In my last post I mentioned how the M.O.D.O.K. comic I was commissioned to write and draw was originally supposed to be a digital exclusive, but at some point in the development cycle Marvel decided to print it as a one-shot as well.
They needed a cover they asked me if I had any ideas.
Did I ever!
.
Cover idea #1 - MODOK Guevara - This is a cool image, and I’m sure it’s how MODOK perceives himself, but it doesn’t really work with the story.
MOVIE POSTER PARODY IDEA #1 - The Breakfast Club. Pretty weak, and I’m not sure why I thought this was a good idea. It was shot down anyways since apparently another Marvel title had just done the exact same homage.
MOVIE POSTER PARODY IDEA #2 - Lost In Translation. This is a lot more relative to the plot, since it shows MODOK stuck in his childhood bedroom but it doesn’t quite come across since we never actually see his bedroom in the story itself and the story isn’t melancholy at all, so it didn’t really work.
MASTER OF HIS DOMAIN - Using the last one as a jumping off point, I drew this, and it was my favorite - MODOK is much more in character as the master of the world (globe) but only in his own imagination in his childhood bedroom. They didn’t quite like it, but they suggested I try a revised sketch of the next idea:
BIG HEAD STUCK IN THE COVER - This one was approved!
So I blew up, made some room for the logo and inked it:
and then colored it!
Best of all, I ended up donating this original art to a charity auction for Haiti earthquake relief and it raised $400!
But that wasn’t the end!
There was an opportunity to do one more MODOK comic, and they suggested I try and incorporate his buddies “The Inteligencia” into it - Dr Doom, The Leader, The Wizard, The Red Ghost & his three super-apes. I only had 8 pages, and it was a lot of characters, probably TOO many. So I did the smart thing and added more characters! I pitted them againt “The InSMELLigencia” a group of incredibly DUMB villains to counteract MODOK’s gang of smarty-pants - Rhino, Toad, Plant Man, The Vulture and the Wrecker. Still not satisfied, the 2 groups pulled a heist against Dr. Strange and Wong.
Oh, and was MODOK in disguise for most of the story:
It was a beautiful train wreck of gags that didn’t quite work as a story, but I got to draw a lot of Marvel super villains, and as far as I know it features the only on-panel Dr. Strange spit-take! It's no longer available on Marvel's site but it was reprinted in a deluxe hardcover edition of "Fall of the Hulks" - good luck tracking down a copy!
But my real idea for a MODOK sequel (which I ended up pitching right afterwards) had his continuing adventures as Erie, Pennsylvania's official super-hero, but since the city is so historically economically depressed they'd have no way to pay him, so M.O.D.O.K. would spend most of his time working a series of humiliating temp jobs to try and raise enough money take over A.I.M. again. He’d also fight Plant Man, who I characterized as a total stoner, because, you know - PLANTS. In the climax, he’d hot wire some used cars into a giant robot body for himself and form:
MODOKTRON.
And then he would battle a giant Plant-Man, leveling all of Erie, PA in the process, after which he'd just go strait back to being a villain.
Marvel didn’t go for it, so the world will forever be denied seeing M.O.D.O.K. as the world's worst Strip-O-Gram performer.
YES, REALLY.