Remember when we talked about bug characters in that post about DC's Forager? Well, I found another one. And yes, his name is Bug. I swear these guys hide like snakes in the grass. Well, like bugs in the grass. That works better actually. Today's Z-Lister is Marvel's Bug.
In 1984, Hasbro and Takara Tomy created toys called "Transformers", robots that could be transformed into vehicles. A year earlier in 1983, Tonka created "Gobots" a toy-line of similar intentions. But before there were Transformers and Gobots, there were "Micronauts" in 1976, created by Mego and Takara (later Takara Tomy). Why is this toy-line of 3-inch tall plastic robot people relevant? Well, in 1979 "Micronauts #1" was published by Marvel Comics in association with Mego. Written and drawn by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden respectively, the comic series followed a few established characters of the toy-line, but also offered original characters like Bug. Funny enough, Mantlo requested Marvel and Mego to let him make this comic series because-after seeing his son get one for Christmas-Mantlo's imagination was captured by The Micronauts.
Described as an Insectivorid from planet Kaliklak, Bug is a master thief and resident wisecrack. He was basically a Spider-Man without webs, as his powers included wall-crawling, agility, and a "danger sense". He also wielded a Rocket-Lance as his weapon of choice. The universe he and his teammates inhabited was called "The Microverse", a universe that-no surprise-was microscopic and impossible for us to ever witness. With his fellow heroes, Bug fought against the tyranny of Baron Karza who abducted the poor and weak from various planets with the intent of mutating them into monsters.
In 1990, Marvel no longer held the publishing rights to The Micronauts, but planned on making a new Micronauts book anyway. They even hired writer Shon C. Bury and artist Cary Nord to work on it. Characters created in the Micronauts comic book who were not created by the toy-line also appeared other books like "X-Men" and "Cable". However, the then-owners of Micronauts-Abrams Gentile Entertainment-did not agree to Marvel's negotiations and the three issues already made were never published. Luckily, Marvel still owned original characters like Bug, so they continued to feature him in other books and even give him a solo one-shot comic book in 1997.
Finally, in 2007, Bug appeared in "Annihilation: Conquest" as a prisoner of the Kree. Star-Lord rescued Bug and recruited him onto his ragtag team. In 2008, when Star-Lord assembled the modern version of The Guardians of The Galaxy, Bug joined the team. Mainly to sneak peeks at Mantis. He was last seen on the team in 2012, but has not been seen since. Interestingly enough, director James Gunn revealed Bug was almost in "Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2", and was going to be a team member in the previous script. However, when the script was edited and rewritten, Bug was excluded.
Speaking on The Micronauts briefly, I think it is best Marvel split away from them. The idea of an entire universe being microscopic is cool and all, but if the universe itself isn't too different from something like "Star Wars", "The New Gods", or "Masters of The Universe", what's the point of even establishing that world. A franchise needs to be indistinguishable if you're going to set it in some strange dimension, otherwise the fact that it exists microscopically becomes the only cool thing about it. Imagine if someone was trying to sell you an old, average car and they told you Barack Obama used to drive it. That would be the only selling point, other than that it's just a car. Just as The Micronauts were just toy robots.
But this Bug fella is an alright character. Again, pretty much an alien Spider-Man, but with a more adult sense of humor. His powers and weapons are okay, probably better on a team format. Actually, that's probably why Bug works better on a team in general. Guys like Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and Nightcrawler play the stealthy, wisecracking, agile, slim guy role on a team, but they all have character quirks that help them hold up independent stories. Bug doesn't really have that. Being funny is his only real personality feature. Of all the Mirconauts, Bug is definitely the most usable and most interesting based on looks alone, so if he were to come back to The Guardians or to meet Nova or something I think he'd fit right in. But as far as being a solo act? Well, we got enough bug people if you ask me. One more and I may need to break out the Raid. Trademark.
Thanks for reading.
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