Marvel Jr. and Bushido. But Titans L.A. was over before it even began; No one had any real devotion to the team.
Karen and Mal lived in San Francisco and made themselves available when the Titans needed them. Mal ran a small restaurant and coffee house called The Buzz, while Karen continued to work at S.T.A.R. Labs as an engineer and designer for non-lethal weapons.
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Bumblebee's transformation is explained in
TEEN TITANS (third series) #36 [2006]. |
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Doomed
When Troia gathered together a team of heroes for a space mission during the Infinite Crisis, she recruited Herald and Bumblebee. But during their mission, Karen and Mal became irrevocably transformed. Herald's sub-sonic weapons blew up in his face, which required his vocal chords and lungs to be replaced with circuitry. Unable to speak, Mal assumed the codename Vox and found his dimension-opening Gabriel Horn was now a part of him. Meanwhile, Bumblebee was irradiated with a strange kind of energy which caused her to shrink down to six-inch height. Trapped at this size, the diminutive heroine must take special meds to keep her tiny heart from going into cardiac arrest.
Bumblebee and Vox may not have survived their transformations without the intervention of the Chief, the mysterious genius who founded the bizarre super-team known as the Doom Patrol. Rescued from near-death, Bumblebee and Vox elected to join the Doom Patro and stay at Dayton Manor in Prague.
Bumblebee created an exoskeleton costume that enables her to fly, cause sonic disruptions, and project powerful force blasts. Her solar-powered antennae inside her helmet allows her to emit electrical 'stings' through quartz prism eyepieces. Bumblebee's exoskeletal wings enable her to fly and cause sonic disruptions.
Bumblebee was later irradiated with a strange kind of energy which caused her to shrink down to six-inch height. Trapped at this size, the diminutive heroine must take special meds to keep her tiny heart from going into cardiac arrest. Karen still uses her scientific acumen to augment her powers and abilities.
Secret Origins Annual #3 [1989], DC Secret Files, supplemented by titanstower.com
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Teen Titans #45 [1976]: First appearance of Karen Beecher, Mal's girlfriend.
Teen Titans #48 [1977]: Robin and the Joker's Daughter escape from Two-Face and warn the other Titans of his plan to blow up both New York and Gotham City. They are delayed by an altercation with the Bumblebee, actually Mal's girlfriend Karen Beecher in a new costumed identity; She first battled the Titans in an attempt to prove Mal's worth to the other team members, whom she believed underrated him, but then joined them as a member until the group. First appearance of Karen Beecher as Bumblebee.
Tales of the Teen Titans #50 [1985]: Donna Troy and Terry Long wed this issue. Appearances by just about every Titan, past and present.
Secret Origins Annual #3 [1989]: Dick Grayson's dream are invaded by the Antithesis, who seeks to break Dick's spirit so that he will remain in Limbo; Dick survives with the help of old and new Titans alike. The Special gives a post-Crisis history of the Titans, including some revamps and revisions. Includes: First Appearance of Flame-Bird (Post-Crisis ret-con of Bat-Girl); First Appearance of Herald (Post Crisis Ret-con of Hornblower and Guardian); First Appearance of Golden Eagle's new costume; Includes Who's Who entries for Flamebird, Golden Eagle, Bumblebee, The Herald, Antithesis, and Gargoyle.
New Titans #57-59 [1989]: Bumblebee aids the Titans on the Wildebeest case.
Hawk & Dove Annual (second series) # 1 [1990]: featured a brief reunion of Titans West. A mysterious note to Dawn Granger leads to Hawk and Dove teaming up with the old Titans West crew, with Hawk, Dove, Flamebird, Bumblebee, Mal, Golden Eagle and Chris "Dial H" King forming a rag-tag Titans West team.
The Titans Secret Files #2 [2000]: It's the debut of Titans LA in an astonishing all-new Special. Whether he wants it or not, Beast Boy finds himself saddled with a new West Coast branch of the Titans. But it may be the new team's final appearance as well if Fear and Loathing and the madcap Harlequin have their say. First Titans L.A. Titans LA members include Beast Boy, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, Terra, Hero Cruz, and Captain Marvel Jr.
Teen Titans (third series) #34-37 [2006]: One Year Later, it's "The New Teen Titans!" A new year of exciting adventures begins with the "new" Teen Titans and the bizarre Doom Patrol. Bumblebee and Vox first seen as members of the Doom Patrol in issue #35. Their transformations are explained in issue #36.
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Start Buzzing
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| THE TEEN TITANS: PRE-CRISIS |
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Teen Titans #45 continued to develop the characters, especially Mal Duncan. He was given a girlfriend, Karen Beecher, and a superpower of his own [A Gabriel Horn].
Teen Titans #48 featured the first appearance of Bumblebee. Karen Beecher acquired a special costume giving her the power of winged flight and other bee-derived gimmick-weapons, and became the Bumblebee. She first battled the Titans in an attempt to prove Mal's worth to the other team members, whom she believed underrated him, but then joined them as a member until the group was disbanded for the second time.
