Mad Mod

Mad Mod is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He was until recently an enemy of the superhero team, the Teen Titans.

Fictional character biography

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.

Powers and abilities

During the Mad Mod's heyday as a villain, he would match his outrageous clothing with a way out approach in his intricate but deadly traps. He would employ a gang of toughs to do most of the handiwork that needed muscle.

Mad Mod term

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".

In other media

Television

• Mad Mod appeared in the Teen Titans TV series voiced by Malcolm McDowell. Mad Mod has no superpowers of his own, but he is a master of technological trickery such as robots and holographic projectors, which he controls with a ruby-handled cane. 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. In one circumstance, he was able to use such a cane to drain the youth from someone, making them old and him young again. He has an English accent and is utterly anglophilic. Moddie, as he often calls himself, tends to view the Titans as rebellious "snots", and claims that they show no respect for their elders. He has an odd habit of calling the Titans "[his] duckies". He first appears in "Mad Mod" where he kidnaps the Titans and places them in a psychedelic "school." He attempts to "teach them to behave" through hypnosis, using methods similar to the Ludovico technique (used in A Clockwork Orange, which McDowell starred in). When his initial attempts fail, he leads them on a Scooby-Doo-like chase through a Yellow Submarine-esqe maze. The Titans escape when Robin realizes that Mad Mod they are chasing is as fake as the rest of their surroundings; he thus abandons his attempts to capture him in favor of searching for flaws in the illusion. He quickly notices one - Mod's weapons have made an intriguing hole in the backdrop, which leads into the illusion's internal works. This enables him to confront the real Mad Mod in the illusion's control room - a sickly-looking old man using an advanced computer to control the entire school and the holograms of his younger self. Robin has no trouble defeating him. In "Revolution", Mad Mod crashes the Independence Day celebration claiming that the American Revolution was a hoax. He then remakes the entire city in the image of old England by using hypno-screens to control the population and giant illusions to change the look of the entire city to that of merry old London claiming that "the United States belongs to England again." Mad Mod also kidnaps Robin and uses his staff to drain his youth, reducing Robin to a weak 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 and Mad Mod anticipating their plans. 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. The Titans then chase after Mad Mod. Mad Mod's aged form made a cameo appearance 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. In "Revved Up," Mad Mod was seen taking part in Ding Dong Daddy's race. He was last seen fighting in "Titans Together" where he was blown off his feet by Beast Boy's Tyrannosaurus form. He was briefly possessed by Jericho, and then was crushed by Overload. Jericho then left his body. He was then flash-frozen with the rest of the Brotherhood.

Videogames

• Mad Mod is an unlockable character in the "tournament of heroes" mode in the Console videogame based on the Teen Titans animated series voiced by Greg Ellis. He appears although he isn't included in the adventure mode like Control Freak, Blackfire, and others that appear in the tournament mode.

Others

• 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.

• Mad Mod appeared in issue 7 of the comic book tie-in to Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He captures almost all of Doom Patrol and plans to duplicate their costume to sell to other villains only to be defeated by the team and Batman. He appears again in the 15th issue,only to be stopped by Batman, Super-Hip, and Brother Power the Geek.

References