A couple weeks ago, I spotlighted the new Marvel villain Murder Hornet because I think that’s a great name to pull out of the horrors of 2020 and turn into a comic book character. I was also tickled pink by Murder Hornet because Marvel has a long history of turning bugs into armored characters. There’s a ton of bug characters — perhaps you’ve heard of Spider-Man? — but Marvel also specifically creates bug-themed armored characters. It’s wild!

Murder Hornet is going to appear in the new Heroes Reborn Big Event coming later this spring. I don’t yet know how much of Heroes Reborn I’m going to read, but I am fairly confident I’m going to get a good look at Murder Hornet and her series, Squadron Savage. And I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that she shows up in the regular Marvel Universe when this is all over. As this List of Six will attest, she’ll be joining a fine pantheon of bug-themed armored characters.

Join me after the jump for the best armored bug people at Marvel Comics!

6. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a tongue-in-cheek parody of this very concept, created by Dan Slott for his Great Lakes Avengers comics. The joke is that Grasshopper keeps getting killed. The first Grasshopper is Doug Taggert, and Slott created a whole backstory for the guy…only to kill him almost immediately. Then, to keep the joke going, Slott kept bringing in new legacy Grasshoppers, whom he then also immediately killed off. It was pretty funny! The last one was a Skrull imposter during Secret Invasion, which is even funnier.

5. The Locust

The newest character on this list is The Locust, originally “Red Locust”, a teenage hero who has inherited an ancient Aztec mantle and uses it to be a member of the Champions! I’ve only read a little bit about The Locust, but what I read was great and she immediately became my favorite Champion. Fernanda Rodriguez was an engineering student who enhanced the ancient armor with modern equipment, creating a fun, jumpy, adventurous hero!

4. Scorpion

Scorpion is a longtime Spider-Man villains, and one of my favorites, because scorpions were my favorite bug when I was a kid (still are!). He started out in a normal super-villain suit, but most modern Scorpions put him in a big suit of armor! And Ultimate Scorpion was armored. He just looks bigger, cooler and more dangerous in a giant green suit of armor.

3. Hornet

Hornet is another personal favorite of mine! A member of the Slingers from back in the roaring ’90s, Hornet was one of four alternate identities that Spider-Man used when he was wanted for murder. After putting those costumes back in his closet, Marvel revived all four of them into their own unique heroes. Hornet was Eddie McDonough, a nerdy college kid who used the armored costume to make up for his cerebral palsy. He was my favorite of the Slingers…until their book was cancelled…and he was killed by a mind-controlled Wolverine several years later. Yeah…

Also, upon researching this list, I’ve found out that a favorite character of mine, Hobie Brown, recently took up the Hornet identity in order to participate in King in Black! People need to notify me when my favorite things happen!

2. Evil Yellowjacket

We all know Yellowjacket from the Marvel movies, where he is most definitely an armored bug character! The original Yellowjacket identity was worn by Hank Pym in the comics, and he simply wore a regular superhero get-up. But then along came movie Yellowjacket, and then followed a comic book version of movie Yellowjacket, as pictured above! So he fits! Evil Yellowjacket is villain Darren Cross, who mostly just hates Scott Lang.

1. Beetle(s)

The Beetle is the OG of bug-themed armored villains! A classic Spider-Man baddie, Abner Jenkins built himself what was essentially an Iron Man armor, but purple, green and shaped like a bug! There have been a couple of different versions of the Beetle armor over the decades, including a version from the Ultimate Universe. Heck, Abner became a superhero instead and became the armored Mach-1. And then Janice Lincoln took over the Beetle armor to become the new Beetle! Basically, the Beetle is a whole legacy of armored punks and it’s great!

————————-