MORDECAI MIDAS
Real Name: Mordecai Midas
Identity/Class: Human, technology user
Occupation: Criminal, Billionaire business magnate
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Harry Key, Abraham Klein, Madame Masque (former)
Enemies: Iron Man (Tony Stark), Jack of Hearts, The Wraith (Brian DeWolff), Capt. Jean DeWolff, Eddie March, Guardsman (Michael O'Brien), Jasper Sitwell, Madame Masque
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Greece, near the
Aegean Sea; formerly the Flying Fortress; unknown psychiatric
hospital;
born in Athens, Greece
First Appearance: Iron Man I#17 (September, 1969)
Powers: Midas' primary weapon is his Hover Chair (used to support his girth) which is equipped with the following: power beams, force field, missiles, heat-seeking detecto antenna, heat-seeking anti-personnel missiles, grappling claws, electric charges, and an electrified base.
His Flying Fortress resembled an ancient Greek city.
Midas also utilized an army of "centurions," his personal warriors, armed with various forms of weaponry. At one point, they utilized supersonic aircraft armed with "lightning simulator" weapons which fired powerful electric bolts.
Later, Midas gained a 'Midas Touch' (via powered glove units), the ability to touch anything, human or otherwise, and encase it in a gold-like substance. Humans thus transformed would remain paralyzed in place but unharmed if turned back. It was ineffective on Jack of Hearts, and only transformed Iron Man's outer shell of armor, not the man himself. The gloves also allowed him to fire electric blasts or to transmit the 'Midas Touch' over a short distance.
In his golden form, Midas no longer needed air, sunlight, sleep or even food--except for gold, which Midas could absorb through his skin. The only thing allowing Midas mobility was an electrode that kept his metallic structure unstable. He possessed superhuman strength (Class 25-50?) and durability (roughly equivalent to solid gold).
Mordecai Midas is extensively self-educated, equivalent to college level, especially in economics and business administration. He has genius level intelligence, and he is a master strategist and tactician, as well as a skilled businessman. In his normal form, due to his weight, he requires the use of his floating throne/hover chair or his exo-skeleton to move.
Physical Description: Initially, he dressed akin to classical Greek/Roman emperors and expected those who had audiences with him to be dressed in silken robes of gold. He is enormously fat and requires his hover chair for mobility.
Height: 6'6".......Weight: 850#........Eyes: Brown.......Hair: Black
History: (Iron Man I#17 (fb)) - Mordecai Midas was born in Athens, Greece, a starving street urchin forced to beg in order to survive. Apparently, he became involved in various (shady) business enterprises and eventually created a base of financial power while obsessively trying to become 'the richest man in the world'. This hunger for power was also reflected in his appetite as he became very obese to the point of needing a special hover chair to move about (overcompensating for when he was a starving beggar, perhaps). His base of operation was in the Aegean Sea and was decorated with columns and statuary in the mode of ancient Greek architecture.
BTS - Midas rescued Whitney Frost, the former Maggia leader (Big "M") from a sinking ship and gave her a golden mask to hide her now scarred features, thus leading to the birth of Madame Masque.
(Iron Man I#17) - Midas decided to become the richest man on Earth, and attempted to take over Stark Industries to further this goal. With information garnered by Tony Stark's cousin, Morgan Stark, Midas sent Madame Masque to sabotage Stark Industries as well as sending out a ship to strike down Iron Man with a lightning simulator. Midas hoped to kill both Stark and Iron Man, and Morgan Stark would then inherit the business and later sign all of his holdings over to Midas. Both attacks failed; however, the sabotage caused Stark's LMD (Life Model Decoy) to activate on its own and it began its own attempts to replace Stark with itself. The LMD succeeded, branding the real Stark an imposter, and Stark, penniless and on the run from the law, was captured by Madame Masque.
(Iron Man I#18) - Hearing of the Stark "imposter" (the real one), Midas again attempted to take over Stark Industries with the same scheme as before-- recruiting the "imposter" Stark (the actual Tony Stark) to hopefully take over Stark Industries and sign over the company to Midas. Midas sent the "phony" Stark with Madame Masque to invade Stark Industries, but they were attacked by the Tony Stark/Iron Man LMD. Tony Stark, in his original golden armor, battled and defeated the LMD, though the strain caused a near-fatal heart attack.
(Iron Man I#19) - Upon returning from the hospital after having his heart repaired, Stark was captured by Madame Masque and brought to Midas. Upon learning this was the true Tony Stark, Midas imprisoned Stark, informing him he must sign over his company or die. Later, Madame Masque had a romantic change of heart, and freed Stark. Donning his armor, Stark battled Midas, who used the weaponry of his floating hover chair and eventually used the chair itself to crash into Iron Man while electrified. Iron Man pulled himself free and in doing so knocked Midas out of his chair. Iron Man and Madame Masque escaped, while Midas struggled to regain his footing, but failed because of his massive weight. Midas' demolished chair began to spark, setting off its explosive armament and exploding, destroying Midas' base.
