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Swarm (Marvel Comics)

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Swarm
Swarm as depicted in Runaways vol. 2 #7 (August 2005). Art by Takeshi Miyazawa.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Champions #14 (July 1977)
Created byBill Mantlo
John Byrne
In-story information
Alter egoFritz von Meyer
SpeciesHuman mutate
Team affiliationsNazi Germany
Exterminators[1]
Sinister Six[2]
Hateful Hexad
Abilities

Swarm (Fritz von Meyer) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character's entire body is composed of bees,[3] and is mainly featured as an enemy of Spider-Man.[4]

Publication history

Swarm first appeared in The Champions #14 (July 1977). He was created by Bill Mantlo and John Byrne.[5]

Fictional character biography

Fritz von Meyer was born in Leipzig, Germany and became one of Adolf Hitler's top scientists specializing in toxicology and melittology. Escaping capture after World War II, he was 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 bees' unique qualities caused von Meyer's consciousness to be absorbed into them, allowing him to manipulate the hive to do his will while his skeletal remains are inside the swarm itself. His consciousness merged with the hive to the extent that they are one being, calling himself/themselves "Swarm".[6]

Swarm battled the Champions.[7] After being defeated, Swarm resurfaced to battle Spider-Man.[8] In the first of many fights, Spider-Man prevailed against him when the web-slinger's costume was dosed in a new type of insecticide that hurt the bees if they got too close. 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,[9] then against Spider-Man,[10] 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 is activated and called his/their attention.[11] Swarm decides 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.[12] Eventually, Swarm was tired of waiting and returned to New York, after a psychic wave generated by Onslaught disrupted the psychic field that bonded him and the bees together. He forced 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 is invaded by bees, the Scarlet Spider tracked the bees to their destination and — taking advantage of the fact that the swarms' instinctive memory of Raid caused the bees to automatically flinch away from Spider-Man — infiltrated the building to contact the scientists. By claiming that the scientists' equipment is having trouble broadcasting a sufficiently powerful signal through the dome of bees, Scarlet Spider is able to trick Swarm into allowing a device's construction designed to negate the vibrational frequency that the bees create to allow themselves to fly, presenting it as a means of boosting the existing signal's power. With the bees now grounded, Scarlet Spider subsequently recovers the queen of Swarm's hive and leaves the authorities' care, reasoning Swarm will not be a future threat without her.[13]

Now back with an internal skeleton, Swarm felt that the criminal organization Pride's fall allowed access to their former territory, specifically Los Angeles. However, they are defeated by the Los Angeles' protector Runaways when their bees' mental link is disrupted by electrical blasts.[14]

Swarm regained control over his colony and joins the Chameleon's Exterminators to kill their shared enemy now that Peter Parker's true identity is revealed. Swarm attacks Mary Jane Watson but the latter 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.[1]

When Alyosha Kravinoff began collecting a zoo of animal-themed superhumans, Swarm is in one of the cages.[15] 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 Venom devours Swarm's bones. Norman Osborn speculated this is a minor inconvenience that shouldn't prevent Swarm's return.[16]

Swarm next turns up in Buenos Aires, having his intelligence again. He fought the Mighty Avengers by creating 'avatars' made of bees. Hank Pym, Stature and Amadeus Cho place an inhibitor collar on the queen bees which caused Swarm's intelligence to somehow disperse.[17]

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.[18]

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.[2]

Swarm later attacked New York but was defeated by Squirrel Girl and her ally Koi Boi covering him with water and turning bags full of his constituent bees in to the police.[19]

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.[20]

Swarm relocates to Florida, where he encounters Macrothrax and his minions who are also sentient insect colonies in humanoid form, accidentally created by the invention behind him. He ends up joining forces with Ant-Man and taking a liking to the latter.[21]

Powers and abilities

Fritz von Meyer is a composite being of thousand bees driven by his human intelligence. He is also technically intangible, as his body is an aggregate of tiny forms. As Swarm, he can fly through the air, assume any shape or size at will, and mentally influence other bees' actions (the full range may extend over a hundred yards in radius). At this end, Swarm seemed capable of controlling a mutant bee queen and, through her, countless drones. He even has exhibited a limited amount of super strength. As von Meyer, he possesses expertise in beekeeping, robotics, and toxicology.[22]

Other versions

Marvel Fairy Tales

An alternate universe variant of Swarm from Earth-7082 appears in Spider-Man: Fairy Tales #2.[23]

Marvel Adventures

An alternate universe variant of Swarm from Earth-20051 appears in Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #38.[24]

Ultimate Marvel

An original incarnation of Swarm from Earth-1610 appears in the Ultimate Marvel universe. This version is Petra Laskov, a Syrian mutant who is also known as the Insect Queen and Red Wasp.[25][26]

Marvel Noir

An original incarnation of Swarm from Earth-90214 appears in the Marvel Noir universe. This version is Madame Sturm, a female scientist whose powers are derived from a Spider-God totem.[27]

In other media

Television

Video games

Miscellaneous

Reception

In August 2009, TIME listed Swarm as one of the "Top 10 Oddest Marvel Characters".[33]

Swarm was ranked #29 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b Exterminators (Spider-Man foes)
  2. ^ a b Spider-Man and the X-Men #4. Marvel Comics.
  3. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Manning, Matthew K. (2012). Spider-Man Chronicle: Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. DK Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 978-0756692360.
  4. ^ Morris, Jon (2017). The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History. Quirk Books. p. 249. ISBN 978-1594749322.
  5. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 366. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  6. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains. New York: Facts on File. p. 334. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.[1]
  7. ^ The Champions #14–15 (1977). Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #36–37. Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ Spider-Man Family Amazing Friends #1. Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ The Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #3–4. Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Secret Defenders #18
  12. ^ Secret Defenders #19. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ The Sensational Spider-Man #9–10. Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ Runaways vol. 2 #7. Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ The Punisher War Journal vol. 2 #15. Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ Thunderbolts #122. Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ The Mighty Avengers #24
  18. ^ Wolverine and the X-Men #18. Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #7. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ Spider-Man/Deadpool #9. Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ Ant-Man #1-2 (February & March 2020). Marvel Comics.
  22. ^ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Vol 1 #11 (December 2009)
  23. ^ C. B. Cebulski (w), Niko Hendrichon (p), Niko Hendrichon (i). "Once Upon a Time..." Marvel Fairy Tales, vol. 1, no. 2 (August 2007). Marvel Comics.
  24. ^ Marvel Adventures #38. Marvel Comics.
  25. ^ Ultimate Comics: Avengers #3. Marvel Comics.
  26. ^ Ultimate Avengers #5. Marvel Comics.
  27. ^ Spider-Verse vol. 3 #5. Marvel Comics.
  28. ^ Goldman, Eric (20 April 2012). "Ultimate Spider-Man: Make Way for Iron Man!". IGN.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-23. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  29. ^ a b "Swarm Voices (Spider-Man)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 20, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  30. ^ "Swarm Voice - Spider-Man (2017) (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 2, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  31. ^ "Tie in Comics Point to Venom and Green Goblin in Insomniac Games' Spider Man PS4 Sequel". 29 April 2019.
  32. ^ Spider-Man: City At War #2. Marvel Comics.
  33. ^ "Top 10 Oddest Marvel Characters". Time. August 31, 2009.
  34. ^ Buxton, Marc (October 30, 2015). "Marvel's 31 Best Monsters". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Swarm is a very obscure villain who made his debut in the pages of The Champions of all places. So why is he on our list? Because he's a freakin' Nazi Scientist- MADE OF EVIL BEES!
  • Swarm at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
  • Swarm at Marvel.com
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