Did you ever wonder why the most popular superhero in the world is based on a spider? What’s up with that? You’ve got to admit, that’s one weird premise. Why not make a superhero based on happiness and good cheer? Though that probably wouldn’t sell as well as spiders, because spiders are both scary and awesome. Well good news, blog fans, I decided to take a trip through ‘awesome superheroes land’ and bring you a bunch of other insanely bug-themed superheroes! Because why should Spider-Man have all the fun?

Class

Probably because he’s the best.

But don’t discount these creepy, crawly characters I’ve dug up! You’d be surprised what some people consider suitable superhero material. Join me after the jump for the six buggiest characters in comics!

6. Hornet

Flying is easy for superheroes

Considering his costume is purple and aqua, Hornet probably learned everything he knew about real hornets from Charlotte basketball. He definitely missed his calling as a villain everyone would fear. But Hornet was still damn awesome. Hornet was college student Eddie McDonough, a shy, nerdy sort of guy with cerebral palsy, making one of his arms completely useless – until he put on his super suit and gained full mobility. Eddie was a member of the Slingers, a group of young superheroes who were all wearing costumes once used by Spider-Man. Eddie was the young go-getter of the group, determined to use his super suit to do good and help people…until he was brutally murdered by Wolverine during one of his ‘brainwashed by the bad guys’ phases. Watch out for those claws!

5. Bumblebee

She’s not even the only female bee character at DC Comics

What’s with all the bee and wasp characters being superheroes? They could be the most utterly terrifying super-villains in the world! At any rate, Bumblebee was Karen Beecher, who had the distinction of being the girlfriend of the most useless Teen Titan who ever lived, Mal Duncan. In order to try and make Mal look good (no easy feet), Karen created her own costume and super-powers to attack the Teen Titans. The team was so impressed that they offered her membership. It’s the thought that counts, right? Even when it comes to overly attached girlfriends?

Also, fun fact: debuting in costume in 1977, Bumblebee is DC Comics’ first black female superhero!

4. Humbug

He made it himself

A lesson to all entomologists out there: crime does not pay. Especially not when you dress up in a silly costume and use recordings of insect sounds to commit your crimes. Man, Humbug was really scraping the barrel. And of course he fought Spider-Man, because Spider-Man has some real stinkers in his rogues gallery. Humbug eventually got a badass redesign, but that only got him infected by an alien Brood queen and mercy killed by a master of kung-fu. Because comics.

3. The Fly

When comics cost only a bright, shiny dime

There have actually been several characters known as some variation of ‘the Fly’ or the ‘Human Fly’. It’s kind of weird actually, or maybe it makes a perfect sort of sense. Is there any insect more common than the housefly? Marvel Comics had a Spider-Man villain named the Human Fly, and then they had a motorcycle stuntman named the Human Fly…for some reason. But I’m talking about the character from Archie Comics, when they produced a few superhero titles in the 60s, instead of focusing all their attention on those knuckleheads from Riverdale. Tommy Troy dressed like a normal superhero, but there was nothing ‘normal’ about him. He got his powers by rubbing a magic ring and summoning a member of the ancient Fly People race that once ruled the world. Now he uses that magic ring to shout, “I wish I were the Fly” to transform into the superhero. He even carried around a gun called ‘The Buzz Gun’ that would make buzzing noises at his foes. Why the Fly didn’t survive to the present day to make big budget movies, I’ll never know.

2. Grasshopper(s)

I can see him on lunchboxes

In a place like the comic book Marvel Universe, the technology behind the Iron Man suit is a dime a dozen. So why not build one that looks like a giant, green grasshopper with super-leaping abilities? It’s a no-brainer! Even better, when you’ve got a suit like that, it doesn’t matter who’s wearing it. Created as a joke by writer Dan Slott, the Grasshopper is a costumed identity that gets repeatedly passed down to a new wearer because the previous heroes all end up dying horrible, gruesome deaths. The first Grasshopper, Doug Taggert, was stabbed by an errant sai within moments of joining the Great Lakes Avengers. The second Grasshopper, Neil Shelton, died when he activated his ‘Maximum Jump’ ability and accidentally propelled himself into space.

The third Grasshopper didn’t even get a name before Deadpool snapped his neck. And the fourth Grasshopper turned out to be a Skrull spy! None have lasted more than a single issue. Not all superheroes are bound for greatness. (Get it?)

1. Killer Moth

He must have gone blind hanging out by all those lights

Behold, the reverse Batman! It basically works like this: Batman is a man in a terrifying costume who helps the cops fight crooks, right? Well Killer Moth came up with the genius idea to be a man in a silly costume who helps the crooks fight the cops! He even has his own Mothcave! This guy had a real head on his shoulders, because moths are terrifying…no wait, they’re ridiculous. Nobody’s afraid of moths, especially not cops or Batman. Yet Killer Moth somehow managed some staying power. He’s been around since the 50s, terrorizing – and I use the term loosely – all of the Bat-characters in his various ways. They once tried to make him cool by turning him into a giant moth creature, but the less said about Charaxes the better. And now you know that most of the time, Batman fights guys like the Joker, Scarecrow or Bane, but sometimes he fights dudes dressed up in silly moth costumes who wish they were him.

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