
I’m hoping that most of you have seen this character before since she has been at least 3 animated features over the last few years. She was in the first iteration of the animated Teen Titans, Young Justice and DC Super Hero Girls. Karen Beecher (Bumblebee) was a scientist and girlfriend to Teen Titan, The Herald (Mal) that decided create her own supersuit to attack the Teen Titans to make her boyfriend look good in front of the Titans. She escaped without being discovered but she later explained to Mal and the Titans. The Titans were so impressed that they offered her membership and she became DC’s first African American woman superhero.
Her and Mal were also DC’s first African American married couple. They were superheros together, retired and became heroes again.
Don’t you just love black comic book love?
Bumblebee has been a member of the Teen Titans, Teen Titans West, S.T.A.R Labs and the Doom Patrol. At one point, heroes were trapped in a Zeta Beam Ray that Adam Strange was trying to use to get the heroes away from a rift in space. Due to the rift, Bumblebee was reduced to 6 inches tall. She later joined the Doom Patrol where with the help of Dr. Caulder, she has grown the size of a small doll and can live inside a dollhouse. Unfortunately, she and Mal had divorced while a part of the Doom Patrol (dammit!).
Even with the not okay circumstances, let’s celebrate the fact that she is alive and well (even though she is miniature) and that she was DC’s first African American superhero woman. Until next week, Nerd out!