Bumblebee (Transformers)

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Bumblebee is the name of several characters in the various Transformers toylines.

Generation One (1984)

Bumblebee (Bumble in Japan, Volks in Argentina, Furão in Brazil and Maggiolino in Italy) is the smaller brother of the Autobots in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara and Hasbro. His vehicle mode is a Volkswagen Beetle. Bumblebee remains one of the more popular and well remembered characters from the original series, although there has not been a mass market release toy for several years and the character has not been featured in the modern Transformers Universe.

Bumblebee has been depicted very inconsistently in terms of his size, sometimes being as tall as other small Autobots, other times barely taller than a human. In his only official measurement, given in one of the early issues of the Marvel Comics, Bumblebee is said to stand 15 feet tall in robot mode. The toy of Bumblebee is about 5 cm long, whereas a real Volkswagen Beetle is 406 cm (13.32 feet) long, implying a scale of 1:81. With a robot mode height of 8 centimeters, Bumblebee should stand about 648 cm (or 21.3 feet) tall.

The original toy that became Bumblebee was originally released by Takara in 1983 as part of the Micro Change subset of the Japanese Microman line. He was released in the US in 1984. Because Hasbro used toy stock bought from the Microman line, some Bumblebee toys were red instead of yellow. In addition occasionally a different, but similar, mold was put in the box instead of the Bumblebee mold, one based on a Mazda Familia 1500 XG. Because this toy was sometimes found in the box for BUMBLEbee and sometimes in the box for CliffJUMPER, fans started to refer to this toy as Bumblejumper - later shortened to simply Bumper.

Bumblebee was released as Volks in some countries. He was released in a variety of other colors as well - including yellow, red, white and silver.

Marvel Comics

Bumblebee was one of the original Autobot Transformers, making his first appearance in Issue #1 of the original Marvel Comics Transformers series.

"C'mon, Huffer, get with it! I only require a drop of fuel to run, so I'm going to explore this whole planet -- especially since the Ark said so much of it is water, and Bumblebee's little levers love a good swim." - Bumblebee in Transformers #1 by Marvel Comics.

Like most of the Transformers characters in the early Marvel comics, Bumblebee looked more like his toy in the first few issues of the comic series. They then changed his appearance to look more like the television series model of Bumblebee.

In the initial four issue limited series produced by Marvel, Bumblebee was part of Prime’s elite crew that crash landed on Earth. Bumblebee made first contact with Buster Witwicky and his father, "Sparkplug" Witwicky after being damaged in a previous battle. He arranged their first encounter with Optimus Prime.

Bumblebee also was instrumental with the friendly initial encounters with G.B. Blackrock which eventually led to the millionaire's support of the Autobots that included fuel, a much needed commodity for the robotic creatures.

Marvel U.S. #14: 'Rock and Roll Out'

The Autobots were suffering heavy casualties and several of their number were in the Ark's repair bay waiting to be repaired. In need of new troops, Optimus Prime requested that Wheeljack transfer the sparks (which Prime refers to as 'engrams') of five Autobots stored in crystals to lifeless Autobot bodies that had created earlier. It is not explained in the comic as to why the Autobots were able to create five new bodies when they weren't able to repair their existing warriors but presumably they had exhausted their supplies in creating these new bodies. Grapple, Hoist, Smokescreen, Skids and Tracks were these five Autobots. Optimus Prime explains that before they left the planet Cybertron four million years ago, these five Autobots agreed to have their sparks transferred to the crystals for storage in case the Autobots needed extra troops during the mission of clearing a path for Cybertron through an asteroid belt.

Optimus Prime appointed Bumblebee responsible for guiding all but Grapple of the new Autobots on a tour around their new home but that they were not to engage with the enemy. With their Autobot insignias covered and a dummy driver, the five Autobots pulled into a Blackrock garage. Skids had his radio on and was listening to music but did not know what it was. He asked the garage attendant what he was listening to and was told about a concert, but because he had spent very little time on Earth, he was unaccustomed to how humans speak to each other and sounded very alien-like. The garage attendants were just confused by this.

