In 1981, MODOK appeared in Marvel Two-In-One #81, and made Thing’s day. That was how he kicked off the ’80s. Not much of an explanation of how he was still alive, given his death in the ’70s.
But no matter, look what comes next…
After the MTO appearance, we get what may be the greatest single MODOK appearance of all time. (Actually, it’s the fourth best MODOK according to this definitive opinion.)
What makes it so great? Ms. MODOK!
As you might expect, the story is pretty much Bride of Frankenstein. MODOK creates her out of Hulk’s girlfriend, which pisses Hulk off, but Ms. MODOK is given the option of marrying Hulk or MODOK and…..
Yes, brains beats brawn. Until it doesn’t, she turns on him, and he kills her.
Actually, he transforms her back into her original, human form. But still.
Now, we’re up to 1983.
In 1983, MODOK took a couple interesting turns. First, in The Incredible Hulk #287–290, MODOK found himself ousted from AIM. Without the help of henchmen with usable arms, MODOK needs friends. So he goes to work for, get this, General Ross and the U.S. Army!! This is a foreshadow to the current Secret Avengers storyline, in which MODOK has become an agent of SHIELD. For those of you, like me, who thought it was ridiculous that MODOK would ally himself with the forces of Big Government, we all stand corrected. There was precedent.
Captain America annual #7 was the other MODOK appearance this year, and it’s really uneventful except for the fact that we learn that MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing) used to be MODOK, in which the K for “Killing” was replaced by C for “Computation.”
Much less menacing.
So, MODOK got a girl, got renamed and somewhat neutered…What’s next for him in the ’80s?
Death. (Again.)
At the end of 1985, MODOK died. For realsies. Sort of.
It was, in a rare case of truth-in-titling, in a storyline entitled “Mission: Murder MODOK!” The Serpent Squad were hired by AIM to assassinate MODOK, and they did so. Pretty easily, actually. That was in Captain America #313, and the rest of the arc (which continued to issue #316), involved Cap tracking down MODOK’s killers. And AIM figuring out what to do with the dead body—which obviously has a lot of tech they invested in.
A few months later, MODOK appeared in the pages of Iron Man #205. But it wasn’t really MODOK. It was an evil scientist programming his body to do mean stuff to Shellhead. So, there it was: He was really dead. For the rest of the decade.
It’s worth mentioning two MODOK-related appearances, though. The first was actually before he died, during assistant editors’ month. If you’re not familiar with this event, which took place in January 1984 while the “real” editors were at a convention. It was a great event. For your convenience, I tagged it below–lots of fun, from an era where comics were fun and funny on a regular basis.
I miss those days.
The other ’80s MODOK-ish appearance was posthumous, in 1989, when in Solo Avengers #14-16 Hank Pym had to face off against….SODAM (Specialized Organism Designed for Aggressive Maneuvers). Another female MODOK.
So, what happens in the 1990s? Is MODOK still dead? Come back for the next installment!