MODRED THE MYSTIC

Real Name: Modred

Identity/Class: Human magic user (Briton (see comments), born in the 6th Century, brought to modern era)

Occupation: Mystic, unwilling servant of Chthon

Group Membership: "Darkhold Redeemers": (Sam Buchanan, Louise Hastings, Jinx , Victoria Montesi)

Affiliations: Chthon/The Other
Blade, Johnny Blaze, Bova, the Darkhold Dwarf, Gervaisse, Lady Janice, Janet Lyton, Alicia Masters, Aurora Poule, Puck (Eugene Judd), Puppet Master (Phillip Masters), Sabretooth, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), the Thing (Ben Grimm), Werewolf (Jack Russell), Grant Whittaker, Wildpride (Kyllian)

Enemies: Avengers (Beast/Henry McCoy, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Amadeus Cho, Falcon/Sam Wilson, Hercules/Heracles, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Jocasta, Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Stature, USAgent, Vision, Wasp/Janet Van Dyne, Wasp/Henry Pym, Wonder Man/Simon Williams), Blade, Brass Bishop, Brothers Four (Aero, Fire, Hydro, Mud), Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), the Clave, the Darkhold Dwarf, Frank Drake, Agatha Harkness, the Lilin, Lilith, Meggan, Merlin Demonspawn, Merlin/Merlyn, Metarchus, Dr. Michael Morbius, the N'Garai, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Phoenix (Rachel Summers), Quasar (Wendell Vaughn), Salomé, Dr. Stephen Strange, Strange (later called Paradox), Truthsayer, Donald J. Walsh, Widget, Zarathos;
formerly Chthon/the Other

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Once posed as "Captain Britain"

Base of Operations: formerly Gervasse's castle in the 6th Century,
formerly Bova's cabin and Wundagore Mountain
formerly Merlin's Otherworld prison
formerly Maui, Hawaii
formerly Lousie Hasting's home
formerly a secret back room in a New York bar called Malice
formerly Thailand

First Appearance: Marvel Chillers#1 (October, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: Before his encounter with the Darkhold, Modred was an apprentice mage and as such knew some minor magic spells. Since Chthon has taken possession of his soul, however, Modred has gained immense mystical abilities. These powers include control of the elements of fire, earth, wind and water, telepathy, flight, teleportation, illusion casting and the ability to fire bolts of mystical energy. Modred is also capable of casting any of the vast number of spells within the Darkhold. He has also, on rare occasions, been shown to utilize the spells of other mystical entities such as Cytorrak and Munipoor.

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 175 bs.
Eyes: White (naturally Blue)
Hair: White

History: (Marvel Chillers#1 (fb)) - In the age of Camelot, Modred was the apprentice of the wizard Gervasse and was to marry Gervasse's daughter Lady Janice, upon his graduation to Mage. But word came from King Arthur that Merlin wanted Modred to act as his apprentice. Both Modred and Gervasse knew that Merlin had grown strange and wicked of late (actually having been replaced by an imposter) and if Modred went, he would not return. Gervasse felt that they had no choice, as it was a request from the King, but Modred refused and swore to seek out the power of the Darkhold, with which he could put an end to Merlin's reign. When Modred arrived in the Tower of the Darkhold the book immediately took hold of him and the Other was summoned. The Other demanded a sacrice and Modred knew that by refusing he would be able to get the power he sought. He remained strong against the Other until Janice entered the room and the Other turned its attention to her. To save her Modred gave himself up as the sacrifice and fell into a living death. Gervasse took Modred and placed him in a crypt where he would be kept under a spell safe until the day that he would walk the world again.

(Marvel Chillers#1) - Modred was awakened in the modern era when Janet Lyton disrupted the spell. He told her and Grant Whittaker his life story. They then told him that they were all trapped underground and he used his powers to free them, though he worried about the source of his powers.

(Marvel Chillers#2 - BTS) - Modred was separated from Janet and Grant and wandered into London.