Bumblebee was informed by Optimus Prime that the Decepticons planned to steal sonic energy and Skids suggested that may intend to strike the concert he was told about earlier. Optimus Prime agreed and asked them to investigate. The Autobots proceeded to the concert but were unaware of the parking toll and entered without paying. This caused the carpark attendants to get angry and give chase, the Autobots parked up and deactivated their dummy drivers. Finding nobody in the vehicles, the carpark attendants gave up their search.

As the concert started, Skids says that he likes the music but minutes later notices that something is wrong. The Autobots determine that the Decepticons must have started to steal the sonic energy which was the cause of the drop in quality of the music and proceeded to investigate further. Skids protests that this was against their leader's instructions but Bumblebee doesn't want to disappoint the humans. Finding a cable leading from the stage to underground which must be how the Decepticons were stealing the energy and snaps it apart causing the quality of the music to return.

The three Seekers burst out of the ground to find out what happened and battle commences between the Autobots and Decepticons. Once the Decepticons had been defeated, some of the humans accused the Autobots for being responsible for the sound problems. The Autobots transformed to vehicle mode and left the concert.

Marvel U.S. #15: 'I, Robot Master'

Within the Autobots base, the Ark; Skids, Tracks and Bumblebee returning from a fruitless search for enemy activity were requested by Hoist for an inspection. Although Tracks complained, Skids voiced his support of the inspection to him and a grateful Hoist, but before it could start, they were interrupted by a television report from Robot Master and his claims of controlling all giant robots.

The next morning, the Autobots had located the position of where Megatron stood, immobilised due to lack of energy, and proceeded to investigate, but upon reaching the co-ordinates a few hours later, a coal mine in eastern Wyoming; the Autobots were attacked by the U.S. Army and I.I.I. who were also there but Optimus Prime ordered his troops not to retaliate. Defeated by the humans, the Autobots in their damaged condition were forced to retreat, unable to combat the Decepticons.

Throughout most of the series, Bumblebee remained more of a background character after the initial four issue arc and taking the spotlight again in Issue #16.

His last appearance as Bumblebee in the main Transformers series was Issue #21. At that point, there was a crossover with The Transformers and G.I. Joe, two popular Marvel Comics properties at the time, and was destroyed by G.I. Joe forces. [See Issue #1 of “G.I. Joe and The Transformers”]

The G.I. Joe team realized that they have made a mistake after making contact with the Autobots and Bumblebee was soon revived as Goldbug. As Goldbug, Bumblebee was the driving force behind the return of Optimus Prime in Issue #42. After the aftermath of the Underbase saga, Bumblebee was resurrected again as a Pretender

When Bumblebee made his final resurrection as a Pretender, he was larger and more powerful. His armor allowed him to be more resistant to damage and physically stronger than he had been in his original form or as Goldbug. Brought back to life by longtime friend and fellow original Autobot Ratchet, and along with the other "Pretender Classics" - Jazz and Grimlock - Bumblebee was instrumental in the final days of the Transformers saga, which lasted a total of 80 issues.

Bumblebee returned for brief appearances during the Generation 2 comic series, but never held a major role.

Marvel UK

Bumlebee's character roughly followed the same progression in the U.K. Marvel Continuity except for his first death and rebirth into Goldbug. The mercenary Death's Head traveled back in time and blasted Bumblebee in 1987 so that his presence would go unnoticed in his hunt to claim the bounty on Galvatron. Bumblebee was rebuilt into Goldbug by Wreck-Gar.

Dreamwave Comics

In 2002, Bumblebee returned along with his fellow Autobots when Dreamwave Productions acquired the Transformers comic license and launched a brand new continuity.

When civil war broke out on the planet Cybertron between the Autobots and Decepticons, Bumblebee joined the Autobot cause.

Bumblebee was present under the command of Grimlock at the battle of Altihex where the Autobot Overhaul was killed and Decepticon Seekers Thundercracker and Skywarp destroyed a transport full of neutral Cybertronians. Unable to save the city, the Autobots helped evacuate civilians. After Decepticon leader Megatron killed the Autobot leader Sentinel Prime, a new Autobot leader was chosen by the Council of the Ancients. Bumblebee was present when Optronix was given the Matrix and reformatted into Optimus Prime. Three Decepticon assassins attempted to kill Optimus, but were unsuccessful. Optimus then ordered a planet-wide evacuation of Cybertron (Transformers: The War Within #1).

