Swarm (comics)

Publication history

Swarm first appeared in Champions #14 (July 1977). He was created by Bill Mantlo and John Byrne.

Fictional character biography

Fritz von Meyer was born in Leipzig, Germany and became one of Adolf Hitler's top scientists. Escaping capture after World War II, he became a beekeeper or apiarist in South America and discovered a colony of mutated bees. Intrigued by their intelligence and passive nature, von Meyer attempted to enslave the queen bee, but failed and the bees devoured him, leaving only his skeleton. The unique qualities of the bees caused his consciousness to be absorbed into them, allowing von Meyer to manipulate the hive to do his will, although some of his skeletal remains are inside the swarm itself. His consciousness merged with the swarm to the extent that they become one being, calling himself/their-self "Swarm".

Swarm battled the Champions. After being defeated, Swarm resurfaced to battle Spider-Man. In the first of many fights, Spider-Man prevailed against him by dosing his own costume in a new type of Raid that hurt the bees if they got too close to the web-slinger. Swarm lost his/their skeleton in this battle, but returned to fight again (no longer having the skeleton but still possessing von Meyer's consciousness), first teaming with Kraven the Hunter against Iceman and Firestar, then against Spider-Man, but feedback from a weapon fired by the Rhino caused Swarm's bee body to disperse temporarily.

Swarm next appears when a Super-Collider from Rand Industries gets activated and called his/their attention. Swarm decided mankind should be exterminated so insects can rule the world. Doctor Druid convinced Swarm that mankind will exterminate themselves and the age of insects can begin.

Eventually however, Swarm tired of waiting and, after a psychic wave generated by Onslaught disrupted the psychic field that bound him and his bees together, returned to New York, forcing a group of scientists investigating energy fields to help him not only restore his original field, but expand it to grant him control of every bee on Earth. As New York City was invaded by bees, Ben Reilly tracked the bees to their destination and — taking advantage of the fact that the swarms' instinctive memory of the original Spider-Man's use of Raid caused them to automatically flinch away from the second Spider-Man — infiltrated the building and contacted the scientists. By claiming that the scientists' equipment was having trouble broadcasting a sufficiently powerful signal through the dome of bees, Spider-Man was able to trick Swarm into allowing the construction of a device designed to negate the vibrational frequency that the bees created to allow themselves to fly, presenting it as a means of boosting the power of the existing signal. With the bees now grounded, Spider-Man subsequently recovered the Queen of Swarm's hive and left her in the care of the authorities, reasoning that without her, Swarm wouldn't be a future threat.

Now back with an internal skeleton, Swarm felt that the fall of the criminal organization Pride allowed access to their former territory, specifically Los Angeles. However, he/they are defeated by the Runaways, protectors of the city, when his/their body of bees' mental link is disrupted by electrical blasts.

He/they regained control over his colony and joins the Chameleon's Exterminators to kill Spider-Man, now that Peter Parker's true identity is revealed. Swarm attacks Mary Jane Watson but Mary Jane sprays Swarm with water while a co-worker smashes Swarm's skeleton, but the bees reformed around the skeleton as Stark Industries bodyguards take him/them away.

When Alyosha Kravinoff began collecting a zoo of animal themed superhumans, Swarm is in one of the cages. He fought Gargoyle as the Punisher passes them and escaped.

Swarm next turns up in Denver, Colorado, having amassed enough bees to become giant-sized. The Thunderbolts face him/them unsuccessfully until Norman Osborn dispatches Venom devouring Swarm's bones. Osborn speculated this was, by now, a minor inconvenience that shouldn't prevent Swarm's return.

Next, Swarm turns up in Buenos Aires having his intelligence again. He fought the Mighty Avengers by creating 'avatars' made of bees. Notably, the Avengers roster included the Wasp, Stature and Amadeus Cho. Stature placed an inhibitor collar on the queen bees which caused Swarm's intelligence to somehow disperse.

He was briefly seen trying to launch an attack of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning only to be almost instantly thwarted by the X-Men's Krakoa, the Bamfs, and Doop.

Swarm later formed his own incarnation of the Sinister Six with 8-Ball, Delilah, Killer Shrike, Melter and Squid. They attack Spider-Man and the students of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Swarm gets dispersed by Hellion which caused the other members to surrender.

Swarm later appeared as a member of the Hateful Hexad alongside Bearboarguy, Gibbon, Ox, Squid, and White Rabbit. During the disastrous battle against Spider-Man and Deadpool, the battle is crashed by Itsy Bitsy.

Powers and abilities

Swarm is a composite being of hundreds of thousands of bees driven by a human intelligence. He is technically intangible, as his body is merely an aggregate of tiny forms. He can fly through the air and assume any shape and size he desires. He can mentally influence the actions of other bees, the full range of which may extend over hundreds of yards in radius. At first, Swarm seemed capable of only controlling other bees, but he has exhibited the ability to communicate/control other insects as well. Fritz von Meyer's skeleton, the focal point of his consciousness, remained behind as his only remains until being devoured by Venom.

Marvel Fairy Tales

In the second issue of the Spider-Man line of Marvel Fairy Tales (an adaptation of the legend of Anansi), an alternate version of Swarm appears as the stories' main villain: the Bee Spirit.

Marvel Adventures

Swarm recently appeared and fought Spider-Man in Marvel Adventures #38. He/they supposedly wanted to take over the world (or at least kill a few jocks), but it looked like he/they just wanted some ice cream.

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Swarm is Petra Laskov, a female mutant of Syrian descent that initially appears as the supervillainess Insect Queen, and later as the superheroine Red Wasp. As Insect Queen, she that has Swarm-like powers to control insects (although she is fully corporeal), with features of grey skin and horns similar to Margali Szardos. Insect Queen is one of the members of a supervillain group that invades the United States to kill many in order to put a stop to perceived American aggression. During a showdown with the Ultimates, Insect Queen is apparently killed after being stomped by a giant-sized Wasp. However, the character is later rebuilt as the human-looking Red Wasp, a modified variation of the late Wasp. As Red Wasp, Petra serves as a member of the Avengers led by Nick Fury and Gregory Stark. The character's past is also revealed: Petra was the wife of Georgian activist Nikolai Laskov, and the couple together had a child. Unfortunately, the couple's child is held at gunpoint, forcing Petra to kill her husband to save her own child. She does so, only for Petra's child to be killed anyway, and then Petra was raped by thugs. When the Avengers fight the Red Skull, the villain torments Red Wasp until Captain America and Hawkeye saves the team. Afterwards, Petra (disguised as a nurse) shoots her family's executioner in the head in a hospital. Petra continues to serve with the Avengers. When the Avengers fight Vampire X, Petra confides with an ex-teammate that's also added to the Avengers.

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Theatre

Reception

In August 2009, TIME listed Swarm as one of the "Top 10 Oddest Marvel Characters".