BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
A being known as the Black Lama instigated a War of the Super-Villains, compelling various parties to battle each other in order to claim his Golden Globe of Power. M.O.D.O.K. chose to participate in the war when approached, eager to put the Lama’s gift to nefarious use when he won. M.O.D.O.K.’s opponent was the Mad Thinker, who struck first by overriding Iron Man’s armor and using the Golden Avenger as his pawn. M.O.D.O.K. entered his giant robot body to defend 
himself against Iron Man’s invasion of A.I.M.’s lair. As they fought, M.O.D.O.K. rocketed up into the air, carrying Iron Man with him. The Thinker restored Iron Man’s free will during the fight so that he could better defend himself against M.O.D.O.K. However, he threatened to take over again if he thought Iron Man was fleeing the battle. When M.O.D.O.K. and Iron Man left the A.I.M. base, the Mad Thinker thought Iron Man was defying him and locked up his armor again. M.O.D.O.K. easily overcame the paralyzed Iron Man and traced the Thinker’s control beam back to his hideout. [Iron Man (1st series) #74]
With Iron Man incapacitated, M.O.D.O.K. took the fight to the Thinker. The Mad Thinker unleashed one of his android warriors to grapple with M.O.D.O.K. in his place. M.O.D.O.K. destroyed the android with a mento-blast, then crushed the Thinker to death in his powerful robot grip. Next, M.O.D.O.K. seized upon the Mad Thinker’s idea and reprogrammed Iron Man to serve him for his next match against the Yellow Claw. At the Black Lama’s direction, he teleported to the Claw’s fortress for what promised to be the final battle for the Golden Globe. M.O.D.O.K. used Iron Man to flank the Yellow Claw’s fortress, attacking it from two sides at once. However, the Claw tricked M.O.D.O.K. using his illusions before dropping A.I.M.’s leader to his death through a trap door. (In fact, M.O.D.O.K. had failed to even defeat the Thinker. The Mad Thinker used his android as a distraction to replace himself and Iron Man with androids for M.O.D.O.K. to kill and control, respectively.) [Iron Man (1st series) #75]
M.O.D.O.K. survived and resurfaced to seize control of an A.I.M. faction once more, this time situated on the west coast. S.H.I.E.L.D. began reconnaissance of his activities, and Iron Man also got involved, tracking an outburst of M.O.D.O.K.’s mental energy to an A.I.M. installation in California. M.O.D.O.K.’s energy cradle was designed to relay massive amounts of power into his Doomsday Chair, but the process was not yet complete when Iron Man arrived. M.O.D.O.K. psionically made himself invisible to Iron Man’s eyes, leading the Armored Avenger to conclude M.O.D.O.K. had already powered his Doomsday Machine from the cradle and departed. In Los 
Angeles, Iron Man recruited the Champions to help him search the three other A.I.M. sites in California which S.H.I.E.L.D. had detected. Eventually, though, Iron Man realized his error and returned to the original relay site. By this point, M.O.D.O.K. had finished drawing energy from the cradle to make himself into a mobile Doomsday Machine. M.O.D.O.K. left Iron Man and the Champions buried in the mountain installation but neglected to consider that Iron Man could link his own armor to the cradle, drawing upon awesome power for himself. M.O.D.O.K. disappeared in a blast as Iron Man turned his own power source against him. [Iron Man Annual #4]