(Marvel Chillers#2) - Confused by all the changes in the world, Modred created a disturbance in Piccadilly Square. When the police arrived, he saw them as monsters and confronted them. He was shot in the arm but was then found by Janet who took him to Grant's van and they all drove out of London. The van was attacked and destroyed by the Other. Modred ordered his friends to hide as he stood up to the Other. He defeated the Other and temporarily vanquished it.

(Avengers I#186 (fb) - BTS) - After his encounter with the Other, Modred started to fall under Chthon's influence and have thoughts of helping Chthon establish his world order.

(Alpha Flight II#16 (fb)) - Under as of yet unrevealed circumstances, Modred joined with Puck to fight the Brass Bishop.

(Marvel Two-In-One I#33) - Drawn to Stonehenge, Modred found Ben Grimm and Spider-Woman in a battle with four elemental constructs, the Brothers Four, designed by the evil Merlin with the purpose of bringing Modred back to him, or killing the Mystic. Modred destroyed the air elemental by drawing on the sun's power, then took mental control of the water elemental and made him fight the fire elemental, destroying each, and finally Modred reduced the earth elemental to dust. Modred removed the memories of the tourists who had witnessed the battle, and the memories of Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters, who had suffered various problems in Britain. Modred then told Spider-Woman that, contrary to what she had believed, she was indeed a human woman and he promised to tell her of her past.

(Avengers I#185) - Modred entered Wanda Maximoff's room in a Transian inn and offered to help her find the truth about her past. He took her to Wundagore Mountain and protected her when the High Evolutionary's defences attacked them, but once he had taken her to an altar with the Darkhold upon it, he rendered her unconscious with his spells.

(Avengers I#186) - Wanda tried to escape, but Modred was able to defeat her, permitting Chthon to take control of her body.

(Avengers I#187) - When the Avengers arrived in Transia, Modred attacked them. He was able to take out Falcon, Ms. Marvel and Captain America with surprising ease, only to be knocked out by the Wasp, who he had failed to notice. After Chthon, in Wanda's form, had captured the team, Modred was present as his master explained its plans. The Beast showed up dressed in the garb of a Knight of Wundagore and Modred moved to attack, but was knocked out by Captain America's shield. Once the Avengers had bested Chthon, Modred's mind was left without guidance and he was childlike in intelligence. Bova offered to take care of him.

(Marvel Two-In-One I#74) - When Ben Grimm, Alicia Masters and the Puppet Master came to Wundagore Mountain, Modred sensed their presence and, while sleeping, subconsciously animated some of his toy soldiers and sent them to capture Puppet Master, who was shrunken and kept in Modred's toy box. When Ben and Alicia came to Bova's cabin looking for Alicia's father, Bova agreed to help look and gave them rooms for the night. Modred, scared of Ben Grimm's appearance, once again was able to animate his soldiers and shrink Grimm in his sleep. The two shrunken prisoners fought Modred's toys until Alicia and Bova came to investigate. Ben got Alicia's attention, told them what happened and they explained to Modred, now awake, that the two men were not monsters. Modred concentrated and was able to restore them to their proper form. As they were leaving, the Puppet Master showed Modred how to animate his toys while still awake, so that Modred would not be lonely.

(Vision and the Scarlet Witch I#4) - Modred was present in Bova's cabin when Magneto arrived. Learning that Magda's children had lived, Magneto forced Bova to tell him their names. When Magneto learned that Wanda and Pietro were his children, he demolished the cabin as he flew away. Bova asks Modred to use any magical power he still had to warn the children. Without understanding how, Modred did so and Wanda had a dream of Bova's words "Warn the children."

