- For other versions of Bumblebee, go to the disambiguation page.
| “ | If you promise not to laugh, they call me Bumblebee. The name may be dumb, but I know what I'm doing. | „ |
| ~ Bumblebee. |
| “ | If I can get my buzzing to the right pitch, it'll disintegrate his weapons... | „ |
| ~ Bumblebee. |
Bumblebee (real name Karen Beecher-Duncan) is a fictional character and superheroine from DC comics.
She is a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist and engineer who created her own exoskeleton suit that was bumblebee themed, using her ability to alternate her size and sonic disruptors. She is the partner and love-interest of Mal Duncan, and has been a member of the Teen Titans, Titans West, Titans Los Angeles, the Titans, and the Doom Patrol.
She was created by Bob Rozakis, Irv Novick, and Jose Delbo, and first appeared in Teen Titans #45 in December of 1976.
Biography[]
Background[]
Karen Beecher was born at an unknown time, and later became a scientist. At an unknown point in time, she began a relationship with Mal Duncan, who was a member of the Teen Titans at the time.
Becoming Bumblebee[]
Wanting to make Mal look good in front of the team, Karen created a exoskeleton that was themed like a bumblebee, and battled the team. She managed to escape without her position being blown, but later revealed her plan to the Teen Titans, who offered her to join the group as they were impression with her plan. Becoming a member of the group, Bumblebee assisted her allies in fighting criminals and supervillains. Karen and Mal later moved to San Francisco and joined the Titans West, but later retired from crime fighting after the Teen Titans were dissolved.
Karen and Mal then married and the former became a research engineer at S.T.A.R. Labs, but did return to heroism with the Titans West were briefly revived, and during the JLA/Titans event. Bumblebee and Supergirl (Linda Danvers) battled Justice League member Zauriel, but was quickly defeated. Following the event, Karen and Mal joined Titans Los Angeles alongside Beast Boy, Captain Marvel, Jr., Terra, Flamebird, Hero Cruz and Matthew Logan. The team never got fully off the ground, and Karen decided to leave and return to S.T.A.R. Labs. During the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, Karena and Mal were recruited by Donna Troy alongside other superheroes to stop a threat. After a lengthy battle, Karen was effected by Adam Strange's zeta-beam, causing her to stay shrunk to a small size while her body mass was given to Hawkgirl.
Doom Patrol[]
After the events of "Infinite Crisis" and the "One Year" storyline, Bumblebee and Mal joined the Doom Patrol under the command of Niles Caulder, who provided her with medicine to prevent her from going into cardiac arrest due to her small size. The medicine allowed her to grow to seven inches, but she was still stuck in her small state, forcing her to live in a doll house for the time being.
Portrayals[]
Films[]
- In Justice League: Gods and Monsters, she was voiced by Kari Wahlgren, who also voiced Starfire in Injustice 2, Kitana in Mortal Kombat 11, Charmcaster in the Ben 10 series, Chloe Carmichael in The Fairly OddParents, Mina Monroe in Bunnicula, and Nova in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!
Television[]
- In Teen Titans, she was voiced by T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh, who also voiced Aoogah in Tweety's High Flying Adventure.
- In Teen Titans Go!, she is voiced by Ozioma Akagha.
- In Young Justice, she was voiced by Masasa Moyo, who also voiced Sarah Wong in Team America: World Police, Leblanc in Final Fantasy X-2.
- Moyo reprised her voice for the character in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.
- In DC Super Hero Girls, she was voiced by Teala Dunn.
- In the 2019 reboot of DC Super Hero Girls, she was voiced by Kimberly Brooks, who also voiced Ashley Williams in the Mass Effect trilogy, Oracle in Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, young Bruce Wayne in Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Luna in the Scooby-Doo series.
Gallery[]
.png "Bumblebee (Teen Titans Go!).png (127 KB)")
.png "Bumblebee (DC Super Hero Girls).png (73 KB)")
Trivia[]
- She is considered to be the first female black superhero from DC, but this distinction goes to Wonder Woman's twin sister Nubia, who was created in 1973.