M.O.D.O.K. next planned to use his west coast A.I.M. faction to seize control of the splinter group in New York. As A.I.M. held a hidden base underneath Alden’s Department Store in Manhattan, M.O.D.O.K. secured a second base covertly attached to the original, waiting for his chance to strike. He attempted to sabotage a Super-Truck and its cargo from Stark International but was interfered with by Ms. Marvel. [Ms. Marvel (1st series) #5] Learning that his rivals in A.I.M. had previously targeted the woman-warrior, M.O.D.O.K. intended to steal the secrets of Ms. Marvel's costume and the alien circuitry which gave her powers. However, he was unaware that exposure to the Psyche-Magnetron had recently internalized Ms. Marvel’s powers, leaving the suit redundant. Once his experiments with the captive Ms. Marvel’s suit failed, M.O.D.O.K. turned the mind-ripper on Ms. Marvel, attempting to brainwash her into being completely subservient to him. At this early stage in her career, Carol Danvers and Ms. Marvel existed as separate personalities, and so the reprogramming was only half-effective, allowing Ms. Marvel to resist. As she escaped, Ms. Marvel inadvertently busted through to the East Coast A.I.M.’s lair and nearly exposed M.O.D.O.K.’s presence to his rivals. He had his faction seal her exit so they could remain undiscovered. [Ms. Marvel (1st series) #7]
The rival A.I.M. faction inadvertently covered for M.O.D.O.K. when Ms. Marvel brought a S.H.I.E.L.D. detachment back to Alden’s Department Store, only to find no sign of A.I.M. M.O.D.O.K. continued his plans and secured the services of Deathbird of the Aerie. M.O.D.O.K. and Deathbird forced their way into Alden’s to seize A.I.M.’s full resources for himself. In particular, M.O.D.O.K. wanted access to A.I.M.’s concealed missile complex in the South Bronx. M.O.D.O.K. would then launch himself into orbit, claiming control of NASA’s Skylab station and the immensely powerful cavourite crystal being tested there. Ms. Marvel happened to be infiltrating Alden’s when the A.I.M. civil war began, and she followed M.O.D.O.K. to the Bronx warehouse. Deathbird delayed Ms. Marvel long enough for M.O.D.O.K. to launch, but the woman-warrior still struck the ABORT command in time. M.O.D.O.K.’s rocket exploded, but he escaped capture before Ms. Marvel could recover him from the detaching capsule. [Ms. Marvel (1st series) #9-10]
M.O.D.O.K. continued to operate his A.I.M. splinter cell for various pursuits. He traveled to the Savage Land, intent on capturing dinosaurs and subjecting them to mutations that would put the 
powerful beasts at his command. M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M. were stopped by Ka-Zar and the incredible Hulk. [Marvel Team-Up (1st series) #104] Next, M.O.D.O.K. developed a radioactive living virus called Virus-X. He began kidnapping the homeless from the bowery of New York as test subjects. The Thing and Sub-Mariner put a stop to that plot, but M.O.D.O.K. escaped and Ben Grimm was exposed to Virus-X. Captain America and Giant-Man joined the Thing in hunting down the antidote at M.O.D.O.K.’s secret Antarctic base. [Marvel Two-In-One #81-82]
M.O.D.O.K. felt his position in A.I.M. growing more precarious, even amidst his own cell. When he learned an A.I.M. faction intended to restore the alteration chamber and create another creature like him, but properly under their control, he decided to take action. M.O.D.O.K. learned of Project: Earthfall, a government facility devoted to keeping the gamma mutate Abomination in cryostasis after he fell to Earth like a meteor. M.O.D.O.K. personally invaded Earthfall, amusing himself by overcoming their security with ease before finally sending out a mind-beam pulse that rendered all but one of the staff unconscious. M.O.D.O.K. left the base commander General 
“Thunderbolt” Ross awake because he sensed something amusing in Ross’ thoughts. As long-time leader of the Hulkbusters, Ross was personally offended when Bruce Banner received a Presidential pardon after he permanently gained control of his Hulk form. The general was certain the Hulk was still a threat, but no one would listen to him, even his daughter, Betty. Ross had already been considering treason to release the Abomination himself to hunt down his own sparring partner the Hulk when M.O.D.O.K. invaded. M.O.D.O.K. needed nothing from Ross, but it amused him to let Ross follow through on his treasonous thoughts and actively let M.O.D.O.K. escape with Abomination. He agreed to send the Abomination after the Hulk first before using him to destroy his rivals in A.I.M.