(Captain America I#305 (fb)) - While Bova was injured, Modred wandered away and unknowingly headed towards his homeland, England. As he progressed in his journey, his memories and his full mystical powers began to return to him. Eventually, in an abandoned castle in Cumbria he encountered Captain Britain. He learned that Britain served Merlin and decided to take his armor to increase his own power and challenge Merlin. He defeated the Captain, but as he was stripping him of his armor, Britain sent it away to where he thought it would be safe, to Captain America. Modred was able to summon the armor back, however, and locked Britain in a dungeon.

(Captain America I#305) - In the guise of Captain Britain, Modred attacked Captain America who had come to to London to investigate why he had momentarily been wearing Captain Britain's armor. After a battle in the skies above London Modred knocked Cap out and brought him to the dungeon too, feeling he may be worth more to him alive than dead. Modred unmasked himself to the Captain and told him how he came to be there.

(Captain America I#306) - Modred began laying ruin to London, hoping to provoke Merlin into appearing. The earthquakes he caused aided his prisoners in their escape attempts and they made their way to him. Upon seeing Captain Britain, Modred demanded that he summon Merlin. Britain agreed to do so, but told him he needed the armor to do it. Modred saw no choice but to believe him, and gave him the armor. Britain tried to summon Merlin, but when it failed Modred flew to the Tower of London and raised the corpses in the tower's graveyard to fight the Captains. Eventually the heroes made their way to the sorcerer and as he shot mystical energy at them, they turned his hands back at himself, causing him to knock himself out. Merlin then showed himself and took Modred to Otherworld, planning to re-educate him and release him once more onto Earth.

(Quasar#11) - Projecting his consciousness back to Earth, Modred surveyed Captain Britain's allies in Excalibur. Seeing the raw power of the Phoenix, he took control of her and had her free him from his prison. Quasar arrived to investigate, but Modred dispatched him. He planned to lead Phoenix to Wundagore to free Chthon, but Quasar and the rest of Excalibur arrived and defeated him by casting him into a far-off dimension.

(Darkhold#3 (fb) - BTS) - After Merlin's apparent death the dimensional walls weakened enough that Modred easily returned to Earth.

(Darkhold#1) - Modred watched as Vicki Montesi, Lousie Hastings, Sam Buchanan, Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch/Noble Kale) and John Blaze confronted the Donald Walsh and the Lilin. After they all left, Modred finished off Walsh and decided he would have to keep an eye on Montesi.

(Darkhold#2) - Modred killed the hit-men sent by the Darkholders to stop the "Darkhold Redeemers". After the Redeemers successfully handled the situation with Morton Thurnton, Modred greeted the group.

(Darkhold#3) - Modred introduced himself and told the story of his life, using Thurnton's corpse as a puppet. He then brought the group to Hasting's office at Oxford and gave them a cryptic warning about the coming of the N'Garai in Perfection.

(Darkhold#4 (fb) - BTS) - After searching Buchanan's memories to find a suitable warrior, Modred manipulated events so that Sabretooth would hear Buchanan's cry for help and come to Perfection.

(Darkhold#4) - Modred located the cairn of the N'Garai in the quarry and told Aurora that her unborn child had become a new N'Garai, as they have no natural way to reproduce. Modred saved a woman from a demon, then hurled her through the N'Garai portal to see if humans could pass through. The woman was killed and Modred was denied his plan to pass through the portal and confront Chthon and retrieve his soul. When the N'Garai were defeated Modred sent Sabretooth away and left the Redeemers, who realized he'd used them so he could test the cairn.

(Darkhold#6) - In Maui, Modred confronted Dr. Strange, who, with Agatha Harkness and the Scarlet Witch, were trying to apprehend the Redeemers. Unwilling to let Strange interfere with his "minions", Modred attacked the Sorcerer Supreme. Dr. Strange told Modred to leave and punched him. As he lay bleeding, Modred swore that he would not leave Maui until he'd been driven hence in defeat. The two had a magical duel, which was interrupted when a ghost-fleet of Japanese WWII planes attacked the island.