(Iron Man
I#103-107) - Midas returned years later to try and take over Stark International. Through the use of an agent, Abraham Klein (who had been blackmailed into Midas' service with the false hope that Midas held information on his missing wife and daughter), Midas stole Stark's patents and blackmailed his shareholders, effectively giving him (illegal) control over Stark International. In addition, Klein, a renowned engineer, created "the Midas Touch", technology that allowed Midas to touch any material and instantly transform it into a gold-like substance. Now armed with duplicates of Iron Man's armor and with the ability to walk via an exo-skeleton, Midas was prepared to expand his power and achieve world domination
Iron Man soon retaliated, along with Jack of Hearts, the Wraith, Guardsman, Madame Masque, Jasper Sitwell, Police Capt. Jean DeWolff, and Eddie March. Attacking Stark International (now remade into Midas International), the heroes were defeated by remote controlled robots wearing duplicate sets of Iron Man armor and turned into gold by Midas. Placed on display mounts, Jack of Hearts (because of his unique bio-chemistry) reverted back to normal, and flew off to exact revenge upon Midas. Iron Man, positioned as a golden statue nearby, was toppled from his perch by the force of Jack of Hearts take-off, and fell to the ground. Stark had sealed his armor prior to being touched by Midas, and pulled himself free from his shattered armor; cannibalizing armor from the previously defeated armor-wearing robots, he cobbled together a decent suit of armor and took off after Midas.
Midas easily defeated Jack of Hearts, knocking him unconscious with heat seeker anti-personnel missiles from his hover chair. However, Iron Man soon appeared, and knocked Midas off his chair with a repulsor blast. Iron Man was infuriated with the suffering his friends had endured (most notably his then-lover Madame Masque) and removed his face-plate to show Midas his true identity of Tony Stark, with the intention of killing him. Midas continued his attack with his exo-skeleton powered ability to walk, until the unexpected appearance of Marianne Rodgers, Tony Stark's one-time fiancee. Endowed with psychic powers which had driven her insane, and released from the sanitarium where she had resided, Rodgers sent out a psychic blast towards Iron Man, vowing revenge. Iron Man dodged the blast, which wound up striking Midas instead, reducing him to a mindless husk. (Man, I wish my ex's would come back and mind-wipe my enemies sometime! - ed caliban)
Midas was placed in an unnamed psychiatric hospital on full life-support.
(Marvel Super-Heroes III#13) - Years later, Iron Man returned to Greece to investigate the death of a private investigator hired to figure out who was stealing Stark's gold shipments. Iron Man came across a hidden underwater base and the minions of Midas (known as Centurions). Midas himself entered the fray, having been transformed into a living being of gold. Upon being mind blasted by Marianne Rodgers, Midas' gold touch had turned inward. Now Midas no longer needed air, sunlight, sleep or even food-- except for gold, which Midas could absorb through his skin. The only thing allowing Midas mobility was an electrode that kept his metallic structure unstable. Apparently this transformation gave Midas super-strength, as he was able to batter Iron Man mercilessly. In addition, because of Marianne's mind blast, Midas had forgotten Iron Man revealing his true identity. Defeated by Iron Man, Midas attempted to escape in a vehicle piloted by one of his Centurions, a personal bodyguard named Davos. However, the combined weight of Midas' gold form and the huge supply of gold he had stored on the escape craft proved too much, and Midas was accidentally tossed out into the ocean. Iron Man searched the ocean floor, but failed to locate Midas. But as he turned away, Midas' hand suddenly shot out of the ocean muck but began to freeze up on him and he could not grab the passing Iron Man. Midas' electrode had shorted out, and he slowly sank deeper into the mire.
(Iron Man III#1) - As Tony Stark announced the formation of Stark Solutions, Midas was among several foes of Iron Man's who vowed revenge upon him.
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and George Tuska.
In Iron Man III#1, Midas was in shadow, but apparently was either still in his gold/metallic form, or was wearing some sort of shiny metallic suit (the exo-skeleton?). As far as anyone knows, he's still plotting revenge, five years later--one of those moments we politely like to call "danglers".
Midas has a profile in the OHotMU Master Edition.
Profile by: Hugo V. Negron
Clarifications:
Midas should not be confused with:
Appearances:
Iron Man I#17-19 (September-November, 1969) - Archie Goodwin (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Johnny Craig (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#103-106 (October, 1977 - January, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man I#107 (February, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Keith Pollard (pencils), Fred Kida (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#13 (April, 1993)
Iron Man III#1 (February, 1998) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Sean Chen (pencils), Eric Cannon (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Last updated: 08/02/02
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