Karen Beecher


 * Not to be confused with the cheerleaders, the Bumblebees.

Bumblebee, real name Karen Beecher, is a member of the Team. She is a former student of Happy Harbor High School, where she was a classmate of Superboy and Miss Martian.

Physical appearance
Karen is a young African American girl. She used to have tight curly black hair, parted in the middle, and pulled up in two round, gathered, distinct bunches on either side of her head, but by 2016 she keeps her hair shorter with a sweep bang. While attending Happy Harbor High School, she wore the uniform of the Bumblebees.

As Bumblebee, she wears a black and yellow costume that resembles a bumblebee.

2010
Although she was dating Mal Duncan, Karen indicated that she found Conner Kent attractive too.



During the Team's "alien invasion" training scenario, Karen, along with the rest of the students and faculty hid below the school's underground bunker and watched the Team's speech about how they would win and build from what they've lost, after the Justice League had been killed.

Karen went to the school's Halloween party dressed as a bumblebee.

When all adults had gone missing, Karen came to the high school gym to watch the younger children.

2011-2015
Karen became the lab assistant and protégé of Ray Palmer, the Atom. She took the name "Bumblebee", and joined the Team. In the five years, she sustained her relationship with Mal, though she had considerably less time for him.

2015
Bumblebee was already suited up for the mission briefing when Rocket and Zatanna arrived to wish Nightwing a happy birthday. Karen would not let Rocket leave without seeing the latest pictures of Amistad.

Karen was part of Beta Squad, covertly securing a rally held by Noor Harjavti.

2016
She arrived in the sewers with the rest of Delta Squad after Clayface was defeated.

In the headquarters, she hurried to Doctor Palmer's lab. She had to give Mal a rain check on their date.

Bumblebee was assigned to Beta Squad with Batgirl and Wolf, and sent to Vlatavastok to track and capture remaining Kroloteans.

They arrived in Vlatavastok, but their targets got away.

After the Gamma Squad (Robin, Blue Beetle and Lagoon Boy) saved the abductees from the Kroloteans, Bumblebee arrived with the rest of the Team in the Super-Cycle.

Disguised in civilian clothes, Karen and Jaime arrived at Bibbo's Diner, to apprehend a Krolotean masquerading as Bibbo Bibbowski. The creature recognized them, and after a lengthy chase, escaped.

Bumblebee was part of Alpha Squad for a reconnaissance mission to Bialya. She kept to the side during Nightwing's briefing on their way there.

After they found several bases deserted, they discovered one with heavy security. Bumblebee was sent to investigate one, but after an alarm went off, she became trapped inside.

She eventually found Batgirl, and the two of them investigated a deeper chamber. They found a number of children, sedated and trapped in special containers. Batgirl was captured, but Bumblebee managed to elude her enemies' view. She made her way to the others, who had regrouped at the rendezvous point. She told them of Batgirl's predicament, but had a plan to get them out.

While Wonder Girl posted at the hangar door and Miss Martian locked the facility down, Bumblebee freed Batgirl, and told her to fly a plane that was ready for take-off out. She slowed down Mammoth with her stingers, and helped out Miss Martian who was locked in a fight with Psimon. At close range, she shot a blast at Psimon's brains.

After Mammoth had managed to cripple the plane, Bumblebee and the others raced after it. Wonder Girl and Miss Martian could not stop it from going over the cliff at the end of the runway, so Miss Martian had to call in help from the Bio-Ship. It saved the fuselage, and all made it to safety.

After the debriefing, Bumblebee and the others congratulated Wonder Girl on the successful mission.

Karen was one of the Team members, past and present, who had come to mourn after they had been told of the death of Artemis. She found comfort in the arms of Mal.



Karen attended Raquel Ervin's bridal shower with all the other female members of the Justice League and the Team. After the party was interrupted by an armored car robbery by Captain Cold, Bumblebee assisted in his defeat.

Karen was reading a book while heading to Ray Palmer's lab, until she was approached by her boyfriend, Mal Duncan. The latter suggested to go out, like the old times in high school, however Karen rejected the offer. Mal then accompanied her to Palmer's lab.

In Palmer's lab, Karen was looking through the microscope, until Mal suggested that they should go to the Happy Harbor Bowl-O-Rama. Karen informed him that it closed several months ago. Ray Palmer entered the lab, after he greeted Mal, Karen showed Palmer what she was studying and that she has already prepared to test it against the white dwarf fragment. Unknown to her, Mal left the room.

Powers and abilities

 * Flight: Bumblebee can fly with four wings, resembling an insect's forewings and hindwings, that extend from the back of her costume. These wings only seem to work when she shrinks herself.
 * Size alteration: Bumblebee has the ability to shrink herself.
 * Stings: Bumblebee can shoot small blasts from her gloves.

Background in other media

 * In the comics, Bumblebee was a member of the Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol. She eventually married Mal Duncan.
 * Young Justice marks Karen's second animated appearance. She previously appeared as a supporting character in the Teen Titans animated series, where under the identity of Bumblebee she served as leader of the Titans East.