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"Think about it, sparky. If I wasn't on your side, you'd be spare parts by now. "
- BumblebeeOriginally aired: October 23, 2004 Written by Greg Klein and Tom Pugsley
Directed by Ben Jones
Aqualad arrives at Titans Tower looking for aid. Brother Blood is back. And this time, it's personal. Cyborg learns that Blood stole his blueprints - and the villain is using Cy's technology to create a doomsday device in a secret underwater base. Can Cyborg take charge of the team and lead a mission to stop his arch-enemy? Or will he even get the chance?
Wil Wheaton as Aqualad
T'Keyah Keymáh as Bumblebee
John DiMaggio as Brother Blood
This episode follows up events from DECEPTION
Producer/Story Editor David Slack on WAVELENGTH: "[WAVELENGTH] was the next step in the arc. We knew we didn't want to dwell on the fact that Brother Blood may be able to heal Cyborg. We played that card in DECEPTION, but we felt there was more to Cyborg than just, "Oh no, I'm a robot." We had this idea about Cyborg starting to think that maybe it was time for him to leave the Titans. So WAVELENGTH would set that up. It would create a mission that was very personal to Cyborg. It was HIS technology. It was HIS bad guy. That episode was written by Greg Klein and Tom Pugsley and I story edited that one. So the episode became Cyborg's mission - and then we put Robin in the way as an impediment to that as the leader. "Producer Sam Register on Bumblebee: "There was one other thing that came from [New Teen Titans creator] George [Pérez]. We are thinking of mining the other Titans to use as auxillary members, [and I asked], “Is there anyone you would like us to use?” and he did mention Bumblebee. So Bumblebee will be coming to the animated Titans as a request from George."
Producer/Story Editor David Slack on developing Bumblebee: “ I remember when we were developing Bumblebee. I didn't want to come at it from the angle, "Oh, she's black, so she and Cyborg MUST like each other." So we went the opposite way with it - we decided they just wouldn't get along. I think sometimes people treat race like a game of hoosker-doo... just find the two that match. That always bothered me. So we decided to make her a very confident person who was already on the inside. This was her personal mission too, just like it was Cyborg's. That would create some conflict with them."
"The first thing Marv Wolfman told me when I told him we were using Bumblebee was "Oh, no. Please don't let her shoot stingers out of her butt." [laughs] Early on, it was uncertain which characters we could use. But Bumblebee stood out. Not only was she a Titans character, but her name was dumb enough we were almost positive no one wanted it. So we started kicking around the idea of bringing Bumblebee in. "
"So we worked on Bumblebee in terms of who she was, and came up with something that would contrast Cyborg well. We revised her powers a little bit. We thought, since her name was Bumblebee, we'll make her shrink down to the size to an actual bee, which is a cool power that she uses well. And then we gave us some blasters for good measure. We all think she turned out pretty cool. "
"The other thing with Bumblebee, was that we wanted her to be a unique and different female voice - just like Starfire and Raven. So we had to find a specific angle for that character. I think our heroines are some of the best characters, and I know we have a lot of female fans - young and old - of the show. And I think that's great. I think one of my favorite things about our female characters if that they're not "Lara Croft" - which is essentially a guy in a girl's body. They're feminine. I think that's cool. At the comic conventions, it's always fun... girls come up and they're excited about a boy's action cartoon show. So if there was a Titans East, I wanted there to be at least one girl member. "
Bumblebee [Karen Beecher] first made the scene in TEEN TITANS #48 [1977]. Karen made herself a bumblebee supersuit and attacked the Titans to secretly help her boyfriend - Mal [Herald] Duncan - look good in front of the team. The Titans were impressed enough to offer her membership and she accepted. When the team broke up for a time, Karen and Mal got married and 'retired' from superheroics. They have returned to crime-fighting from time to time to assist the team. Bumblebee's abilities are derived from her scientific super-suit. She does not have any super-powers - or the ability to shrink - as she does in the animated series.A comic book story bears some similarity to this episode. The Teen Titans teamed up with Aqualad to infiltrate the H.I.V.E.'s underwater base, which they destroyed. This happened in TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #45-47 [1984]. This ultimately destroyed the H.I.V.E. The first H.I.V.E. Mistress perished in the explosion.
When the H.I.V.E. returned years later in TITANS #1-2 [1999], their troops were dressed very similar to the shock troop H.I.V.E. agents in this episode.
Brother Blood's second costume looks more like his comic book counterpart, with a red and black color scheme.
For more information on the comic book versions of the characters - including many images - visit titanstower.com's meeting room page