Bug-Eyed Bandit

BUG-EYED BANDIT

Real Name: Bertram Larvan

Class: Human technology-user

Occupation: Entomologist, amateur inventor

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None.

Base of Operations: Ivy Town

First Appearance: Atom #26 (August-September, 1966)

Powers: Bug-Eyed Bandit was skilled in the fields of microelectronics and entomology, enabling him to create an army of mechanical insects that replicated the abilities of the real insects they were based on. Examples include a Stag Beetle able to bite through solid steel and a spider that can weave webs capable of supporting the weight of a full-grown man. Bandit also invented a memory-destroying gas.

History: Bertram Larvan was an animal inventor who designed a mechanical insect that could control insect pests. Bertram was convinced this was his ticket to fame and fortune, but he was unable to get financial backing to build a working model. Growing desperate, he stooped to stealing the money he needed for his invention. He built his first robot insect, and used it to steal more money. Soon he had an army of robot insects, and he created the identity of the Bug-Eyed Bandit. The Bandit's new life of crime was put to an end by Atom II.

Bandit accidentally discovered Atom's secret identity, and used this knowledge to plague the superhero on many occasions. Bandit developed a memory-destroying gas to use against the Atom, but this plot failed when Bandit unintentionally gassed himself. Bug-Eyed Bandit remained in a state of amnesia for years.

(Crisis on Infinite Earths #12)-During the Crisis millions of Shadow Demons attack Earth, and Bug-Eyed Bandit was among the casualties.

Comments: Created by Gardner Fox & Gil Kane

Bug-Eyed Bandit received a profile in Who’s Who: the Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3.

The story “If a Man be Clay!,” published in both Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins 2005 and Batman with Robin the Teen Wonder #0 had a flashback of Bug-Eyed Bandit's death during the Crisis.

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