(Darkhold#7) - Modred decided not to help Dr. Strange and the others fight the planes summoned by the Darkhold, but Dr. Strange pointed out that when Modred swore not to leave until defeated, Dr. Strange had used it as a blood oath, a geas, and now Modred was bound to Maui's soil. Impressed by the tactic, Modred stayed and helped in the fight. Realizing that killing the one who used the Darkhold page would end the attack, Modred threatened to erupt a nearby volcano, killing everyone on the island, but before he did so Louise Hastings was able to reach out to the man and put an end to it. Afterwards, Strange still refused to release Modred from his geas.

(Darkhold#9) - Modred challenged the patrons of a Maui bar to a drinking contest, hoping he would lose and be released from his geas. He was, however, able to outdrink everyone. He then sensed that the Demogorge page of the Darkhold was about to be used and cursed Strange for trapping him there so he could not prevent it.

(Darkhold#10) - Modred tried desperately to leave Maui, but was still trapped. Then an idea occurred to him.

(Darkhold#11) - Modred realized he could leave the island if he kept some of Maui's sand with him. Modred arrived in Manhattan just as Switchblade, the Demogorge began to attack the Redeemers, Ghost Rider and Frank Drake. Modred sent Switchblade flying across town. He then explained what the Demogorge was and teleported Jinx to Louise's home in New Hope for safety. Switchblade returned and the two engaged in an immense duel resulting in Modred collapsing a skyscraper on top of his opponent. Ghost Rider and Frank Drake then began to attack Modred to avenge the people inside the building, but Switchblade returned. Louise prodded Modred to teleporting their battle to Central Park, with fewer bystanders to be hurt. The two continued to fight, Switchblade cut off Modred's right arm, so Modred used his left to rip out a chunk of Switchblade's spine. Realizing that he may not be able to stop the Demogorge, Modred used the momentary pause to telepathically tell Louise of a counter-spell in the Darkhold that could only be cast by a non-mystic. The Demogorge then absorbed Modred, who with his last moments scattered his sand. Along with his powers and memories, Switchblade had absorbed Modred's Geas, thus Switchblade was temporarily disabled and left writhing in pain, giving the good guys a head start.

(Morbius#12 - BTS) - Switchblade, having absorbed Modred, had access to all of his memories and powers.

(Spirits of Vengeance#13) - When Louise used the counter-spell in the Darkhold, all the victims of Switchblade were restored and Blade returned to his normal self. Modred immediately tried to kill Blade but was restrained by Ghost Rider. Modred then teleported away, swearing to get his revenge later.

(Darkhold#12) - Depressed at having been defeated and slain, Modred returned to London, where he was approached by the Dwarf, offering a page for him. Not understanding why he should want it when he already had access to every spell in the Darkhold, Modred summoned the Other out of curiosity. The Other made an offer, it would release Modred from servitude and return his soul if he got it a soul as pure as his own. Modred agreed to do this and the Other sent him to a ruined Abbey near the town of Bath where a blind old holy woman lived. Modred met the woman and offered to restore her sight if she give up her soul. She refused, so Modred offered to restore her youth for her soul. She refused again and Modred offered to bring the love she had been waiting for, if she'd surrender her soul. This, the woman accepted and Modred began the ritual that would remove her soul and restore his. Once Modred had he soul again he immediately regretted what he had done and turned to help the woman, only to see her with youth restored that she was his beloved Janice. At Chthon's command she attacked Modred, who tried to fight back, but no longer had his vast Darkhold-spawned powers and had to rely on minor magics he'd had as an apprentice. Modred got Janice to draw upon her faith and their love to fight Chthon and used this time to offer himself to Chthon once again. Chthon accepted and again took Modred's soul in favor of Janice's. Janice died in Modred's arms and Chthon then had Modred reaffirm his loyalty.

