MORDECAI MIDAS

Real Name: Mordecai Midas

Identity/Class: Human mutate, citizen of Greece

Occupation: Billionaire business magnate, criminal

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Abraham Klein
                     formerly Madame Masque (Giuletta Nefaria)

Enemies: Iron Man (Tony Stark), Jack of Hearts (Jack Hart), The Wraith (Brian DeWolff), Captain Jean DeWolff, Eddie March, Guardsman (Kevin O'Brien), Jasper Sitwell, Madame Masque (Giuletta Nefaria)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Greece, near the Aegean Sea
                                  formerly the Flying Fortress
                                  formerly Athens, Greece (place of birth)

First Appearance: Iron Man I#17 (September, 1969)

Powers/Abilities: Midas' primary weapon is his throne-shaped, one-man hovercraft. Although initially used to support his immense girth, Midas has become less reliant on the hovercraft for mobility since the transformation into his current gold form. Today, the hovercraft is primarily used as an offensive weapon and is outfitted with various high-tech devices, including: two mechanical arms capable of telescoping up to 30'; a heat-seeking antennae-based passive missiles; one dozen high-intensity shock blasters capable of discharging a high-frequency bolt of electricity with a maximum charge of 15,000 volts; a personal force field; and offensive radiation-beam weaponry. The hovercraft's base delivers an electric shock of up to 35,000 volts to anyone touching it.

Midas' Flying Fortress is an immense, chemical-rocket-propelled platform modeled after the architecture of an Ancient Greek acropolis. It serves as the base of operations for Midas' army of centurions, a personal security force of approximately 50 armed soldiers garbed in Ancient Greek chitons (tunics). The Flying Fortress also houses a supersonic aircraft squadron armed with "lightning simulator" weaponry, which fire powerful electric bolts.

In his current golden form, Midas only requires gold for sustenance (which he absorbs through his skin), and no longer needs air, sunlight, sleep, or conventional food for surivial. The only thing granting Midas mobility while in this form is a single electrode that keeps his metallic structure unstable. He currently possesses superhuman Class 50 strength and durability. He has also internalized his ability to convert any organic or inorganic substance into gold.

Prior to his transformation into a being of pure gold, Midas was unable to move on his own due to his obesity. Although he initially relied on his personal hovercraft for mobility, he later commissioned the construction of a cable-built exoskeletal system that ran down his arms and legs and granted him a degree of superhuman strength, which enabled him to lift his 850-pound girth. The exoskeleton also featured customized gauntlets capable of converting any organic or inorganic substance into gold, which would cause temporary paralysis in living organisms.

Mordecai Midas is extensively self-educated, equivalent to college-level, and has been recognized as one of the world's most skilled businessmen. He has genius level intelligence and is a master strategist and tactician.

Height: 6'6"
Weight: 8.2 tons (formerly 850 lbs.)
Eyes: Gold (formerly brown)
Hair: Gold (formerly black)

History:

(Iron Man I#17 (fb)) - Mordecai Midas was born in Athens, Greece, a starving street urchin forced to beg in order to survive. Apparently, he became involved in various (shady) business enterprises and eventually created a base of financial power while obsessively trying to become 'the richest man in the world'. This hunger for power was also reflected in his appetite as he became very obese to the point of needing a special hover chair to move about in (overcompensating for when he was a starving beggar, perhaps). His base of operation was in the Aegean Sea and was decorated with columns and statuary in the mode of ancient Greek architecture.

(Iron Man I#17 - BTS) - Midas rescued Whitney Frost, the former Maggia leader (Big "M") from a sinking ship and gave her a golden mask to hide her now scarred features, thus leading to the birth of Madame Masque.

(Iron Man I#17) - Midas decided to become the richest man on earth, and attempted to take over Stark Industries to further this goal. With information garnered by Tony Stark’s cousin, Morgan Stark, Midas sent Madame Masque to sabotage Stark Industries as well as sending out a ship to strike down Iron Man with a lightning simulator. Midas hoped to kill both Stark and Iron Man, and Morgan Stark would then inherit the business and later sign all of his holdings over to Midas. Both attacks failed. However, the sabotage caused Stark’s LMD (Life Model Decoy) to activate on its own and it began its own attempts to replace Stark with itself. The LMD succeeded, branding the real Stark an imposter, and Stark, penniless and on the run from the law, was captured by Madame Masque.

(Iron Man I#18) - Hearing of the Stark "imposter" (the real one), Midas again attempted to take over Stark Industries with the same scheme as before-- recruiting the "imposter" Stark (the actual Tony Stark) to hopefully take over Stark Industries and sign over the company to Midas. Midas sent the "phony" Stark with Madame Masque to invade Stark Industries, but they were attacked by the Tony Stark/Iron Man LMD. Tony Stark, in his original gold armor, battled and defeated the LMD, though the strain caused a near-fatal heart attack.

(Iron Man I#19) - Upon returning from the hospital after having his heart repaired, Stark was captured by Madame Masque and brought to Midas. Upon learning this was the true Tony Stark, Midas imprisoned Stark, informing him he must sign over his company or die. Later, Madame Masque had a romantic change of heart, and freed Stark. Donning his armor, Stark battled Midas, who used the weaponry of his floating hover chair and eventually used the chair itself to crash into Iron Man while electrified. Iron Man pulled himself free and in doing so knocked Midas out of his chair. Iron Man and Madame Masque escaped, while Midas struggled to regain his footing, but failed because of his massive weight. Midas’ demolished chair began to spark, setting off its explosive armament and exploding, destroying Midas’ base.

