Red Bee (comics)

Superherobox|

caption=Jenna Raleigh, art by Daniel Acuña
character_name=Red Bee
publisher=DC Comics
debut= (Rick) "Hit Comics" #1 (July 1940) (Jenna) Expand-inline|date=August 2007
creators=Toni Blum
Charles Nicholas
species =
homeworld =
alliances=(I) All-Star Squadron
Freedom Fighters
(II) Freedom Fighters
real_name=(I) Richard Raleigh
(II) Jenna Raleigh
aliases =
supports =
powers=(I) Carries a special "Stinger" gun; uses trained bees.
(II) (Formerly)Wears a mechanized battle suit allowing flight and augmented strength; uses two large robotic bees which fire electricity blasts. (Currently) Human/insect biology allows for enhanced physical abilities, pheromone production, and the ability to "mark" people for later tracking.
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The Red Bee is a fictional superhero from the Golden Age of Comics who first appeared in "Hit Comics #1", published in July 1940 by Quality Comics. The character was later obtained by DC Comics.

Richard Raleigh

The Red Bee's secret identity is Rick Raleigh, assistant district attorney in Superior City, Oregon. [http://www.karridian.net/dcusa_nw.html DC Atlas: Pacific Northwest Region] ] His superhero "modus operandi" is to put on a red and pink costume and, with his trained bees and "stinger gun," fight Nazis and gangsters. His favorite bee is named Michael and lives inside his belt buckle for use in special circumstances; the feature's writer was presumably unaware that male bees do not sting at all.

The character never became very popular, and was largely forgotten until he reappears in DC Comics' "All-Star Squadron", where it is revealed that he had been killed by the Nazi supervillain Baron Blitzkrieg. He also appeared as a ghost in the pages of "Starman".

Other post-Crisis appearances include a cameo in "Animal Man" in which the character resides in a canceled character's "limbo", and in "Bizarro Comics", where he and his agent attempt to improve his marketability. He is mentioned by Plastic Man as having been a friend and drinking buddy in an issue of "JLA".

Jenna Raleigh

In the pages of "Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters" #5, 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.

Over the course of "Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters" vol. 2, (2007), Jenna is mutated by an alien insect colony into a human/insect 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 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.

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