(Quasar#50) - Sensing a great mystical disturbance in Florida, Modred was one of the many mystics of Earth who traveled to Man-Thing's swamp. There he briefly helped many heroes who had gathered in their attempts to revive the Man-Thing and keep the Nexus open for Quasar

(Darkhold#14) - Modred began to tutor Jinx in mystical arts. Louise asked Modred to stop popping in and out of their lives and instead join them and stay with them like a normal person.

(Darkhold#15) - When the Lilin attacked, Modred, Blade, Drake, Louise and Jinx fought them until Morbius found them a safe place to hide. While safe, Modred continued his training of Jinx. After Morbius killed Louise, and Lilith and Zarathos arrived, Drake believed Modred had betrayed them. Hearing this, Jinx turned on Modred creating a feedback loop that made rendered both unconscious.

(Morbius#16) - Modred was among those held Captive by Lilith.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#144/2) - Freed during the heroes' attack, Modred and Jinx tried to get revenge on Lilith and Zarathos. When the villains fled, Modred no longer saw a reason to stick around, and left with Jinx.

(Darkhold#16) - When all the heroes were assigned Blood to protect, Modred led the Redeemers to Truthsayer's home. The Truthsayer confirmed Modred's thought that Chthon had found a foothold in their dimension. When Metarchus attacked and took Modred's form, Modred killed Truthsayer to prevent her from revealing the truth about Vicki and let the others believed Metarchus killed her. After Louise's funeral, Modred teleported Jinx to Vittorio Montesi's home for care and sent Sam and Vicki to the Dr. Strange's home. Modred learned from the Dwarf that Vicki was pregnant with Chthon.

(Midnight Sons Unlimited#5 (fb) - BTS) - Modred saved Kyllian, a former disciple of Dr. Strange and took him on as his own disciple.

(Midnight Sons Unlimited#5) - Modred began his tutelage of Kyllian, who now called himself Wildpride. Mentally controlling Morbius and Jack Russell, Modred attacked Salomé's henchmen and studied her. Finding her weakness, Modred led Morbius, Russell, Vengeance and Wildpride into battle with her. With Salomé almost dead, Modred offered to let her kill the Midnight Sons if she would help him find and kill Dr. Strange. Salomé thought him ridiculous for wasting his time to ask her to do what she already planned to do and wounded him. Modred was saved by Wildpride, who thought Modred deserved to die, but still wanted to be trained.

(Morbius#29 - BTS) - Modred and Wildpride teleported in to Morbius' funeral to drop some flowers on his gravestone.

(Midnight Sons Unlimited#8 (fb) - BTS) - Modred had an encounter with the mystical being Strange.

(Midnight Sons Unlimited#8) - At a bookshop Greenwich Village, Modred was captured by a ball of electricity and taken to a strange prison with the Scarlet Witch and Strange. Wanda and Modred agreed to put aside their differences as they sought escape. They soon found they were prisoners of the Clave, who wanted to study magic. Realizing that they meant to dissect them, Modred told them to dissect Strange, as he was pure magical energy. The Clave agreed with his logic and took Strange away. When Blade managed to sneak into the Clave base, he created the necessary distraction for the group to combat the Clave and escape. After Strange returned the Clave's destroyed craft through the nexus, Modred, Blade and Wanda left the swamp.

(Dr. Strange III#77) - Modred used Wildpride to flush out Dr. Strange. Watching their encounter, Modred learned Strange's new magical signature and was able to use it find the new location of the Doctor's Sanctum. Taking the image of a plumber, Modred waited until Wong opened a portal to the Sanctum and followed him.

(Dr. Strange III#78) - In Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum Modred searched for for Montesi, but was confronted by Dr. Strange. Modred tried to convince him that Chthon's world order could benefit them both, but Strange refused to listen and instead temporarily negated Modred's abilities and teleported him away, leaving him stranded in Thailand.

(Marvel Tarot#1 - BTS) - The First Tarot showed Ian McNee Modred as the Hierophant card. McNee thought that when Modred would give in to his possession by the spirit of the Darkhold, Chthon would surely withdraw his influence just enough for Modred to realize what he had become and attempt to save himself.

