Sometimes, Marvel Comics creates super villains with complicated, nuanced, tragic backstories that slowly build them into multifaceted characters with flaws and hopes and dreams all their own. Other times, they create villains like MODOK.
The Mental (Mobile/Mechanized) Organism Designed Only for Killing, MODOK is–well, exactly that. Extremely on-the-nose name aside, MODOK is about to hit the big time, with both a major villainous role in the upcoming Avengers video game by Crystal Dynamics and his very own animated TV show on Hulu starring Paton Oswalt. So there’s never been a better time to learn the ins and outs of Marvel’s infamous, uh, giant floating head with baby arms, because as it turns out, there’s more to this mental organism than just killing.
Just kidding. There’s really not that much more. Superhero comics are amazing.
Invented by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the very heart of what’s known as the Silver Age of Comics back in 1967, MODOK was primarily a recurring Captain America foe at first–mostly because he resented Steve Rogers’ perfect body. No, we’re not making that up. His original origin story goes something like this. Low-level Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) tech George Tarleton was the unlucky test subject for a process meant to design something called the MODOC–mental organism designed only for computing. In this version of continuity, it was AIM who had invented the cosmic cube (the thing that would eventually become popularized as the tesseract thanks to the MCU, and now is more connected to the Infinity Stones than any dweeby cabal of scientist supervillains–just work with us here, we’re dealing with the late ’60s) which was capable of mutating and enhancing human brains. Unfortunately for Tarleton, however, the process did more than just make him super smart–it transformed him into a horrible monster made up of a giant head and tiny limbs that relied on hover technology to move around.
Unsurprisingly resentful with his new lot in life, MODOC rebelled against his creators and became MODOK, ditching his “computing” directive for a new one–killing. Like you do. His new-found love of murder quickly garnered MODOK a lot of respect within the AIM ranks, as you can imagine, and positioned him as a sort of de facto leader–at least for a while. After countless battles with both Captain America and other assorted, physically perfect heroes, AIM’s scientists began to feel frustrated with MODOK’s obsession with violence and revenge–not a lot of inventing or scientific advancement can happen while your homicidal boss is trying to constantly duke it out with the Avengers–and ousted him.
Off the leash and free of what little moral guidance he had, MODOK went on to try and achieve such lofty goals as world domination and the real, emotional connection necessary to facilitate a romantic relationship with another person. The former he continually failed at, the latter he decided to turn into a science project. In a truly Frankenstein-esque move, he kidnapped a friend of Bruce Banner, Dr. Katherine Waynesboro, and transformed her into–wait for it–Ms. MODOK.
This was actually only the first of the female MODOK counterparts to be created. Eventually, AIM created a new one to replace the original MODOK and called it MODAM–mental organism designed for aggressive maneuvers.
It’s–look, sometimes you have to get creative in the name of preserving a naming convention, okay? Give AIM a break.
After several more years of repeated misadventures and foiled schemes for world domination, George Tarleton was captured and “cured” of his mutation and a “new” version of MODOK was introduced in the form of a supercomputer composed of MODOK’s cloned organic brain. It was called MODOK Superior and chances are if you’re reading a modern comic where MODOK shows up, this is the incarnation you’re dealing with. That is, unless you happen upon his “reformed” self, BRODOK (bio-robotic organism designed overwhelmingly for kissing) who cropped up for a hot minute there.
This all sounds like we’re just pulling your leg, but we promise it’s real.
Like many Silver Age relics that were created with very earnest intentions back in the ’60s and ’70s, during the height of the Comics Code Authority’s strict censorship of the medium, but now can only be seen as completely absurd to modern sensibilities, MODOK occupies a strange place in the superhero pantheon. His stories now range from straight-laced and almost-gritty spy thrillers to completely wack-a-doo gags that involve introducing long lost children and sending him on tropical vacations.
The fortunate thing is that this flexibility has become a feature for MODOK rather than a bug. He’s part meme, part genuine threat, and the perfect choice for both a scary, high-stakes encounter with a hero like Kamala Khan in the Avengers game, and a slapstick slice-of-life animated comedy like the Hulu TV show. His design is so absurd that the slightest tweak can take it from hilarious to horrifying. His origin can be pushed into real tragedy or Looney Tunes style series of escalating gags. It all works–and, for the most part, it’s all actually fun to read or watch.
So gear up to clobber MODOK with your embiggened fists as Kamala in Marvel’s Avengers on September 4, or sit down with him in his quiet suburban home on Hulu’s MODOK TV show at some point in the future.