Unfortunately, working with the Abomination was less satisfying. It seemed Emil Blonsky had 
been beaten by the Hulk so often that he had developed a pathological fear of facing the Hulk again. M.O.D.O.K. found it necessary to mentally torture Abomination, forcing the gamma mutate to be more scared of M.O.D.O.K. than the Hulk before releasing his agent to do his job. As the Abomination left, however, M.O.D.O.K.’s seaside base came under attack from a rival A.I.M. squadron. M.O.D.O.K. was incredulous that a surprise attack could escape prediction by his telepathy and computer-like mind. He probed outwards and detected a psionic mind-block shielding the rebels from his scans. With a sinking feeling, M.O.D.O.K. realized the mind-block also extended to his own agents. M.O.D.O.K. loyalists and opponents suddenly turned as one to attack their hated creation. None in A.I.M. were willing to remain under his domination any longer. M.O.D.O.K. was forced to flee before being murdered by his own agents.
The Abomination soon returned to A.I.M.’s seaside base. He had been unable to kill the Hulk, but instead he kidnapped S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Dr. Katherine Waynesboro, Banner’s companion and lab assistant. Abomination quickly renounced any loyalty to M.O.D.O.K. when A.I.M. explained the new order, and A.I.M. decided Dr. Waynesboro was the perfect test subject to enter the alteration chamber and become their new, more-controllable M.O.D.O.K. The original M.O.D.O.K. was awaiting the Hulk outside the A.I.M. base when he traced the Abomination’s gamma readings there and offered an alliance to attack A.I.M. and save Waynesboro. Banner and M.O.D.O.K. penetrated the terrorist compound, but they were too late. Katherine Waynesboro had emerged from the chamber as Ms. M.O.D.O.K.
A.I.M. once again proved to be failures, for their post-hypnotic suggestion implants in Kate failed to remain in place for Ms. M.O.D.O.K. This new intellect rejected A.I.M.’s attempts to control her. Sensing a kindred spirit, M.O.D.O.K. touched minds with Ms. M.O.D.O.K. and they planned to unite. Banner objected, claiming that Dr. Waynesboro would never have wanted this. M.O.D.O.K. 
attacked the Hulk for disrespecting his bride and then turned his power on the failed Abomination, scattering his atoms purely out of spite. Ms. M.O.D.O.K. was a new consciousness, a creature of logic and reason, but also of empathy. She observed M.O.D.O.K.’s actions and found his cruelty made him unfit as a partner. The rejected M.O.D.O.K. lashed out at Hulk and Ms. M.O.D.O.K., forcing the latter back into the alteration chamber. M.O.D.O.K. fled into the night, but Bruce Banner discovered Katherine Waynesboro returned to normal in the rubble. Bruce and Kate debated afterwards whether M.O.D.O.K. deliberately spared her his fate once they couldn’t be together, out of some sliver of empathy still within him. [Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #287-290]
M.O.D.O.K. was on the run after this, hunting for the resources to stay alive and stay ahead of his enemies. Therefore, he was intrigued when he received an offer to join the Intelligencia, a cabal of brilliant but amoral scientists seeking personal gain. He met with the Leader, Red Ghost, Wizard, Mad Thinker and even Doctor Doom as they sought to raid the lost knowledge of the libraries of Alexandria. Most of the contents had previously been recovered by the Intel from the Eternals, but records indicated two further caches existed in Wakanda and Atlantis. M.O.D.O.K. joined the group in a successful incursion into Wakanda. They retrieved scrolls of an ancient but advanced means of harvesting cosmic energies. [Fall of the Hulks: Alpha]
Despite this new fortune, M.O.D.O.K.’s personal troubles had not subsided. The new leaders of A.I.M. hired the mercenary Serpent Society to hunt down and kill M.O.D.O.K. for them. [Captain America (1st series) #311] Diamondback and Bushmaster first found M.O.D.O.K. hiding out in the wreckage of the A.I.M. sub where he was first transformed into his present state. M.O.D.O.K. escaped, but he was weakened from the conflict and hid out in a passing tractor trailer once he reached the surface. M.O.D.O.K. eventually found himself in a shopping center and tried to hide inside, but to no avail. His Doomsday Chair was damaged as the Serpent Society found him 
again. Separated from his support structure, M.O.D.O.K. could do nothing to stop Death Adder and Cottonmouth from piling on him. His throat was slit and poison pumped through his veins. M.O.D.O.K.’s last sight was Captain America trying to stop the Serpent Society and failing to save his life. [Captain America (1st series) #313]