(Dark Reign Files) - Quasimodo researched Modred for Norman Osborn.

(New Avengers I#53) - The Eye of Agamotto appeared to Modred as it considered him a possible replacement for Dr. Strange as Sorcerer Supreme.

(Mighty Avengers I#22 (fb) - BTS) - Modred fell under Chthon's influence again and reassambled the Darkhold for his master Chthon.

(Mighty Avengers I#22 (fb) ) - Quicksilver tried to top Modred in Vatican City from getting the last page, but Quicksilver came too late. Modred teleported back to Mount Wundagore and killed the Knights of Wundagore. When Quicksilver arrived Modred overpowered him and bound him, explaining that Quicksilver would become Chthon vessel on Earth.

(Mighty Avengers I#21) - Modred transferred the Darkhold spells on to his body to become the Darkhold himself and summon the Elder God Chthon to Earth. The chaos cascade created by the summoning temporarily killed such heroes as most of the Young Avengers (Hawkeye (Bishop), Hulkling, Patriot, Speed, Wiccan), the Avengers (Captain America (Barnes), Ms. Marvel (Danvers), Ronin (Barton), Spider-Man (Parker), Wolverine (Howlett) ) and Omega Flight (Arachne (Carpenter), Guardian (Pointer), Sasquatch). When the Darkhold was fully transferred on to his body Modred transferred Quicksilver's spirit into the book. Suddenly Modred sensed the arrival of an army sent to stop him, he completed the ritual and Chthon finally arrived on Earth. Modred offered him Quicksilver as vessel and Chthon happily took what Modred offered him.

(Mighty Avengers I#22) - Modred showed Chthon the Avengers that came to stop Chthon, but Chthon didn't see them as a serious threat. When the Avengers entered the Darque Hold, the caverns beneath Wundagore, Modred sent rune-animated stone warriors against them. When Bova tried to hit Modred with the empty (actually Quicksilver was trapped inside it) Darkhold, Modred easily stopped her only to be shot by Iron Man with a repulsor ray.

(Mighty Avengers I#23) - With Modred unconscious the Avengers chained and gagged him and started attacking Wundagore Mountain. Chthon returned and was forced to take over Modred's body. When Vision emptied the original holding place of the Darkhold spells by reciting Quicksilver's words, he could use it to draw the spells written on Modred's body and Chthon into the Darkhold. Modred's body was seemingly burnt to ashes during the process.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Yong Montano and Marv Wolfman

    Being one of Modred's allies or enemies is a complicated matter. In his lucid moments Modred will gladly work to oppose Chthon and will work for his own benefit or even sometimes for the greater good. He also has a thing for attacking Merlin, though he focuses on the real Merlin instead of the imposter who actually wronged him (if someone cleared that up for him, Modred may be able to work some things out). However, when Chthon steps in and takes control, Modred may end up fighting the very people he was helping the previous day. In those sections above, I've tried to place people in the places they generally are when they encounter Modred.

    The flashback with Puck in Alpha Flight is said to have happened "decades ago", but since Modred would have been asleep and Puck is depicted in his Alpha Flight costume, it couldn't have been an extremely distant occurrence, unless time travel was involved. I've placed it where I did because this was the earliest opportunity for Modred to have been involved in the conflict. I like to think that, perhaps as Modred was beginning to realize that his soul was indeed owned by Chthon, heard of the Brass Bishop, who had cheated Mephisto from claiming his soul. Modred was probably interested in learning a way to save his soul and investigated, only to get caught up in Puck's adventure. - That sounds about right-- the Brass Bishop adventure was supposed to have occurred some time prior to Alpha Flight I#12. Of course, we wound up with two different Brass Bishops because two different writers wanted to tell that story. --Prime Eternal
My take on this is that the Brass Bishop associated with the Chess Set is the one who encountered Puck shortly before AF12, with the one associated with Heaven and demons the one he encountered "decades ago". I'm not aware of anything in Marvel Chillers to definitively tie it to the modern era...is there?
--Snood.

