Mad Mod
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| Mad Mod | |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Teen Titans #7 (1967) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Neil Richards |
Mad Mod is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He was until recently an enemy of the superhero team, the Teen Titans.
[edit] Comic Book
One of the first villains ever to menace the Teen Titans, Mad Mod (real name Neil Richards) was a Carnaby Street fashion designer with no actual superpowers of his own. His assumed name is derived from the Mod style popular in England at the time. He used his label as a front to smuggle goods inside his clothing. After being foiled, he later hatched a plot to steal the Queen of England's scepter, but was stopped as well.
In later years, he went straight and reappeared in Teen Titans vol. 2 as an ally of Mr. Jupiter, where he designed the costumes of the new incarnation of the Titans. Mad Mod label "retro" clothing has occasionally been seen in the DCU since.
The term "Mad Mod, Poet God" was used by Peter Milligan for the unrelated DC character Shade the Changing Man. Another unrelated DC character is the "Mad Mod Witch" from The Unexpected, later revealed to be a resident of the Dreaming known as "the Fashion Thing".
[edit] In the animated series
Mad Mod, voiced by Malcom McDowell, has no superpowers of his own, but he has a technologically enhanced cane, which he uses to control a variety of machines such as robots and holographic projectors. He can also use his cane to drain the youth from someone, making them old and him young again. He has an English accent and is utterly anglophilic (Ironically, mods and skinheads often had affection for African American or Afro-Caribbean culture like Motown and reggae as well as English culture). Moddie, as he often calls himself, tends to view the Titans as rebellious "snots", and claims that they show no respect for their elders.
In "Mad Mod", his first appearance, he kidnaps the Titans and places them in his "school" (really just one big illusion), where he attempts to teach them to behave. When his attempts to hypnotize them fail, he leads them on a long chase through his ever-changing school. They escape when upon finally reaching him, Robin realizes that the Mad Mod in the room with them is as fake as everything else; he then notices a break in the wall of the room, allowing him to penetrate into the control room of the real Mad Mod, who is in actuality a sickly-looking bent old man sitting behind an advanced looking computer controlling the entire school and the holograms of his younger self, and knock him out.
In his next appearance, "Revolution", Mad Mod remakes the entire city in the image of old England by using hypno-screens to control the populace and giant illusions to change the look of the entire city to that of merry old London. He also kidnaps Robin and uses his staff to drain his youth, reducing Robin to a decrepit and helpless old man while Mad Mod becomes his young self again. The other Titans are initially prevented from reaching Mad Mod and freeing Robin by various large robots modeled after the Coldstream Guards. Eventually the Titans succeed in knocking the cane out of Mad Mod's hand, which Robin then uses to reverse its aging effects. He then breaks the cane, ending Mad Mod's rule over the city by deactivating his equipment.
He also made a cameo appearance (in his old age) in "The Lost Episode" as one of the audience in the orchestra and last seen fleeing when Punk Rocket strikes.
Mad Mod later has several small appearances as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil where he is somehow young again. He was last seen fighting in "Titans Together" where he was blown off his feet by Beast Boy in Tyrannosaurus form. He was then flash-frozen with the rest of the Brotherhood.
The character was bizarre, even by the cartoony Titans series' standards. His ability to produce illusions resulted in surreal, 60's styled landscapes, and allowed "Moddie" to appear in several different forms; even appearing stylized in the manner of God as he appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or becoming a rounded, Blue Meanie-esque creature.
[edit] Comics
In Teen Titans Go, the comic based on the cartoon, Mad Mod tries to rule the world by selling people clothes that control their minds, and soon the civilians plus Beast Boy and Starfire are under Mad Mod's control and attack the remaining Titans. Cyborg uses a sonic device to destroy Mad Mod's clothes, which leaves everyone that wore the clothes naked. The Teen Titans then stop Mad Mod.