When Decepticon Military Operations Commander Shockwave lead a force of Decepticons against the Autobot capitol of Iacon, Bumblebee was among the Autobots who defended the capitol (Transformers: War Within #3).

When Megatron and Optimus Prime disappeared in an accident with a space bridge, the Autobot and Decepticon forces splintered into smaller factions. Bumblebee stayed with the Autobots under the leadership of Prowl.

Bumblebee was among the Autobots who followed Optimus Prime on his mission on board the Ark and crash landed on Earth.

In 1984, when the Ark's computer re-activated, it rebuilt Bumblebee as in the form of an Earth car.

Eventually the combined forces of the Autobots on Earth, and their human allies were able to capture the Decepticons. A ship called the Ark II was built to take the Cybertonians back to Cybertron, along with some human companions, but the ship exploded shortly after takeoff. The human allies were killed, but the Cybertronians were lost in the ocean, again in statis lock.

In the frozen Arctic, a man named Lazarus began resurrecting the lost Transformers after their shuttle was destroyed in what is referenced as the Ark II tragedy. Lazarus planned to control these giant metal warriors and sell their services in war to the highest bidder. Bumblebee was originally one of the Autobots discovered and reprogrammed by Lazarus to act as a functioning war machine.

Bumblebee, Frenzy, Grimlock, Laserbeak, Prowl, Ravage, Soundwave and Starscream were forced at attack the Smitco oil refinery in the Arctic to display their power for sale to the highest bidder (Transformer: Generation One #2).

Bumblebee and several others were later rescued by Optimus Prime and Wheeljack. He was part of a small task force lead by Jazz assigned to stop the spread of Megatron’s deadly metal virus in the Canadian Northwest territories.

As the Autobot and Decepticon war continued on earth, an escape pod beacon drew their conflict to the Arctic. The pod contained the rogue Decepticon Scourge. The Battle between the Autobots and Decepticons ceased long enough to find the new Cybertronian commander, Shockwave, had arrived in pursuit of Scourge and to arrest Optimus Prime and Megatron. Bumblebee was part of the forces captured by Shockwave and later part of Prowl’s forces brought to the Autobot underground resistance on Cybertron.

Following the liberation of Cybertron from Shockwave’s rule, Bumblebee was assigned to help reinforce Jazz’s team on Earth. Bumblebee was placed in command of the Autobot supply shuttle Orion, with Powerglide, Seaspray, Cosmos, Warpath, Cliffjumper, Bumper and the Powerdashers assigned to him. Their mission was to aid the Autobots on Earth. Upon arriving in the Earth system from transwarp space, they witnessed the arrival of Sunstorm (Transformers: Generation One III #1).

Brawn objected to Bumblebee’s leadership of the mission, stating that he “was no Prime.” Brawn eventually accepted Bumblebee’s responsibility of command and helped to capture the Decepticons that were deactivated by Sunstorm.

Bumblebee and Spike went out for a drive in Cincinnati. They debated responsibility and stopped robbers from attacking a woman together (Transformers: Generation One III #9).

Devil's Due Comics

In the first Transformers series by Devil's Due Bumblebee was one of the few Transformers not captured and reformatted by Cobra into one of their war machines in this storyline. He and Wheeljack contacted GI Joe and helped free his fellow Autobots. He appeared in his original Volkswagen Beetle mode.

In the second series by Devil's Due Bumblebee was among the Autobots sent back in time through an accident with the space bridge computer Teletran-3. He was sent to the 1970's and reformatted as a small economy before returning to Cybertron.

In the third series he returned to his Volkswagen form. Grimlock, Arcee, Bumblebee and Perceptor were sent to Earth to aid G.I. Joe in removing the influence of Cybertronian technology on the planet. When Cobra attacked the base, the Autobots helped repel the Cobra Battle Android Trooper armies. In the third issue he was killed by Serpentor.

