Swarm (Marvel)
Swarm is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Fritz von Meyer was a male human born in the modern age where he was a Nazi expatriate who operated in the jungles of South America. He came to be a world expert in toxic poisons and apiculture where he continued his research patterns of killer bees in the jungles. During this time, he came to recover gold that had been looted from countless European capitals which he used to build his laboratory. Being a war criminal, he was noted to had been a target of Interpol who sought to bring him to justice. One area suffered from unusual meteorite bombardment that exposed the bees to high levels of radioactivity whose unknown cosmic forces mutated them and increased their intelligence a thousandfold. (Champions v1 #15)
Shortly afterward, the international police agency Interpol, in its quest to bring war criminals to justice, managed to track down von Meyer. One agent somehow managed to capture the queen bee of von Meyer's swarm, encasing it in amber and fleeing to the United States. Von Meyer, calling himself Swarm, followed, killing the agent who was attempting to flee on a ship but failing to recover the briefcase that held the trapped queen. At the same time, the Champions were seeing off a friend of their member, Black Widow. They interrupted Swarm's attack, discovered the murder, and took the briefcase, unaware of its purpose. (Champions v1 #14) Swarm soon confronted the team directly, and during the attack, managed to free the queen. The queen was free to complete its mutation, begun earlier by von Meyer, and grew to gigantic size. The fight ended when the Champion Hercules, using his superhuman strength, threw the gigantic queen miles away. The bees of von Meyer's body were pulled away, following the queen, and left von Meyer as nothing but a skeleton. (Champions v1 #15)
Afterwards, the activation of a Super-Collider from the Rand Corporation drew the attention of Swarm. (Secret Defenders v1 #18) Swarm had decided that mankind should be exterminated so insects can rule the world. However, Doctor Druid convinced Swarm that mankind will exterminate themselves and the age of insects can begin. (Secret Defenders v1 #19)
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. (Sensational Spider-Man v1 #9) 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 won't be a future threat without her. (Sensational Spider-Man v1 #10)
Swarm regained control over his colony and joins the Chameleon's Exterminators to kill their shared enemy now that Peter Parker's true identity was revealed. (Sensational Spider-Man v2 #29)
Later on, he came to be one of a number of animal-themed superhumans that were captured by Kraven the Hunter Alyosha Kravinoff with Swarm being kept in a cage. (Punisher War Journal v2 #15)
With the Pride deceased, Swarm decided to move into their territories in L.A. to lay claim to it leading to a confrontation with the Runaways where Victor Mancha defeated the supervillain. (Runaways v2 #7)
Afterwards, Swarm managed to absorb even more bees into his collective and form a giant mass of insects that terrorised Denver, Colorado with the Thunderbolts dispatched to deal with him. Norman Osborn's team initially struggled to contain the supervillain whose powers were greatly enhanced by the larger number of bees that composed his body. This was until Osborn sent Venom falling into the core whereupon Mac Gargan took a bite from Fritz's skeletal remains. The mass of bees then dispersed but it was believed that Swarm was not killed as his intelligence was distributed among the insects. (Thunderbolts v1 #122) Swarm next turned up in Buenos Aires after his intelligence was restored where he came to fight 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. (Mighty Avengers v1 #24) 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. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #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. (Spider-Man and the X-Men v1 #4)
He was then attacked by swarm intelligences similar to his own but one completely born of insects. These creatures had formed into three entities that included the hornets called Vespa, the silkworms called Thread and beetles called Tusk. They had been similarly mutated by the radiation which Meyer used on the bees long ago but lacked a humanoid form as they did not have a human core. They attacked Fritz and forced him to help them form humanoid bodies after which they attempted to eliminate him as they saw him as an impure half-breed. Swarm attempted to fight back but was unable to match their power as they followed their leader Macrothrax who wanted to create a world where insects consumed humanity. During this time, the Ant-Man Scott Lang investigated the area and came to form a temporary alliance with Swarm to fight their common foe. (Ant-Man v2 #2)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
He was a world expert on toxic poisons and apiculturist. (Champions v1 #15)
As Swarm, he was an aggregate man who was the living embodiment of the swarm whereby his own scientific mind was added into the mutant intelligence of the bees. Their relationship was described as being symbiotic as through Fritz they created and thought whilst through them he lived and could use them to conquer. (Champions v1 #15)
At one point, he came to be part of a group of Spider-Man villains named the Exterminators that were brought together by the Chameleon who had them target Spider-Man. (Sensational Spider-Man v2 #29)
Notes
- Swarm was created by Bill Mantlo and John Byrne where he made his first appearance in Champions v1 #14 (July, 1977).
