MODOT
Real Name: Dimitri Smirkov
Identity/Class: Human cyborg mutate
Occupation: Media manipulator;
former physicist
Group Membership: AIM (Agents 66
and 77, others)
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Howard the Duck, Beverly
Switzler, Twin Barrels (Bradley and Patton Barrel)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Mental Organism Designed Only for Talking
Base of Operations: A subterranean AIM base beneath
Cleveland, Ohio
First Appearance:Howard the Duck III#1 (December,
2007)
Powers/Abilities: Much like his predecessor MODOK,
MODOT has been dramatically mutated and cybernetically-enhanced to
grotesquely enlarge his head; however, unlike MODOK and other AIM
creations, his limbs remain somewhat functional. Via a cranial shunt, he
controlled at least three hundred and twenty-two lifelike androids
simultaneously, speaking through them to disseminate his talking points;
they included Frank Wayne, Johnny Shuster, Bill
Hammer, Barry Kingman and numerous others
(see comments). He also wields weapons that fire poison-tipped "talking
point" spikes.
Before his transformation, MODOT was a gifted physicist.
Height:
Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Red
Hair: Reddish-brown
History: (Howard the Duck III#4 (fb))
- Physicist Dimitri Smirkov was in contention for a Nobel prize, but
lost to "the Twin Barrels" - brothers Bradley and Patton Barrel.
(Howard the Duck III#3 (fb)/Howard the Duck III#4 (fb) ) -
Now an agent of AIM based in Cleveland, Smirkov was lured into a
mutagenic chamber by fellow agents 66 and 77. They mutated him into
MODOT, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Talking, in the hopes that
he could use his superhuman talking abilities to talk their supervisors
into increasing the Cleveland AIM branch's budget - or at least teach
them how to talk to attractive women. Instead, he became a megalomaniac,
seizing control of the base and devoting his energies to manipulating
the mass media with an army of robotic pundits. However, his only aim in
doing so was to make enough money to win fame and fortune despite his
grotesque appearance.
(Howard the Duck III#1 (fb)) -Seeing 66 and 77 as his "daddies," MODOT assigned them the easiest tasks at the base out of gratitude.
(Howard the Duck III#4 (fb)) - Eventually, MODOT
controlled over three hundred robots, including sixty talk show hosts,
seventy-eight bloggers, fifty-four news anchors and
one-hundred-and-thirty pundits.
(Howard the Duck III#1) - While MODOT's Frank Wayne and Johnny Shuster robots were broadcasting about a missing cheerleading squad, Agents 66 and 77 suffered an explosive mishap that interrupted the broadcast. MODOT punished them painfully. Later, he viewed a comical video on MeTube, depicting Howard the Duck escaping and humiliating the Twin Barrels, who were attempting to hunt him. He immediately began to plot...
(Howard the Duck III#2) - MODOT manipulated the media to make the Howard video go viral and arranged for him to be booked on Some Time with Bill Hammer, hosted by one of his androids. He received a briefing from Agent 3, who he insisted on talking to about debt in the developing world and fluffy kitties. The Hammer android began to question whether Howard was a legal immigrant but the taping quickly descended into mayhem when local hunters attempted to shoot Howard and the Hammer android was shot in the head, disabling it. 66 and 77 hauled the android back to MODOT, who insisted it could be repaired and put back on the air; meanwhile, Howard was blamed for the shooting of another guest on the show and imprisoned.
(Howard the Duck III#3) - MODOT continued to use his
android pundits to push the Howard story. Among them was Barry Kingman,
a talk show host who had Howard's companion Beverly Switzler on his show
when he began to malfunction. He berated 66 and 77 for failing to
maintain the android then detailed his plans to expand into Japan,
Europe and Dubai. Later, as he continued to manipulate the media, he
was spied upon by Howard and Beverly, who had discovered his secret
base. However, when he attempted to expose him, he was instead
imprisoned at the Cleveland Zoo.
(Howard the Duck III#4) - MODOT delighted as the Howard
story continued to dominate the airwaves. He was surprised to see that
even the US President had become involved and planned to make a speech
in Cleveland regarding the issue. When Howard escaped the zoo, a number
of MODOT's robotic reporters (and some real ones) followed him and the
police chased him as he raced to the train station - and right into
MODOT's lair. Threatened with exposure, MODOT ordered his men to
evacuate to Dayton as soon as his robots could sign off. It was too
late, however, as Howard led the media right to him. He attempted to
kill Howard with a barrage of poison-tipped "talking points" but the
duck evaded them. He then tried to distract everyone with broadcasts of
Shark Week but Howard blasted him with one of the Twin Barrels'
proton-anti-proton rifles. A singed MODOT was consoled by a drunken
Agent 77 and presumably was taken away by the police.
Comments: Created by Ty Templeton, Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa.
If I had to guess, I'd say MODOT resulted from Ty
Templeton hearing the phrase "talking head" used to refer to a TV
pundit.
It is unclear if MODOT replaced real people with his
robots, or if they were entirely fabricated.
Although never seen on-panel or named, dialogue clearly
implies MODOT controlled Wolf Blitzer, Bill O'Reilly, Martha Stewart,
Oprah Winfrey and many others.
Frank Wayne and Johnny Shuster are named after
long-running Canadian comedy duo Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. Bill
Hammer and Barry Kingman are clear parodies of Bill Maher and Larry
King, respectively.
Agents 66 and 77 are said to work in "Sector 7-G," the same place Homer Simpson works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
Profile by Minor Irritant.
CLARIFICATIONS:
MODOT, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Talking, is part of a
shared design lineage with, but should be distinguished from:
(Howard the Duck III#3 (fb)/Howard the Duck III#4 (fb)) - Cleveland-based
AIM agents 66 and 77 lured their colleague Dimitri Smirkov into a
mutagenic chamber and mutated him into MODOT, the Mental Organism
Designed Only for Talking, in the hopes that he could use his superhuman
talking abilities to talk their supervisors into increasing the
Cleveland AIM branch's budget - or at least teach them how to talk to
attractive women. Instead, he became a megalomaniac, seizing control of
the base and devoting his energies to manipulating the mass media with
an army of robotic pundits.
(Howard the Duck III#1 (fb)) - Seeing 66 and 77 as his "daddies," MODOT assigned them the easiest tasks at the base out of gratitude; 77 was assigned to module maintenance, while 66 kept the snack machines in the lounge well-stocked.
(Howard the Duck III#1) - Agents 66
and 77 suffered an explosive mishap that interrupted the broadcast.
MODOT punished them painfully.
(Howard the Duck III#2) - 66 and 77 swiped a bunch of food from the craft services table of Some Time with Bill Hammer, which was being filmed in the train station above their base. While leaving, they were spotted by Howard the Duck, who nearly followed them into the secret passageway. When Hammer was shot in the head during the filming, 66 and 77 brought the deactivated robot back to MODOT, who demanded that they fix it.
(Howard the Duck III#3) - 66 and 77 hauled away Barry Kingman when the robot talk show host suffered an on-air malfunction. They also spied on MODOT's old rivals, the Twin Barrels, and discovered that they had begun to suspect malfeasance in the Howard the Duck affair. When they reported to MODOT, he berated them for letting Kingman break down. They both lamented having ever created MODOT.
(Howard the Duck III#4) - With MODOT's plans in ascendance,
the regretful 66 and 77 got extremely drunk, even as Howard the Duck,
the news media, the police and the US President invaded their base.
Eventually, several of their fellow AIM agents hauled them away as they
escaped, planning to put them in the mutagenic chambers - because "you
can never have enough variations of MODOKs."
66 is the Caucasian guy, 77 is the African-American guy.
--Howard the Duck III#1 (Howard the Duck III#1 (fb), 1-4,
--Howard the Duck III#2
--Howard the Duck III#3
images: (without ads)
Howard the Duck III#1, p10, pan4 (main image)
Howard the Duck III#3,
p18, pan4 (broadcasting)
Howard the Duck III#4, p20, pan4 (66 and 77)
Howard the Duck III#2, p14, pan4 (Bill Hammer)
Howard the Duck III#3, p4, pan4 (Barry Kingman)
Appearances:
Howard the Duck III#1-4 (December, 2007-March, 2008) - Ty Templeton
(writer), Juan Bobillo (pencils), Marcelo Sosa (inks), Aubrey Sitterson
(editor)
First Posted: 08/01/2020
Last updated: 08/01/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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