IDW Publishing

Fall of 2005 was the third re-launch for The Transformers comic series, this time under the management of IDW Publishing. Bumblebee and several other G1 favorites are set to return in the first six issue mini-series "Transformers: Infiltration". The series will be another new continuity for the character.

Bumbleebee makes his first appearance in Issue 3, as one of Ratchet's Ark-19 based Transformers--listening in on Ratchet. He still transformers into a old fashion Volkswagon Beetle, and has a holo-avator is a young female-student type. In Issue 4, he tells Ratchet that the humans are acceptable losses to getting Decepticon information. Aslo, he still living up to his motto: "the least likely can be the most dangerous" as he takes down Skywarp. Issue #5, Bumblee helps save the humans. Issue #6, has Bumblebee doing his job--spying on the battle between Megatron and Starcream.

Generation Two Bumblebee with an added G1 Autobot symbol on the chest.

Bumblebee was released in two different versions for Generation Two. First as a metallic gold repaint of his original Generation One form, then again as a Go-Bot toy, a gold repaint of the Autobot Highbeam. The mold as later used for Botcon exclusive Nightracer and RiD Crosswise.

His function is Espionage again. He motto is "The least likely can be the most dangerous." Fast, eager and brave. Acts as messenger and spy, although increased size and altered design structure make him easier for the Decepticons to track. Idolizes Optimus Prime. Proud to serve as his teammate with fellow Go-Bots. Capable of lightning-fast speed, even during underwater recon missions. Although he still lacks strength, his speed and stealth-like abilities are invaluable.

Although no Bumblebee character appeared in this series, the mold previously used for Generation Two Go-Bot Bumblebee was repainted into the Spychanger

The Mini-Con named

The Perceptor, the Mini-Con gestalt of the Street Action Team is called Bumble in Japan, the Japanese name for Bumblebee.

Armada

The Transformers: Universe character of Glyph is a blue and grey repaint of the original Bumblebee toy (keychain version).

The character of Generation One Bumblebee himself made one Universe appearance in the Botcon 2004 vocal play.

Volkswagen New Beetle model

When the Alternators/Binaltech line of hyper-realistic Transformers was being developed, fan favorite Bumblebee was to be recreated as a new Volkswagen Beetle, according to prototype art in "The Transformers Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide".

According to Hasbro designer Aaron Archer at "The Official Transformers Collectors Convention" (or OTFCC) '03, Volkswagen had refused to license an Alternator Bumblebee. Volkswagen refused to license the car, however, supposedly due to the warlike nature of the Transformers. Since VW was hit hard in 2002 by a lawsuit by holocaust victims for their involvement in WWII (as a German manufacturer), VW is understandably reluctant to have its name tied to anything that could be considered a war machine. Hasbro had agreed to not give Bumblebee a gun, however, the prototype shot given to Volkswagen still had the gun present. Volkswagen were unaware that the picture was a prototype and they rejected the idea

This explains why the Bumblebee Altmode does not exist as a New VW Beetle and instead as other form cars beyond the old VW Beetle model.

Transformers: Classics Bumblebee

Bumblebee has returned again by the next new toyline from Hasbro.

2007 film

In the upcoming live-action film Bumblebee will be a Chevrolet Camaro.

References

• Macchio, Ralph, Bill Mantlo (w), Springer, Frank (p) and DeMulder, Kim (i). "The Transformers." The Transformers v1 #1 (Sep. 1984), Marvel Comics.
• Sarracini, Chris (w), Lee, Pat (p) and Armstrong, Rob, Erik Sander (i). "Prime Directive." The Transformers: Generation One v1 #1-6 (Mar.-Sep. 2002), Dreamwave Productions.
• Mick, Brad (w), Lee, Pat (p) and Armstrong, Rob (i). "War and Peace." The Transformers: Generation One v2 #1-6 (Apr.-Sep. 2003), Dreamwave Productions.

External links

• [Transformers On-Line Encyclopedia entry on Bumblebee]
• [tfu.info's entry] on the original toy, which also contains links to other toy incarnations of Bumblebee.
• [link]
• [Concept Chevrolet Camaro alleged to be Bumblebee's form in the Transformers Movie]
• [Alleged photo of the 2007 Transformers movie's Bumblebee robot mode.]

 

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