(Iron Man I#103-107) - Midas returned years later to try and take over Stark International. Through the use of an agent, Abraham Klein (who had been blackmailed into Midas’ service with the false hope that Midas held information on his missing wife and daughter), Midas stole Stark’s patents and blackmailed his shareholders, effectively giving him (illegal) control over Stark International. In addition, Klein, a renowned engineer, created "the Midas Touch", technology that allowed Midas to touch any material and instantly transform it into a gold-like substance. Now armed with duplicates of Iron Man’s armor and with the ability to walk via an exo-skeleton, Midas was prepared to expand his power and achieve world domination.

Iron Man soon retaliated, along with Jack of Hearts, the Wraith, Guarsdsman II, Madame Masque, Jasper Sitwell, Police Capt. Jean DeWolff, and Eddie March. Attacking Stark International, now remade into Midas International, the heroes were defeated by remote controlled robots wearing duplicate sets of Iron Man armor and turned into gold by Midas. Placed on display mounts, Jack of Hearts, because of his unique bio-chemistry, reverted back to normal, and flew off to exact revenge upon Midas. Iron Man, positioned as a golden statue nearby, was toppled from his perch by the force of Jack of Heart’s take-off, and fell to the ground. Stark had sealed his armor prior to being touched by Midas, and pull himself free from his shattered armor; cannibalizing armor from the previously defeated armor wearing robots, he cobbled together a decent suit of armor and took off after Midas.

Midas easily defeated Jack of Hearts, knocking him unconscious with heat seeker anti-personnel missiles from his hover chair. However, Iron Man soon appeared, and knocked Midas off his chair with a repulsor blast. Iron Man was infuriated with the suffering his friends had endured (most notably his then-lover Madame Masque) and removed his face-plate to show Midas his true identity of Tony Stark, with the intention of killing him. Midas continued his attack with his exo-skeleton powered ability to walk, until the unexpected appearance of Marianne Rodgers, Tony Stark’s one-time fiancée. Endowed with psychic powers which had driven her insane, and released from the sanitarium where she had resided, Rodgers sent out a psychic blast towards Iron Man, vowing revenge. Iron Man dodged the blast, which wound up striking Midas instead, reducing him to a mindless husk.

(Marvel Super-Heroes II#13/3) - Years later, Iron Man returned to Greece to investigate the death of a private investigator hired to figure out who was stealing Stark’s gold shipments. Iron Man came across a hidden underwater base and the minions of Midas, (known as Centurions). Midas himself entered the fray, having been transformed into a living being of gold. Upon being mind blasted by Marianne Rodgers, Midas’ gold touch had turned inward. Now Midas no longer needed air, sunlight, sleep or even food-- except for gold, which Midas could absorb through his skin. The only thing allowing Midas mobility was an electrode that kept his metallic structure unstable. Apparently this transformation gave Midas super-strength, as he was able to batter Iron Man mercilessly. In addition, because of Marianne’s mind blast, Midas had forgotten Iron Man revealing his true identity. Defeated by Iron Man, Midas attempted to escape in a vehicle piloted by one of his centurions, a personal bodyguard named Davos. However, the combined weight of Midas’ gold form and the huge supply of gold he had stored on the escape craft prove too much, and Midas was accidentally tossed out into the ocean. Iron Man searched the bottom of the ocean floor, but failed to locate Midas. But as he turned away, Midas’ hand suddenly shot out of the ocean muck but began to freeze up on him and he could not grab the passing Iron Man. Midas’ electrode had shorted out, and he slowly sunk deeper into the mire.

(Iron Man III#1) - As Tony Stark announced the formation of Stark Solutions, Midas was among several foes of Iron Man's who vowed revenge upon him.

(Avengers III#32 - BTS) - Madam Masque remember how Mordecai Midas hid her ruined face behind the golden mask.

(Invincible Iron Man II#2 - BTS) - Madam Masque remembered how she had worked for Count Nefaria and Mordecai Midas.

Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Johnny Craig (inks).

Mordecai Midas received profiles in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition#16, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z HC#7, All-New Iron Manual (2008) and Iron Manual TPB (2008).

Profile by Hugo V. Negron

CLARIFICATIONS:
Midas has no known connections to

• Midas the Golden Man, Malcom Merriwell, Spider-Man and Falcon foe @ Marvel Team-Up I#30
• Doctor Midas, head of Midas foundation @ Marvel Boy II#1
• King Midas, Greek myth character @ Marvel Tales I#159
• Midas the Million Dollar Mouse, mentioned as Marvel's "next big character" by Stan Lee @ Nova I#15
• or any other "Midas" characters

images: (without ads)
Iron Manual TPB, Mordecai entry (main image)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition#16, Mordecai entry (handbook image)
Iron Man I#17, p20, pan 2 (closeup)
Iron Man I#104, p2, pan4 (exoskeleton)
Marvel Super-Heroes II#13, p72, pan2 (golden)

Appearances:
Iron Man I#17 (September, 1969) - Archie Goodwin (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Johnny Craig (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#18 (October, 1969) - Archie Goodwin (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Johnny Craig (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#19 (November, 1969) - Archie Goodwin (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Johnny Craig (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#103 (October, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man I#104 (November, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man I#105 (December, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man I#106 (January, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man I#107 (February, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Keith Pollard (pencils), Fred Kida (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Super-Heroes II#13/3 (April, 1993) - Kurt Busiek (writer), James Fry III (pencils), Jim Sanders III (inks), Rob Tokar (editor)
Iron Man III#1 (February, 1998) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Sean Chen (pencils), Eric Cannon (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)

Last updated: 11/06/15

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