Swarm (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Swarm | |
.gif/250px-Swarm_(comics).gif) Swarm |
|
| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Champions #14 (Jul 1977) |
| Created by | Bill Mantlo and John Byrne |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Fritz von Meyer |
| Team affiliations | Exterminators[1] |
| Abilities | Capable of mentally manipulating the bees that compose his body |
Swarm (Fritz von Meyer) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. His most notable feature is that his entire body is composed of bees with Nazi sympathies.
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
Swarm's origin is hazy. It is known that he was born in Leipzig as Fritz von Meyer. Von Meyer was one of Hitler's top scientists and escaped after WWII; he became an apiarist in South America, who found a colony of mutated bees. The bees ate him alive, but somehow absorbed his consciousness. He/they told that origin to The Champions of Los Angeles in his first appearance in Champions #14-15 when he fought Hercules, Angel, Darkstar, Black Widow, and Iceman.
Despite initially appearing as a foe of The Champions, Swarm is a recurring Spider-Man adversary. In his/their second appearance, Spectacular Spider-Man #36-37, Spider-Man defeated Swarm by dousing himself in insect repellent. Swarm later reformed himself/themselves while Spider-Man was dealing with an attack by several other villains, but was easily defeated and lost his internal structure.
Swarm then appeared briefly in Lethal Foes of Spiderman# 3 (last page) and 4 trying to kill Spiderman. Feedback from a weapon fired by the Rhino caused his/their bee body to disperse.
Swarm next appeared in Secret Defenders# 18 and 19 when a supercollider from Rand Industries came online and got Swarm's attention. He/they (now not needing a skeleton) decided that mankind needed to be exterminated for insects to rule the world. It took Dr. Druid, Cadaver, Shadowoman, Giant-Man, Iron Fist, Angel, and Iceman to stop him/them. Eventually, Dr. Druid convinced him/them that mankind would exterminate themselves and he/they should just wait.
Swarm reformed again following Onslaught's defeat (he/they got tired of waiting) and bombarded New York with bees, but Ben Reilly (as Spider-Man) used a machine to disrupt Swarm's control of his bees, and captured the queen.
Swarm (now back with his/their skeleton) felt that the fall of the criminal organization the Pride allowed access to their former territory, specifically Los Angeles. He/they was swiftly defeated by the Runaways, the new protectors of the city. His control was again disrupted, this time by electrical blasts.
He/they regained his form and joined the Chameleon's Exterminators[2]. Their goal was to kill Spider-Man, now that he had revealed his identity. Swarm attacked Mary Jane Watson. She attacked him/them with water and one of her co-workers smashed Swarm's skeleton. He/they began to reform but bodyguards that Iron Man had assigned to Mary Jane took him away.
When Alyosha Kravinoff, the son of Kraven the Hunter began collecting a zoo of animal themed superhumans, a Swarm is clearly seen in one of the cages[1]. He/they was later seen battling Gargoyle until Punisher ran past. He was attacked by him until the hero ran away.
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Ultimate Swarm
In The Ultimates Vol. 2, Ultimate Swarm was introduced. She is a Syrian mutant with the power to control insects. She is fully corporeal, but has grey skin and horns, making her resemble sorceress Margali Szardos. She is a member of the Liberators who invade America, killing many, in order to put a stop to perceived American aggression. Like most of her teammates, she was killed; a giant-sized Wasp steps on her in The Ultimates, volume 2, #12.
[edit] 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 Swarm appears as the stories' main villain, the Bee Spirit. [2]
[edit] Marvel Adventures
Swarm recently appeared and fought Spiderman in Marvel Adventures #38. He/they supposedly wanted to take over the world (or at least kill a few jocks - Flash Thompson included) but it looked like he/they just wanted some ice cream.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
In an episode of the 1980s cartoon, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The Swarm was created when alien energy from a fallen meteorite irradiated a nearby beehive. The Swarm used eye blasts to greatly increase the size of some bees and their hive. It also used the eye blasts to turn people into human/bee drone hybrids. The Swarm was defeated when Spider-Man (with the help of Firestar and Iceman) launched the meteorite back into space. Distancing the bees and hybrids from the meteor's radiation reversed all of The Swarm's effects.
[edit] Toys
An action figure of Swarm was released in 1997 as part of the Spider-Man: Spider Force toy line. It was molded in a translucent yellow plastic, and featured a removable cape and hood, and snap-on bee armor. This armor could also be assembled to create a "giant" bee accessory.
[edit] References
- ^ The Punisher War Journal Vol.2 #13
- ^ C. B. Cebulski (w), Niko Hendrichon (p), Niko Hendrichon (i). "Once Upon A Time..." Marvel Fairy Tales vol. 1, #2 (August, 2007) Marvel Comics
