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Bumblebee

Bumblebee

78 appearances · Bronze Age · 1982–2025 · 2 key issues
Who is Bumblebee?

Karen Beecher, a brilliant scientist and girlfriend of Titan member Mal Duncan, designed and built her own high-tech bumblebee suit — granting her flight, shrinking ability, and a powerful sonic sting — and used it to stage a bold solo operation intended to help Mal earn greater respect among his teammates, inadvertently proving herself worthy of joining the team in the process.

Few characters capture the spirit of the Bronze Age DC Universe quite like Bumblebee, who buzzed onto the scene in 1982's Tales of the New Teen Titans #3, brought to life by the legendary team of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez — the same creative duo who defined a generation of superhero storytelling. She's spent over four decades sharing pages with titans of the DC Universe, from Dick Grayson and Donna Troy to Garfield Logan, woven into the very fabric of Teen Titans and Titans lore. With 75 catalog appearances spanning from the Bronze Age all the way to 2025 — including two key collector issues — she's proven herself a genuinely enduring presence across multiple eras of DC history. Whether you're discovering her in the all-ages charm of Tiny Titans or tracking her through the grittier main continuity, Bumblebee is a character whose longevity speaks for itself.

Identity

Real name. Karen Beecher-Duncan

Powers. No innate metahuman powers; uses a self-built bumblebee-themed exo-suit granting flight (insectoid wings), size manipulation/shrinking (in later/post-Crisis depictions), and energy "stingers"/electrical blasts.

Affiliations. Teen Titans, Doom Patrol, S.T.A.R. Labs (scientist); married to Mal Duncan (Herald/Vox).

★ First appearance
Tales of the New Teen Titans #3
Aug 1982

Part of the Bumblebee legacy

Bumblebee is one of 2 heroes to carry the Bumblebee mantle. See the whole Bumblebee family ▸

Trivia

  • Art Baltazar has written more of Bumblebee's comics than any other writer in our catalog — 31 issues.

Top series

Covers through the years — 1982–2022

Tales of the New Teen Titans #3 1982
Tales of the New Teen Titans #3
Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #14 1986
Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #14
Hawk and Dove Annual #1 1990
Hawk and Dove Annual #1
Teen Titans #37 2006
Teen Titans #37
52 #50 2007
52 #50
Doom Patrol #18 2011
Doom Patrol #18
Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Omnibus #[nn] 2013
Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Omnibus #[nn]
Titans #1 2016
Titans #1
Doomsday Clock #9 2019
Doomsday Clock #9
Teen Titans Academy #7 2022
Teen Titans Academy #7

Appearances

52 (2006)
#50
Tales of the New Teen Titans (1982)
#3
Tales of the Teen Titans (1984)
#50
Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (1985)
Hawk and Dove Annual (1990)
#1
Infinite Crisis (2005)
#2
Firestorm (2004)
#20
Outsiders (2003)
#32
Teen Titans (2003)
Infinite Crisis Companion (2006)
The Brave and the Bold (2007)
#8
World War III (2007)
Billy Batson & the Magic of Shazam! (2008)
#21
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2009)
#22
Doom Patrol (2009)
#18
The Infinite Crisis Omnibus (2012)
Young Justice (2011)
#22
Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Omnibus (2013)
Tiny Titans: Aw Yeah Titans! (2013)
Tiny Titans: Return to the Treehouse (2014)
Scooby-Doo Team-Up Halloween Special Edition (2014)
#1
Absolute Infinite Crisis (2017)
Titans: The Lazarus Contract (2018)
Doomsday Clock (2018)
#9
DC Super Hero Girls Giant (2019)
#2
The Other History of the DC Universe (2021)
Birds of Prey: Hero Hunters (2020)
DC Super Hero Girls: Ghosting (2021)
Teen Titans Academy (2021)
#7
Teen Titans Go! / DC Super Hero Girls: Exchange Students! (2022)
DC League of Super-Pets FCBD Special Edition 2022 (2022)