Yellow Wasp
(aka Golden Wasp I)
Context
No, he was never a Red Bee enemy, you wisenheimers.
Yellow Wasp appeared as a baddie during the 1940s (originally in 1943) in Wildcat features. Decades later he was renamed the Golden Wasp, presumably so his monicker wouldn’t sound as glaringly racist.
Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed.
- Marital Status: Unrevealed.
- Known Relatives: Killer Wasp (alleged son).
- Group Affiliation: His own crew.
- Base Of Operations: New York City.
- Height: 5’7” Weight: 160 lbs.
- Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Advertisement
Powers and Abilities
The Golden Wasp was a competent technologist, entomologist, athlete and fighter. His two main assets are :
- His pistol shooting poison darts.
- The big swarm of trained wasps accompanying him in the field.
His costume is, sensibly enough, treated with wasp-repellent chemicals.
All these assets were gradually upgraded :
- The stinger gun was upgunned to also shoot knockout gas.
- The wasps were trained to dip their stinger into paralytic venom.
- The costume’s decorative wings became able to let the Wasp glide down.
History
The Golden Wasp was one of the earliest costumed villains in the DC Universe. He appeared during the Summer of 1943 in an era were most villains were gangsters, Nazis and mad scientists.
Wild about Wildcat
After robbing a bank, he stole the gate receipts at the Madison Square Garden . That is where boxer Ted Grant was had been fighting a championship bout. The Wasp made his getaway despite Wildcat’s attempt at pursuit.
Advertisement
The paranoid Golden Wasp thought that Wildcat knew too much, and had the hero’s associate Stretch Skinner kidnapped. The trap worked, Wildcat was also captured, and a huge colony of wasps was driven to attack the captives.
However, they escaped as Wildcat burned Skinner’s clothing then doused the flame to produce thick smoke. Deducing that the Wasp would attack a posh club, Wildcat then defeated the villain and his henchmen.
The cats and the bees
Over the following weeks the Golden Wasp assembled an entourage of wasps from his cell’s window.
Then he escaped and murdered the thug who had assumed control of his crew in his absence.
Returning to action, the Yellow Wasp attacked an arms factory. But Wildcat came in and released a flock of bee martins , who ate the wasps.
The Golden Wasp and his men escaped, but Wildcat and Stretch Skinner found their hideout and captured them.
Postbellum
The Golden Wasp returned four years later, with a better costume and equipment. He released a bunch of wasps with paralytic venom on a New York crowd, then looted the victims with his men for a quick buck.
Two policemen intervened but were shot. Stretch and Wildcat were also captured when they came in.
The latter two were put in deathtraps, but they escaped and beat up the Golden Wasp and his men.
1950s
During the early 1950s the villain somehow learned that Wildcat was Ted Grant. Soon, they kidnapped his infant son Jake.
However, the Golden Wasp gave up his criminal projects soon after that. As a result, he raised his own son and Jake Grant more or less normally.
The Wasp’s son was the recipient of successful experiments to develop men into wasp-like fighters. But the Golden Wasp grew far more attached to Jake, who was a better kid than his adoptive brother.
Eventually, in a fit of jealousy, the Wasp’s son seemingly killed both his father and Jake.
Description
The hissing speech impediment he manifested in 1943 was presumably caused by his mask. Since it wasn’t apparent in 1947.
The Golden Wasp (back then the Yellow Wasp) seemed intended to be Asian. But it’s hard to tell with 1940s racial caricatures.
Perhaps he had run early experiments to make himself more wasp-like. And his feature were thus not racist exaggeration but an actual deformation.
Personality
The Wasp is a hardened maniac. He rubs his hands together and cackles after he has conducted a daring crime.
He absolutely hates henchmen challenging his authority, and will kill the perpetrators even for small offences.
He’s a crafty and greedy criminal. He has a thing for pretending he’s just as deadly, fast, cruel, etc. as a wasp.
The Wasp also likes having a grandiose throne and audience room in his base.
Quotes
“Correction, pleas-sse ! Not bees-ss but wasps-ss ! It is very foolish of you to challenge the Golden Wassp and his ss-stinger !”
(Counting his loot) “Ss-splendid haul – excellent — sss ! Hsss-hsss !”
“Arrogant lout ! Do you think you are indis-sspensible ?” (Shoots henchman with a poison dart)
(1947) “Braggart ! The darting speed of the wasp cannot be parried !”
(1947) “Stupid lawmen, daring to pit your puny ways against ME ! I — I who have studied my wasps so well that I am like one of them ! The little wasp takes what he wants ! He is cruel — a killer when necessary ! And so am I ! Nothing stops the Wasp ! And death greets you. Remember that, sable hero !”
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Golden Wasp
| Dex: 04 | Str: 03 | Bod: 05 | Motivation: Power |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 04 | Min: 04 | Occupation: Gangster |
| Inf: 04 | Aur: 03 | Spi: 03 | Resources {or Wealth}: 004 |
| Init: 013 | HP: 025 |
Skills:
Acrobatics (Climbing): 04, Gadgetry: 04, Martial artist (AV): 06, Scientist: 04, Vehicles (Land): 04, Weaponry (Firearms): 05
Advantages:
Pet (Wasp swarm), Familiarity (Entomology), Scholar (Wasps).
Connections:
Street (Low), Underworld (Low).
Drawbacks:
MIA toward Paranoia, Serious Rage.
Equipment:
- OLD COSTUME [BODY 04. The costume is coated in chemicals preventing wasps from ever attacking him.].
- NEW COSTUME [BODY 04, Gliding: 02. The costume is coated in chemicals preventing wasps from ever attacking him, and the wings are now reinforced and actually useful.].
- Stinger [BODY 04, Projectile weapon: 02, Poison touch: 06, Ammo: 12, Bonus: Poison touch can be Combined with Projectile Weapon. The Wasp will shoot most people (especially cops) with a wasp-like paralyzing toxin. But if angered enough (usually by a disloyal henchman) he will switch Poison Touch from Bashing to Killing].
- 1947 Stinger (same, but with one more AP of Projectile weapon and four Ammos of Knockout gas: 06. This more dangerous gun could shoot poison darts into people through windshields and the like, and shoot orange paralysis gas).
- WASPMOBILE [STR 04 BODY 06, Running: 06, R#02].
The sting
The Golden Wasp has a big swarm of trained wasps, which he often carries around in a big leather bag. He seems to direct them through chemical sprays and markers, though this is hard to say for sure.
This swarm can be written up this way:
| Dex: 05 | Str: -2 | Bod: 02 |
Powers:
Dispersal: 03, Flash: 03, Fluid form: 04, Flight: 00, (Self-link) Fog: 01, Poison touch: 04
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Dispersal and fluid form are Always On, but do not protect against appropriate attacks (clouds of chemicals, big gouts of flame, giant Force Manipulation fly-swatters, Warp, etc.).
- Flash (representing the distraction from the attack) is useless against targets with in sealed armour (or similar), but has an Area of Effect (0 APs) and can be Combined with Poison Touch (Poison Touch affects anything in the Flash Area).
- Poison touch starts at 0 APs and increases by one AP for every full *minute* of stings.
By 1947, the Golden Wasp had trained his wasp to coat their stinger in a special paralytic venom (Poison touch (Bashing): 03). That came on top of the wasps’ normal stings. They could knock out about 20 people in a crowd this way.
Source of Character: Sensation Comics (Golden Age DC).
Helper(s): Darci.