Black History Month Superhero #8: Bumblebee

Name: Bumblebee
First Appearance: Teen Titans #48 (1976)

Bio:

If you haven’t already noticed, Marvel led the charge with the first black superheroes creating the majority of the ones I’ve listed. In 1976 DC finally created their first black female superhero, Bumblebee.

Karen Beecher, a scientist, was dating the Teen Titans member The Herald and she created her own bee themed super suit (which allows her to shrink to the size of an insect) and “attacked” the Teen Titans to help The Herald look good in front of the rest of the team. Once they found out what she did, the Titans were so impressed with her skills that they invited her to their team.

Bumblebee is a side character who is in the Teen Titans and Doom Patrol. She was invited to join the Birds of Prey (Batgirl, Black Canary and Huntress) but the team disbanded before she joined them on any missions. Her most noticeable appearances on television were in Teen Titans (which was pretty hilarious) and Young Justice. She doesn’t have quite the legacy as other heroes but she’s still a fun addition to the Teen Titans roster.

Now, let’s talk about controversy shall we?

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created The Wasp for Marvel back in 1963, 13 years before Bumblebee’s first appearance. The popular superhero has a super suit that allows her to shrink in size, stingers that shoot blasts of energy and wings on her suit that help her fly…all traits Bumblebee has. Looks like the creators at DC copied the popular character to create Bumblebee, which actually has happened a lot by both companies.

Elongated Man (1960 by DC) and Mr. Fantastic (1961 by Marvel)
Namor (1939 by Marvel) and Aquaman (1941 by DC)
Catwoman (1940 by DC) and the Black Cat (1979 by Marvel)
Green Arrow (1941 by DC) and Hawkeye (1964 by Marvel)
Green Lantern Corp (1959 by DC) and Nova Corp (1979 by Marvel)

Deadpool doesn’t count because it was clear he was a parody of Death Stroke but the others were basically copies.

Powers:

Originally Bumblebee didn’t have powers and everything she could do was because of her suit. Her strength, speed, endurance etc. were all increased from the suit. She can fly and shoot blasts of energy as well. She’s also a really smart scientist, and that’s just natural ability!