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Swarm (Marvel Comics)

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Swarm
Swarm as depicted in Runaways vol. 2 #7 (August 2005). Art by Takeshi Miyazawa.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Champions #14 (July 1977)
Created byBill Mantlo
John Byrne
In-story information
Alter egoFritz von Meyer
SpeciesHuman mutate
Team affiliationsNazi Germany
Exterminators[1]
Sinister Six[2]
Hateful Hexad
Abilities

Swarm (Fritz von Meyer) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Bill Mantlo and John Byrne and first appeared in The Champions #14 (July 1977).

Fritz von Meyer is a former Nazi scientist who avoids capture after World War II and becomes a beekeeper. His experiments on a colony of mutated bees result in his entire body being devoured while his consciousness survives and gains the ability to mentally control bees and other insects. Subsequently reconstructing his body out of bees, von Meyer assumes the criminal identity of Swarm,[3] and battles the Champions before becoming a recurring enemy of Spider-Man.[4]

The character has appeared in several media adaptations outside of comics. He was voiced by Al Fann in the animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981), and Ian James Corlett in Marvel Super Hero Adventures (2017). Original incarnations of Swarm appeared in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man (2012), Spider-Man (2017), and Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021) and Iron Man and His Awesome Friends (2025), voiced by Eric Bauza and Drake Bell, Alex Désert, and Vanessa Bayer, respectively.

Publication history

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Swarm first appeared in The Champions #14 (July 1977), and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and co-writer/artist John Byrne.[5]

Fictional character biography

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Fritz von Meyer was born in Leipzig, Germany, and became one of Adolf Hitler's top scientists specializing in toxicology and melittology. Escaping capture after World War II, he was a beekeeper or apiarist in South America and discovered a colony of mutated bees. Intrigued by their intelligence and passive nature, von Meyer attempted to enslave the queen bee but failed and the bees devoured him, leaving only his skeleton. The bees' unique qualities caused von Meyer's consciousness to be absorbed into them, allowing him to manipulate the hive to do his will while his skeletal remains are inside the swarm itself. His consciousness merged with the hive to the extent that they are one being, calling himself/themselves "Swarm".[6]

Swarm battled the Champions.[7] After being defeated, Swarm resurfaced to battle Spider-Man.[8] In the first of many fights, Spider-Man prevailed against him when the web-slinger's costume was dosed in a new type of insecticide that hurt the bees if they got too close. Swarm lost his/their skeleton in this battle but returned to fight again (no longer having the skeleton but still possessing von Meyer's consciousness), first teaming with Kraven the Hunter against Iceman and Firestar,[9] then against Spider-Man,[10] but feedback from a weapon fired by the Rhino caused Swarm's bee body to disperse temporarily.

Swarm next appears when a Super-Collider from Rand Industries is activated and called his/their attention.[11] Swarm decides mankind should be exterminated so insects can rule the world. Doctor Druid convinced Swarm that mankind will exterminate themselves and the age of insects can begin.[12] 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. By claiming that the scientists' equipment is having trouble broadcasting a sufficiently powerful signal through the dome of bees, Scarlet Spider tricks 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 will not be a future threat without her.[13]

Now back with an internal skeleton, Swarm felt that the criminal organization Pride's fall allowed access to their former territory, specifically Los Angeles. However, they are defeated by the Los Angeles' protector Runaways when their bees' mental link is disrupted by electrical blasts.[14]

Swarm regains control over his colony and joins the Chameleon's Exterminators to kill their shared enemy now that Peter Parker's true identity is revealed. Swarm attacks Mary Jane Watson, but the latter sprays Swarm with water while a co-worker smashes Swarm's skeleton. The bees reform around his skeleton as Stark Industries' bodyguards take him away.[1]

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 is dispersed by Hellion, causing the other members to surrender.[2]

Swarm later appeared as a member of the Hateful Hexad alongside Bearboarguy, Gibbon, Ox, Squid and White Rabbit. During the disastrous battle against Spider-Man and Deadpool, the battle is crashed by Itsy Bitsy.[15]

