MODOK is one of Marvel's most iconic villains. He has all the makings of a classic rogue: the inferiority complex, the nefarious schemes, the physical grotesqueness. Originally appearing in 1967 as a Captain America villain, MODOK was not always the evil super-genius that readers have come to know and love. Before he was the Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing he was just George Tarleton, an ordinary technician. However, Tarleton's mind and body were forever altered by his superiors at Advanced Idea Mechanics. The infamous A.I.M. did not yet understand the monster they were creating.
After Tarleton began mutating as a result of the experiments conducted on him, he developed amazing cognitive abilities and computer-like intelligence. Tarleton became a super-genius but at the cost of having his body change dramatically. The ordinary man's head grew to a size his body could no longer sustain and his limbs became feeble. The A.I.M. scientists hoped to create a Mobile Organism Designed Only for Computing but made one fatal mistake: their computing machine still contained a human element, resulting in the creation of a murderous genius with his own goals and ambitions. Tarleton murdered his A.I.M. bosses as MODOK and initiated one of the most hostile takeovers in Marvel Comic history, killing his way to the top of A.I.M.
MODOK's name has been synonymous with A.I.M. for decades, they ever appear in 2020's Avengers videogame together with Tarleton as the main antagonist. In MODOK Head Games #1 by Jordan Blum, Patton Oswalt, Scott Hepburn, and Carlos Lopez, MODOK loses his mind, his team, and his job. The villain has been day-dreaming during capers and his peers have taken notice. At times he experiences full-blown hallucinations of memories he does not believe to be his own. His performance has been so dampened by the visions that his team has come to an extreme decision.
MODOK has officially received the boot from A.I.M. Instead of a cardboard box to pack his personals in, he received a beat down from former teammate Monica Rappaccini and the other members of the organization. MODOK is the weakest link due to his mental unfitness and is voted out. He narrowly escapes his former coworkers and seeks help from the only man who could understand why his systems are failing: Iron Man.
A.I.M. without MODOK is similar to The Avengers without Cap; it can exist but what's a team without its fearless leader. The smartest (and possibly craziest) Marvel supervillain is on a quest to get his groove back and has turned to the unlikeliest of allies. The super-genius has lost a vital part of himself after being forced to part ways with A.I.M. Will Tony Stark help one of Marvel's most iconic villains get back to the top of his organization of evil?