From the Never Bring a Bee to a Fistfight Department:

Hit Comics #12, June 1941

I'm beginning to think the Red Bee is delusional. The first clue might have been the muslin sleeves, but the fact that he now is sending his pet bee, Michael, to help him resolve fistfights... that does not sound like the behavior of a healthy mind.

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From the Bee Mine Department:

Hit Comics #11, May 1941

Michael loves his master so much, he'll do anything for him. So long as "anything" is sting yet another gun-toting mobster. (What can you expect? He's just a trained bee.)

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From the You're Going To Need a Bee-ger Boat Department:

In past months, the Red Bee has limited his actions mostly to cleaning Superior City of racketeers, capitalists, and midget inventors. But in Hit Comics #10, he finally find a cause that needs the kind of help that only a man and his trained bee can provide: the Second Sino-Japanese War!

Hit Comics #10, April 1941

A criminal named Shanghai Joe is working for Japan to steal supplies being shipped from America to support China. (Is Shanghai Joe a double agent, or just someone who failed high school geography?) The Red Bee soon flies into action, saves the day, and deposits the Japanese agents in Hawaii, where they'll never do anyone any harm ever again! Ha, ha! Another job well done, Red Bee!

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From the You Can Teach An Old Bee New Tricks Department:

Hit Comics #9, March 1941

It's taken eight months, but the Red Bee's bee finally has a new trick. Instead of hassling people until they drop their weapon, it now hassles people until they "go mad with fear and confusion." That's right: mad with confusion.

I'd like to see Superman try that trick.

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From the Dance With The One That Stung You Department:

When a man with .45 meets a man with a bee, who wins?

Hit Comics #8, February 1941

Approximately 3% of adults are allergic to bee stings. Apparently all of them are crooks in Superior City.

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From the One Trick Pony Department:

By his seventh appearance, it's becoming pretty clear why the Red Bee has put on a mask rather than opening a bee circus. He can only teach his bees one trick.

Hit Comics #7, January 1941

Handguns, swords, and pickaxes? What will Michael disarm next? A knife? A club? A ham sandwich? Here's a hint: it's a handgun.

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From the Those Who Live In Glass Helmets Department:

Hit Comics #6, December 1940

Six months into his run, and the Red Bee finally realizes that his trained pet bee, Michael, is good for more than just disarming handguns. He can also disarm swords!

Bonus: Issue 6 also features the Red Bee's first super villain! That is if you can count wearing thick clothing and a bowl over your head as "super powers." Let's credit the Red Bee for knowing his place. If your main weapon is a single bee, your arch-villain should probably be someone who specializes in taking candy from babies at picnics.

For the record, the evil midget Kulak is defeated when Michael slips inside his glass helmet and makes him drop his electrically heated cattle prod on his own feet. This is after Michael has saved the Red Bee's life from those swordsmen and a topless strongman named Rog and before Michael leads the Red Bee out of the villain's lair as it burns down around them. I'm beginning to suspect that Michael isn't the sidekick in this relationship.

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From the Life Is Cheap Department:

Hit Comics #5, November 1940

If you pull a gun in Superior City, you'd better be prepared to be stung! Take note, Chicago: Michael the trained bee is all the gun control that any city needs.

(And lest you think it's odd that Red Bee should be "relieved" to see a gun pointed at the district attorney, know that his day job is assistant district attorney. Who wouldn't be glad to see their boss gunned down by brightly-colored extortionists?)

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From the Imaginary Friends Department:

Hit Comics #4, October 1940

It only took four appearances, but now the Red Bee's bee has a name: Michael. The Red Bee is so careful to protect his own secret identity (psst: it's Rick Raleigh) that I have to assume that Michael isn't the bee's real name, but an assumed nom de guerre. His real name is probably Buzzy or Bert. Given that the average bee lives only about a month, maybe it's just easier for the Red Bee to call all his sidekicks "Michael." Less time getting to know one another means more time fighting "mugs"!

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From the Double Your Fun Department:

Hit Comics #3, September 1940

The third appearance of the Red Bee required a raising of the stakes: two mobsters with guns!

You have to give it to the Red Bee for sidekick management. When Batman and Robin charge into a room, Batman doesn't make Robin do all the work while he strikes a sexy pose in the doorway.

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