   In Midnight Sons Unlimited#8, Modred and Strange (aka Paradox) speak as if they've met and there's a footnote directing readers to MSU#5. But in that story Strange only appears as an image that Modred used in an attempt to deceive Salomé, so they must have met some other time.

   Modred's eyes are generally seen as white, a result of his being possessed (when visible, they're blue). His hair, however, was silver even before he used the Darkhold. It probably runs in his family or something.

   Modred's adventures in Marvel Chillers were originally intended to be published as a back-up feature in Giant-Size Werewolf By Night (and before that, it was supposed to be the Scarecrow in Giant-Size Werewolf), as part of Marvel's ambitious plan to restructure their horror line in 1975 to cut down on the amount of reprints they were running (the back-up reprints in the Giant-Sizes were loathed). The plan fell apart completely. The Scarecrow, Ulysses Bloodstone (intended to appear in Monsters on the Prowl), Satana (meant for Giant-Size Dracula) and Modred each had their back-ups published elsewhere, and were then mostly ignored. What a pity. - Prime Eternal

   In Darkhold#6 Doctor Strange tries to banish Modred to the extradimensional prison that he had escaped from. Strange casts a spell to "forever in lost Limbo seal this most foul entity!". So I guess he was sent to Limbo in Quasar#11. Modred also recalled his defeat by Captains Britain and America in Darkhold#3, so it might establish that the writer was aware of Modred's Quasar#11 appearance.
--Per Degaton

   FOOM#11 included the original design for Modred that was done by Marie Severin. It appeared somewhat randomly in the Department of Foomation section which included preview synopses of forthcoming Marvel titles, the month after Modred's two issue debut stint in Marvel Chillers, with a note stating that if readers bombarded Marvel with enough mail, the mystic hero might be granted a permanent series all his own. -

   In terms of Modred's citizenship, since he was born somewhere circa the 6th century he wouldn't be English. While the comics are unclear over the exact years of Camelot/Arthurian times (sometime circa the 5th or 6th centuries seems the consensus), we do have some real world clues we can apply. The real world king Vortigern is mentioned is mentioned in Arthurian legends; old history texts claim Vortigern was the monarch who invited the Germanic brothers Hengist and Horsa in 449 AD to bring their armies of Angles, Saxons and Jutes to Britain, which led to them invading. The portion of the island of Britain they came to rule became known as Angleland, or England, but this process took time. Many legends claim Arthur was fighting these invaders (that's why he was King of the Britons, the original inhabitants, rather than King of the English), so if he and Modred lived in the 6th century they are probably closer to the start of that century than the end. Additionally, Modred's place of birth has been given in the handbooks as Celliwig in Cerniw; Celliwig (a.k.a. Kellwic) in mythology is the earliest location of the court of King Arthur, before he founded Camelot, and Cerniw was a kingdom at the southwestern tip of what is now Cornwall, a region not conquered by the invaders until a few hundred years later. As such, Modred would be a Briton, and a citizen of Cerniw. - Loki

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for refurbing the third Modred image (with him wearing the Captain Britain costume).

   Modred has Handbook entries in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7, Deluxe Edition#8, the Master Edition and Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic.

Modred's original OHOTMU art.
 Modred's DE, Mystic Arcana and OHOTMU Hardback's art.
 Modred's Master Edition artwork.


