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Bumblebee (PG)

Betsy Stacey
Nov 2, 2017
2 min read

Karen Beecher also known as Bumblebee. She is a fictional character, that exists in DC Comics' main shared universe. She was a member of the Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol. Bumblebee first appeared in Teen Titans #45 (December 1976). However, Karen did not adopt the Bumblebee identity until three issues later, becoming DC's first African American female superhero. It is also worth mentioning that she has been through quite a few different looks.

History:

Scientist Karen Beecher was the girlfriend of Teen Titans member the Herald (a.k.a. Mal Duncan). In order to help make Herald look good in front of the team, she secretly made herself a bumblebee-themed super-suit and attacked the Teen Titans. She escaped but later revealed what she had done. The team and Mal were impressed and offered her membership, which she accepted. She and Mal subsequently moved to the new Titans West team, having relocated to San Francisco. When the Titans team dissolved for a time, Karen and Mal married and 'retired' from super-heroics. Karen took a job with S.T.A.R. Labs, where she designs non-lethal weaponry. They return to crime-fighting from time to time to assist the team, most notably during a short-lived revival of Titans West and the JLA/Titans event, which reunited everyone involved with the team.

Infinite Crisis:

Bumblebee and her husband are among the heroes recruited by Donna Troy to help avert a coming crisis that threatened the existence of the universe. After a battle in space, most of the heroes were trapped by a Zeta-Beam Ray that Adam Strange was hoping to use for teleportation. However, due to the ray interactions with the rift itself, the Zeta-Ray altered Bumblebee's physiology, apparently transferring her body mass to Hawkgirl. This left Bumblebee approximately six inches in height and Hawkgirl some 25 feet tall.

One Year Later:

Bumblebee is shown to have joined the Doom Patrol sometime in the past year along with her husband (now known as Vox) and Beast Boy. She must now take medicine developed by Doom Patrol leader Niles Caulder to prevent her heart from going into cardiac arrest, due to her tiny form. Karen is presently a member of the Doom Patrol. Due to medicinal efforts from Dr. Caulder, she has grown to a height of seven inches, and she can live in a dollhouse.