Alternate Versions
- In Ultimates 2 v1 #9 (2005), an alternate version of Swarm appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. This version was named Petra Laskov who was a Syrian scientist who was married to Nikolai Laskov, a Georgian activist working for one of the Red Skull's enemies.
- In Marvel Adventures Spider-Man v1 #38 (2008), an alternate version of Swarm appeared in the Marvel Adventures reality that was designated as Earth-20051 in the Multiverse. Swarm headed over to the construction site and began to buzz-bomb the construction workers as he made off with their supplies. Turning around, Spider-Man came face to faces with Swarm. When he joineds the fray, and took a swing at the buzzing mass of bees, they scattered and then reformed to land a haymaker of their own on Spidey. Spider-Man attempted to beat a hasty retreat, only to wind up in a dumpster and Swarm in the wind.
- In Spider-Verse v3 #5 (2020), an alternate version of Swarm appeared in the Marvel Noir reality that was designated as Earth-90214 in the Multiverse. This version was Madame Sturm who was part of the Nazi Germany in 1933 where she stole the Spider-Totem from Norman Osborn. With it, she bonded herself to a swarm of bees when she turned herself into Madame Swarm.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, a version of Swarm appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Swarm" where he was voiced by actor Al Fann. This version was a beehive irradiated by a fallen meteorite's energy, gaining sentience as well as the ability to increase other bees' size and mutate humans into insect hybrid drones. Swarm attempts to spread its hive mind throughout the universe until Spider-Man, Firestar, and Iceman intervene and launch the meteorite into space to reverse Swarm's effects.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, Swarm appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced initially by actor Eric Bauza and then by actor Drake Bell. This version was Michael Tan who was a disgruntled and immature employee of Stark Industries who assumed the Swarm form by using self-replicating nanobots. Michael swore he would get his revenge on Stark, and activated his latest creation, which seemingly vaporized him. Unknown to Stark and Spider-Man, Michael's molecules had been dispersed, and his consciousness found a new host in one of Spider-Man's Spider-Tracers. During a second battle with the Juggernaut, the Spider-Tracers began to rapidly multiply, and Michael made a fluid-like collection of Spider-Tracers his new body. Michael, now calling himself 'Swarm', attacked Spider-Man and Iron Man, destroying the Hall of Armor in the process. Swarm was only defeated after the two heroes flew through the villain's 'mouth' and Spider-Man neutralized the Spider-Tracers. Swarm returned and attacked a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility to obtain its technology and ended up fighting Spider-Man and Sandman. Swarm subsequently targeted Sandman's containment suit forcing Spider-Man to get the containment suit off him. Sandman pummeled Swarm into submission until Spider-Man got him to stop. After Doctor Octopus was apprehended and brought aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Tricarrier, he unleashed a miniature Octobot that hack into Swarm's nanites where it starts to reshape the Tricarrier. Eventually, Arnim Zola arrived where the Tricarrier had been transformed into Hydra Island.
Video games
- In Marvel Strike Force, the Fritz von Meyer Swarm appeared in the setting of the mobile video game where he was a member of the Sinister Six.
Other
Appearances
- Champions v1: (1977)
- Sensational Spider-Man v1:
- Sensational Spider-Man v2:
- Runaways v2:
- Thunderbolts v1:
- Spider-Verse v3: (2020)
- Ant-Man v2: (2020)
External Links
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