Swarm relocates to Florida, where he encounters Macrothrax and his minions. They are also sentient insect colonies in humanoid form, accidentally created by the invention behind him. Swarm ends up joining forces with Ant-Man and taking a liking to the latter.[16]

Powers and abilities

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Fritz von Meyer is a composite being of thousands of bees driven by his human intelligence. He is also technically intangible, as his body is an aggregate of tiny forms. As Swarm, he can fly, assume any shape or size at will, and mentally influence other bees through an ability called apikinesis. Additionally, Swarm possesses expertise in beekeeping, robotics, and toxicology.[17]

Reception

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In August 2009, TIME listed Swarm as one of the "Top 10 Oddest Marvel Characters".[18]

Swarm was ranked #29 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.[19]

Other versions

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Marvel Adventures

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An alternate universe version of Swarm from Earth-20051 appears in Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #38.[20]

Marvel Fairy Tales

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An alternate universe version of Swarm from Earth-7082 appears in Spider-Man: Fairy Tales #2.[21]

Marvel Noir

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An original incarnation of Swarm from Earth-90214 appears in the Marvel Noir universe. This version is Madame Sturm, a female scientist whose powers are derived from a Spider-God totem.[22]

Ultimate Marvel

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An original incarnation of Swarm from Earth-1610 appears in the Ultimate Marvel universe. This version is Petra Laskov, a Syrian mutant who is later known as the Insect Queen and Red Wasp.[23][24]

In other media

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Television

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Video games

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Swarm appears as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Strike Force.[citation needed] This version is a member of the Sinister Six.

Miscellaneous

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References

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  1. 1 2 Exterminators (Spider-Man foes)
  2. 1 2 Spider-Man and the X-Men #4
  3. ↑ Cowsill, Alan; Manning, Matthew K. (2012). Spider-Man Chronicle: Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. DK Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 978-0756692360.
  4. ↑ Morris, Jon (2017). The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History. Quirk Books. p. 249. ISBN 978-1594749322.
  5. ↑ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 366. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  6. ↑ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains. New York: Facts on File. p. 334. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  7. ↑ Champions #14–15 (1977)
  8. ↑ Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #36–37
  9. ↑ Spider-Man Family Amazing Friends #1
  10. ↑ The Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #3–4
  11. ↑ Secret Defenders #18
  12. ↑ Secret Defenders #19
  13. ↑ The Sensational Spider-Man #9–10
  14. ↑ Runaways vol. 2 #7
  15. ↑ Spider-Man/Deadpool #9
  16. ↑ Ant-Man #1-2 (February & March 2020)
  17. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11 (December 2009)
  18. ↑ "Top 10 Oddest Marvel Characters". Time. August 31, 2009.
  19. ↑ Buxton, Marc (October 30, 2015). "Marvel's 31 Best Monsters". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Swarm is a very obscure villain who made his debut in the pages of The Champions of all places. So why is he on our list? Because he's a freakin' Nazi Scientist- MADE OF EVIL BEES!
  20. ↑ Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #38 (April 2008)
  21. ↑ Marvel Fairy Tales #2 (August 2007)
  22. ↑ Spider-Verse (vol. 3) #5 (April 2020)
  23. ↑ Ultimate Comics: Avengers #3 (October 2009)
  24. ↑ Ultimate Comics: Avengers #5 (April 2010)
  25. 1 2 Goldman, Eric (April 20, 2012). "Ultimate Spider-Man: Make Way for Iron Man!". IGN. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  26. 1 2 3 4 "Swarm Voices (Spider-Man)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 20, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  27. ↑ "Swarm Voice - Spider-Man (2017) (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 2, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  28. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (May 6, 2025). "'Marvel's Iron Man and His Awesome Friends' Assembles Villainous Voice Stars". Animation Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Aunt May's Flying House / Spiders vs Flies!". DisneyNow. July 13, 2026. Archived from the original on July 14, 2026.
  30. ↑ "Tie in Comics Point to Venom and Green Goblin in Insomniac Games' Spider Man PS4 Sequel". 29 April 2019.
  31. ↑ Spider-Man: City At War #2
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