TEEN TITANS #s 50-52 made the Titans into a 20th Century Legion of Super-Heroes. The Titans East (Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Mal, Bumblebee, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Harlequin) met the Titans West (Hawk, Dove, Lilith, Gnarrk, Beast Boy, Golden Eagle, and Bat-Girl). But the budding plans for the Titans East /Titans West were nipped; #53 (February, 1978) was to be the final issue. As previously noted, it revealed the origin of the Titans and so did not follow up the theme of the two groups of Titans.
Sometime after this, Mal and Karen helped Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion determine the fate of Jim Harper, the original Guardian, and learned how the former hero's uniform came into the possession of his nephew, Speedy [Superman Family #191-194].
Early Retirement
"None of the middle ground Titans will pop in and out because George and I don't like any of them. [Laughter] We think that most of the characters are fairly silly. Harlequin, and Bumblebee, and people like that." - Marv Wolfman
Shortly after the second version of the Titans broke up, Mal and Karen married and moved to the West Coast, where Mal became a novelist as well as the owner of a West Coast version of Gabriel's Horn, a nightclub where he sometimes played trumpet. This new place was located on Lombardi Street in San Francisco. Mal and Karen attended Donna Troy's wedding in TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #50.
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A 2005 Bumblebee commission by
1970's Teen Titans cover artist, Rich Buckler. |
Post-Crisis Revisions
Secret Origins Annual #3 featured the post-Crisis origin of the Titans. In that issue, Mal discovered a drawback to his Gabriel Horn; Gargoyle had corrupted Mal Duncan's computer-programed Gabriel's Horn, so that each time Mal used it, the fabric of limbo would be slightly torn. The cumulative effect would break the barrier between limbo and earth and free Gargoyle and Antithesis. The Titans discovered this, and Mal destroyed his Gabriel Horn, thwarting the evil pair once again.
Pérez noted: "I'm writing a Secret Origins Annual of the Titans, while Marv writes the Titans Annual. My origin will establish the post-Crisis origin of the middle Titans; the one with Golden Eagle and Bumblebee. I'll establish who existed and who didn't, what powers they had, and how visually they might be different." It also details the group's history from the very beginning to present day in a story involving Antithesis and Gargoyle. This story takes place soon after The New Titans #56.
Bumblebee Flies Again
Bumblebee came out of 'retirement' to assist the Titans on a few missions, such as an altercation with the Wildebeest Society [New Titans #57-59].
Following that, Hawk & Dove Annual [second series] #1 (1990) featured a brief reunion of Titans West. A mysterious note to Dawn Granger leads to Hawk and Dove teaming up with the old Titans West crew, with Hawk, Dove, Flamebird, Bumblebee, Mal, Golden Eagle and Chris "Dial H" King forming a rag-tag Titans West team. Flamebird suggested reforming the team, but no one was interested.
Bumblebee aided the Titans again during the Technis Imperative conflict, which involved the Justice League as well as all Titans, past and present in JLA/Titans #1-3 in 1998. She also agreed to join the new West Coast Titans team, Titans L.A., in Titans Secret Files #2 [2000].
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Creating Bumblebee
Bob Rozakis on Bumblebee [from a titanstower.com interview]
titanstower: How did you decide on the team line-up?
Bob: It was pretty much decided based on the previous incarnation of the book. I added Karen Beecher (the Bumblebee) so that Mal would have a love interest.
titanstower: How did you come up with the idea for Bumblebee?
Bob: As I said, I had wanted to introduce a love interest for Mal and added Karen. Then we decided to make her into a superhero. And I had been planning to play with the concept that she got more and more into the idea of being a hero as Mal moved further and further away from it.
titanstower: So would Mal eventually give up super-heroing all together?
Bob: Yes, that was my plan...though at some point the Bumblebee would have gotten into some sort of situation that would have required Mal to be a hero once more.
Bob Rozakis on Bumblebee [from The Titans Companion, 2005]
TTC: Let’s talk about those characters. What brought about Bumblebee?
BR: I wanted another girl, and I had introduced Karen Beecher as Mal’s girlfriend, [so I] said, “Why not make her a super-hero?” Certainly, if there were any other black female super-heroes at the time, I can’t recall who they were.
TTC: Did you always intend for her to be Bumblebee, or was she originally just going to be a girlfriend?
BR: I think from the time we introduced her, the plan was that eventually she would become a super-hero, and that would also play off the whole idea that he didn’t really want to be [a super-hero], and here comes his girlfriend, and all of a sudden, she does want to be [a super-hero].
The above excerpt is from The Titans Companion by Twomorrows Publishing.
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the New Teen Titans, The Titans Companion is a comprehensive look at the history of the ultimate teen team - over 200 pages in all! From their early days in the 1960s as a team of teen sidekicks through their best-selling days in the 1980s and beyond, this book explores the history of the team through the eyes of its creators! Interviews with Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, Nick Cardy, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and others reveal the evolution of the series over the years. While artwork by Cardy, Pérez, Adams, Garcia-Lopez, and many more illustrates each era of Titans history! To order the book, click here .
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