Bug-Eyed Bandit

Bug-Eyed Bandit is the name of two fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

Bug-Eyed Bandit
The Bug-Eyed Bandit's debut, on the cover of Atom #26. Art by Gil Kane.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAtom #26 (August–September 1966)
Created byGardner Fox (script)
Gil Kane (art)
In-story information
Alter egoBertram Larvan
Team affiliationsBlack Lantern Corps
AbilitiesControl of insects

A female version of the Bug-Eyed Bandit appears in the Arrowverse shows The Flash and Arrow, played by Emily Kinney.

Publication history

The Bertram Larvan version of Bug-Eyed Bandit first appeared in Atom #26 (Aug-Sept 1966) and was created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane.[1]

The second version of Bug-Eyed Bandit first appeared in Justice League America #43 and was created by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Adam Hughes.

Fictional character biography

Bertram Larvan

Bertram Larvan was an inventor who designed a mechanical insect to control insect pests. Unfortunately, he had no financial backing to support his invention. He resolved to steal money he needed for his invention. He later used his invention to steal more. Soon, he had an army of mechanical insects. Two of his many insects were stag beetles who could bite through steel and spiders with webs that could support the weight of a man. Bertram took the name of the Bug-Eyed Bandit. He was thwarted by the Atom.[2]

Later, he accidentally discovered Atom's identity of Ray Palmer and fought him on different occasions. When he was about to use an amnesiac gas he had invented on Atom, he accidentally uses it on himself. He remains in a state of amnesia for years. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, millions of Shadow Demons, servants of the Anti-Monitor, attack the Earth. Bertram is one of the many casualties.[3] Marv Wolfman has gone on record saying that he killed both the original Bug-Eyed Bandit and the Ten-Eyed Man because he “couldn’t be part of a company that would print [them]".

In Grant Morrison's Animal Man storyline "Deus Ex Machina", Psycho-Pirate, while in Arkham Asylum, recreated characters removed from continuity. The Bug-Eyed Bandit (or a Pre-Crisis version of him) was one of them. Presumably, this character vanished from existence when the Psycho-Pirate's episode of madness ended, along with his colleagues.[4]

A flashback concerning his death happens in Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins 2005.

Bertram Larvan has been identified as one of the deceased entombed below the Hall of Justice. He is revived as a member of the Black Lantern Corps.[5]

Son of the Bug-Eyed Bandit
Bug-Eyed Bandit
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceJustice League of America #43 (October 1990)
Created byKeith Giffen
J.M. DeMatteis
Adam Hughes
In-story information
Team affiliationsSecret Society of Super Villains
AbilitiesControl of insects

The second Bug-Eyed Bandit is first presented as such in Adventures of Superman.[6] But his first appearances can be traced as far back as Justice League America #43 (1990), where a Bug-Eyed Bandit appeared even though the original was supposed to be dead at the time. The current one is the son of the original Bug-Eyed Bandit, but not very successful.

Bug-Eyed Bandit recently reappeared in Villains United and Infinite Crisis as a member of Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s Society. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Powers and abilities

The Bug-Eyed Bandit was proficient in the field of robotics and micro-circuitry and used this talent to create a horde of small robotic insects.

In other media

Television
  • The Bertram Larvan version of Bug-Eyed Bandit appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. This version possesses the ability to shrink down to the size of an insect. In "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure", he is shown fighting the Atom on Aquaman's windshield in micro-size until Aquaman wipes them off with his windshield wipers. In "The Criss Cross Conspiracy", the shrunken Batman and Atom end up fighting Bug-Eyed Bandit and his robotic ants where the two gain the unlikely help from Aquaman.

Arrowverse
Brie Larvan (Emily Kinney) as seen in The Flash.
  • A female version of the Bug-Eyed Bandit appears in The Flash episode "All Star Team Up", portrayed by Emily Kinney. She is a combination character, created through an amalgamation of Queen Bee and Bug-Eyed Bandit.[7] Brie Larvan is a scientist armed with robotic bees that she controls remotely.[8] She was fired from her position at Mercury Labs by Tina McGee when fellow scientists Lindsay Kang and Bill Carlisle discovered that Brie intended to weaponize her project rather than use it for agricultural purposes. Growing bitter at this, Brie planned her revenge on the three of them. She manages to kill Kang and Carlisle with robotic bees with stingers containing apitoxin, and she is nicknamed the "Bug-Eyed Bandit" by Cisco Ramon and Ray Palmer. Brie's attempt to kill Tina McGee is thwarted when Palmer uses his exo-suit to lure the bees over water to disable their circuitry. With help from Felicity Smoak, Flash then tracks Brie to her base and captures her. Brie is also referred to as "Queen Bee" in the episode, a moniker used by several DC villains.
  • Kinney reprises her role as Brie Larvan in the Arrow episode "Beacon of Hope". Imprisoned in Iron Heights after fighting Flash, Brie uses her court-sanctioned computer time to change her prison release date to March 29, 2016. She has been diagnosed with a tumor on her spine, one which will render her paraplegic once it is removed. She takes Palmer Tech's board members hostage using improved robotic bee drones – ones that can adapt to attacks – to force Felicity Smoak to turn over schematics to the prototype microchip that allows Felicity to walk after being paralyzed herself. Green Arrow and his team try to rescue the hostages, but one of the drones lodges itself inside his body and begins replicating itself, threatening to release dozens more drones. Palmer Tech employee Curtis Holt helps Team Arrow successfully destroy the mini-swarm, then devises a method to hack Larvan's remaining bees, commanding them to sting her. The overdose of apitoxin from the stings leaves Brie in a coma. She is taken by SCPD and put in Starling General Hospital to be treated. Although Brie's actions were criminal, it changes Felicity's perspective of how Palmer Tech should be used to change people's lives for the better rather than just being a corporate entity chasing profit.[9]
  • Larvan, once again portrayed by Kinney, returns in the season five episode "Gone Rogue" of The Flash. Having come out of her coma, she teams up with Rag Doll, Weather Witch and XS as the Young Rogues for a heist on McCulloch Technologies. Larvan is shown to hate the name "Bug-Eyed Bandit" and tells Weather Witch not to use it. She is given Spencer Young's meta-tech cellphone by XS as a new way of controlling her robotic bees. After Larvan and Weather Witch turn on XS, they are apprehended by her and the Flash.
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References
  1. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 44. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  2. Atom #26 (August–September 1966)
  3. "Crisis On Infinite Earths" (1985)
  4. "Animal Man" #18-26 (1989–1990)
  5. "Blackest Night" #4 (2010)
  6. Adventures of Superman #608 (November 2002)
  7. "Emily Kinney Confirmed As The Bug-Eyed Bandit On The Flash". ComicBook.com. February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  8. "Emily Kinney's Supervillain Will "Wreak Havoc on the World"". The Hollywood Reporter. April 13, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  9. "'Arrow' recap: Star City is abuzz with a returning threat". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
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