Red Bee is the name of two fictional

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

es appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s. The first Red Bee debuted in ''

Hit Comics ''Hit Comics'' is a comic book anthology title published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books from 1940 until 1950. The first issue of ''Hit Comics'' featured the debut of Red Bee and Neon the Unknown, among others. The comic b ...

'' #1, published in July 1940 by

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...

. The character was obtained by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

in 1956 and has since fallen into

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

. The second, written as the grandniece or granddaughter of the original, first appeared in ''

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters The Freedom Fighters is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original six characters were the Black Condor, Doll Man, the Human Bomb, the Ray, the Phantom Lady, and Uncle Sam. Although the characters we ...

'' #5.

Fictional character biography

Richard Raleigh

The Red Bee's

secret identity A secret identity is a person's code name, cryptonym, disguise, incognito, Cover (intelligence gathering), cover and/or alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pi ...

is Rick Raleigh, assistant

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

in Superior City,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

.DC Atlas: Pacific Northwest Region
/ref> His superhero ''

modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...

'' is to put on a red and yellow

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress and/or makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used to describe typica ...

and, with his trained

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s and "stinger

gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

", fight

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and gangsters. His favorite bee is named Michael and lives inside his belt buckle for use in special circumstances. He has a series of adventures which lasts until issue #24 (Oct 1942). According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "he fights enemies like the evil spiritualist Dr. Marah, the Swordsmen (who use electrified swords), and

Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror, the Yellow Menace, and the Yellow Specter) is a Racism, racist color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the ...

hatchet men". Red Bee proved to be unpopular and was largely forgotten before reappearing in DC Comics' ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its s ...

''. In the 'Squadron', it is learned he was killed by the Nazi

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

Baron Blitzkrieg Baron Blitzkrieg is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Publication history The character (also known as Baron Reiter and simply the Baron) was created by Gerry Conway and Don Heck, and first appeared in ''Worl ...

while saving the lives of Hourman and other allies. The group Freedom Fighters was formed out of the Squadron and the Red Bee was made an honorary member. Red Bee appears as a

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

in the pages of '' Starman'', attending a dinner party alongside many other deceased heroes. Other post-

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

appearances include a cameo in ''

Animal Man Animal Man (Bernhard "Buddy" Baker) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily "borrow" t ...

'' in which the character resides in a canceled characters' "limbo", and in ''Bizarro World'', where he and his agent attempt to improve his marketability. During the " Dark Nights: Death Metal" storyline,

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

revives Red Bee using a

Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of wikt:corporeal, corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of d ...

ring. "

The New Golden Age "The New Golden Age" is a crossover event in DC Comics publications. Written by Geoff Johns, the story follows the Justice Society of America unraveling a mystery following the Golden Age heroes and villains and the untold stories that come with i ...

" revealed that Red Bee had a sidekick named

Ladybug Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles ...

before she was erased from existence following

Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman) is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the graphic novel, limited Limited series (comics), series graphic novel, ''Watchmen.'' Follo ...

's alterations to the universe and rescued by the Time Masters. However, she is eventually rescued by Stargirl and

Hourman Hourman or Hour-Man is the name of three different fictional superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. The original Hourman was created by writer Ken Fitch and artist Bernard Baily in ''Adventure Comics'' #48 (March 1940), during t ...

and transported to the present day.

Jenna Raleigh

Rick's grandniece, Jenna, takes up the mantle of the Red Bee. She uses a mechanized battle suit and two robotic bees that can fire electricity. She assists the group in fighting

S.H.A.D.E. The following is a list of fictional government agency, government agencies, comic book organizations that have been published by DC Comics and their imprints. A Agency The Agency is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books pu ...

, an evil governmental organization. She soon learns that the leader of the Freedom Fighters Uncle Sam has assisted with the development of her technology. She decides to stay and fight with the group. Moments after this, she sees the death of the

Invisible Hood The Invisible Hood is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe. He was originally owned by Quality Comics, but was later acquired by DC Comics, along with other Quality characters. He first appeared in '' Smash Comics'' #1 (August 1939), ...

, another ally, killed by a S.H.A.D.E.-influenced Ray. Over the course of ''Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters'' vol. 2 (2007), Jenna is mutated by an alien insect colony into a human/

hybrid, with enhanced physical abilities, pheromone production capabilities, and antennae on her head. However, her mind is later completely circumvented by the mutation. After trying to colonize the entire Earth, she is cured of her affliction when Lanford Terrill uses his new

Neon Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of ...

powers to destroy the insect influence. By the series' end, Jenna feels guilt over her actions, and she eschews the superhero life to continue her work in the research field.

Powers and abilities

Richard Raleigh had no superpowers but carried a special "Stinger Gun" and he specialized in the use of trained bees. Jenna Raleigh possesses a human/insect biology which grants her enhanced physical attributes (i.e. superhuman strength), pheromone production, and the ability to "mark" people for later tracking. Jenna formerly wore a mechanized battle suit which granted her enhanced strength, flight, and used two large robotic bees that could fire electricity blasts.

Reception

In ''American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944'', comics historian Kurt Mitchell calls the Golden Age strip "inane", and describes it in a dismissive way: "... a masked mystery-man aided by the trained bees he stored in his belt buckle. No, that's not a typo. Bees. ''Trained'' bees. In his belt buckle".

In other media

* The Richard Raleigh and Jenna Raleigh incarnations of Red Bee appear as character summons in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''. * The Richard Raleigh incarnation of Red Bee appears in ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...

'' #3.

References

External links

Red Bee I Index

{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Bee (Comics) Characters created by Charles Nicholas Comics characters introduced in 1940 DC Comics female superheroes Fictional characters from Oregon Fictional district attorneys Golden Age superheroes Quality Comics superheroes