Profile by Patrick D Ryall

CLARIFICATIONS:
Modred the Mystic should not be confused with:

images: (without ads)
 Avengers I#185, page 15, panel 4 (main)
Marvel Chillers I#1 cover (uncloaked headshot)
Captain America I#306, page 1, panel 1 (wearing Captain Britain's uniform)
Darkhold#11, page 9, panel 1 (Darkhold Redeemer outfit)
Dr. Strange III#78, page 1, panel 1 (manifesting his different looks)
FOOM#11, p27, panel 1 (Marie Severin's original version of Modred's costume)

Appearances:
Marvel Chillers#1 (October, 1975) - Marv Wolfman & Bill Mantlo (writers), Ed Hannigan & Young Montano (pencils), John Romita, Frank Giacoia & Yong Montano (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Marvel Chillers#2 (December, 1975) - Bill Mantlo (writer), John Byrne & Sonny Trinidad (artists), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One I#33 (November, 1977) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Ron Wilson (pencils), Pablo Marcos (inks)
Avengers I#185-187 (July-September, 1979) - Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant & David Michelinie (writers), John Byrne (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One I#74 (April, 1981) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Frank Springer (pencils), Chic Stone (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Vision and the Scarlet Witch I#4 (February, 1983) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Rick Leonardi (pencils), Ian Akin & Brian Garvey (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#305-306 (May-June, 1985) - Michael Carlin (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Quasar#11 (June, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Mike Manley (pencils), Fred Fredericks (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Darkhold#1-2 (October-November, 1992) - Chris Cooper (writer), Richard Case (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold#3 (December, 1992) - Chris Cooper (writer), Tony Harris (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold#4 (January, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Norman Felchle (pencils), Mark McKenna & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold#6 (March, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Richard Case & Al Bigley (pencils), Stan Woch & Ariane Lenshoek (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold#7 (April, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Darkhold#9-11 (June-August, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bob Downs (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Morbius#12 (August, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Ron Wagner (pencils), Mike Witherby (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Spirits of Vengeance#13 (August, 1993) - Howard Mackie (writer), Adam Kubert (pencils), Joe Kubert, Dan Green, Klaus Janson & Frank Spinks (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Darkhold#12 (September, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Quasar#50 (September, 1993) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Andy Smith (pencils), Ralph Cabrera (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Darkhold#14-15 (November-December, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Morbius#16 (December, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Isaac Cordova (pencils), Andrew Pepoy (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents#144 (late December, 1993) - Chris Cooper (writer), Reggie Jones (pencils), Fred Harper (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)
Darkhold#16 (January, 1994) - Chris Cooper (writer), Rurik Tyler (pencils), Bob Downs & Malcolm Jones III (inks), Hildy Mesnik (editor)
Mignight Sons Unlimited#5 (April, 1994) - David Quinn (writer), John Hixon & Mark Tenney (pencils), Scott Koblish, Andrew Pepoy & Richard Rankin (inks)
Midnight Sons Unlimited#8 (January, 1995) - Dan Abnett (writer), Leonardo Manco, Tom Coker & Duncan Rouleau (pencils), Leonardo Manco, Larry Ross & Mike Worley (inks), Evan Skolnick (editor)
Morbius#29 (January, 1995) - Lisa Trusiani (writer), Craig Gilmore (pencils), Mike Witherby (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Dr. Strange III#77 (May, 1995) - David Quinn & Evan Skolnick (writers), Richard Pace (pencils), Peter Gross (inks), Marie Javins (editor)
Dr. Strange III#78 (June, 1995) - David Quinn & Evan Skolnick (writers), Marie Severin (pencils), Peter Gross (inks), Marie Javins (editor)
Alpha Flight II#16 (November, 1998) - Steve Seagle (writer), Duncan Rouleau (pencils), Rob Hunter, Aaron Sowd & Cabin Boy (inks), Jaye Gardner (editor)
Marvel Tarot#1 (2007) - David Sexton (writer, pencils, inks) Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Dark Reign Files (February, 2009) - Michael Hoskin & various others (writer), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Mighty Avengers#21-23 (March-May, 2009) - Dan Slott (writer), Khoi Pham (pencils), Allen Martinez & Danny Miki (inkers), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers I#53 (July, 2009) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Billy Tan (pencils), Matt Banning (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 10/24/2004
Last updated: 09/30/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters