{"id":735,"date":"2007-06-21T18:13:21","date_gmt":"2007-06-21T22:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=735"},"modified":"2007-06-21T18:13:21","modified_gmt":"2007-06-21T22:13:21","slug":"there%e2%80%99s-a-whole-lot-of-modok-going-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=735","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a Whole Lot of M.O.D.O.K. Going On."},"content":{"rendered":"

Head on over to The Pulse to check out an article they’re running there by me all about MODOK<\/a>, in which I examine the character’s newound semi-ironic poplarity among mainstream readers and indie hipsters alike.\u00a0 Also included are some excerpts from James Sturm’s super-rare tribute to “The Rhino,” a few tidbits from The Journal of Modok Studies<\/em>, and interviews with both J.O.M.S.<\/em> author Robert Newsome and Kirby scholar Dr. Craig Fischer.\u00a0 Here’s a bit of the article–link at the bottom goes to the full thing posted at The Pulse:<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a whole lot of M.O.D.O.K. going on.<\/p>\n

George Bush\u2019s<\/strong> approval ratings may be in the pits, but M.O.D.O.K.\u2019s cultural cache has never been better. Ten years ago, if you\u2019d asked your average fanboy who M.O.D.O.K. was, you\u2019d have been met with a blank stare, but these days you can\u2019t swing a dead cat in your local comics shop without hitting some kind of M.O.D.O.K.ery. This once obscure Marvel<\/strong> villain, spawn of Jack Kirby<\/strong> and Stan Lee<\/strong> from a 1967 issue of Tales of Suspense<\/strong>, is now the cock of the walk in the Marvel universe, featured in the recent All-M.O.D.O.K. Ultimate Avengers<\/strong> issue, in which the entire Avengers team become \u201cM.O.D.O.K.s\u201d; starring in his own miniseries, M.O.D.O.K.\u2019s Eleven<\/strong>; getting off one of the bawdiest gags in Marvel\u2019s<\/strong> history in their recent holiday special; and even appearing as a Marvel Legends<\/strong> \u201cbuild-a-figure,\u201d available only as a piece-by-piece collectable, packed in, one appendage at a time, with other figures.<\/p>\n

M.O.D.O.K.\u2019s newfound stardom isn\u2019t confined to the hallowed halls of your local \u201cAndroid\u2019s Dungeon\u201d comics shop, though. Wandering the isles of indy comics festivals like SPX or MoCCA these days, it\u2019s not unusual to overhear alt-comics hipsters expound upon the virtues of M.O.D.O.K. with the same studied reverence with which they discuss the latest offerings from Top Shelf, Fantagraphics<\/strong> and Drawn and Quarterly<\/strong>. M.O.D.O.K.ery has even oozed out of the seedy world of comics nerddom into the (relatively) mainstream world of animation: The Toonami<\/strong> series Megas XLR<\/strong> features an obvious M.O.D.O.K. homage (albeit one with the face of Bruce Campbell<\/strong>) and Disney<\/strong> has even gotten in on the act with their own faux-DOC., Technor, from their series Teamo Supremo<\/strong>.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(more…)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Head on over to The Pulse to check out an article they’re running there by me all about MODOK, in which I examine the character’s newound semi-ironic poplarity among mainstream readers and indie hipsters alike.\u00a0 Also included are some excerpts from James Sturm’s super-rare tribute to “The Rhino,” a few tidbits from The Journal of … <\/p>\n

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