The Defenders are a set of superhero groups with rotating membership appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . They are usually presented as a "non-team" of individualistic "outsiders" who, in their prior adventures, are known for following their own agendas. The team often battle mystic and supernatural threats.
149-749: MODOK ( / ˈ m oʊ d ɒ k / ; also written as M.O.D.O.K. ; an acronym for Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby , the character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #93 (September 1967). The first MODOK is George Tarleton , a former employee of Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), an arms-dealing organization specializing in futuristic weaponry, who undergoes substantial mutagenic medical experimentation originally designed to increase his intelligence. While successful,
298-649: A Defenders series with a mixture of classic and new members, which lasted for 12 issues. A television miniseries The Defenders premiered in 2017 on Netflix , with the team consisting of Daredevil , Jessica Jones , Luke Cage , and Iron Fist . The origin of the Defenders lies in two crossover story arcs by Roy Thomas prior to the official founding of the team. The first, in Doctor Strange #183 (November 1969), Sub-Mariner #22 (February 1970), and The Incredible Hulk #126 (April 1970) occurred due to
447-428: A numeronym . For example, "i18n" abbreviates " internationalization ", a computer-science term for adapting software for worldwide use; the "18" represents the 18 letters that come between the first and the last in "internationalization". Similarly, "localization" can be abbreviated "l10n"; " multilingualization " "m17n"; and " accessibility " "a11y". In addition to the use of a specific number replacing that many letters,
596-645: A single word ("television" or "transvestite", for instance), and is in general spelled without punctuation (except in the plural). Although "PS" stands for the single English word " postscript " or the Latin postscriptum , it is often spelled with periods ("P.S.") as if parsed as Latin post scriptum instead. The slash ('/', or solidus ) is sometimes used to separate the letters in an acronym, as in "N/A" ("not applicable, not available") and "c/o" ("care of"). Inconveniently long words used frequently in related contexts can be represented according to their letter count as
745-480: A brief run by Gerry Conway abruptly ended in mid-production on issue #45. David Anthony Kraft and Roger Slifer volunteered to write the series, but issue #45 had no written plot, having been drawn by Giffen following a story conference with Conway. Kraft and Slifer were unable to contact either Conway or Giffen, and so had to puzzle out Conway's plot from the unscripted artwork. David Anthony Kraft's run as writer included "The Scorpio Saga" (issues #46, 48–50) and
894-488: A chain of events leading to the destruction of the universe. In the final issue, Dr. Strange changes the past so that the reunion never happens, thus erasing all the events of the series. February 2013 saw the debut of The Fearless Defenders , a series written by Cullen Bunn with artwork by Will Sliney . Bunn said that he had wanted to write the series, which centers on a new team of Valkyrior , led by Valkyrie and Misty Knight , after writing Fear Itself: The Fearless . It
1043-741: A character named MODORD (Mental Organism Designed Only for Roller Derby). During the Secret Wars storyline, the Battleworld domain of Killville is based on a reality where MODOK killed every known superhero, which resulted in its citizens being in constant danger from every supervillain and murderer in Killville. In the pages of Spider-Gwen , which takes place on Earth-65, Captain America fights against MODAAK (Mental Organism Designed As America's King). The author based this character on
1192-463: A custom selection of heroes chosen for the mission at hand. At various times, War Machine , Darkhawk , Thunderstrike , Wolverine , the second Spider-Woman , Ant-Man , Iceman , Nomad , and many others were members. At the end of its existence, the group had a somewhat regular composition, including Cadaver, Sepulchre , Joshua Pryce, and Doctor Druid. In the Ultimate Marvel universe,
1341-680: A different meaning. Medical literature has been struggling to control the proliferation of acronyms, including efforts by the American Academy of Dermatology. Acronyms are often taught as mnemonic devices: for example the colors of the rainbow are ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). They are also used as mental checklists: in aviation GUMPS stands for gas-undercarriage-mixture-propeller-seat belts. Other mnemonic acronyms include CAN SLIM in finance, PAVPANIC in English grammar, and PEMDAS in mathematics. It
1490-460: A distraction. The plans themselves are coordinated by a "cluster" of brains, cloned from MODOK's own, who act as one non-sentient supercomputer . This cluster is destroyed by the Red Hulk and the doomsday plans are stopped. However, one of the cloned brains, rather than being utilized as an organic computer, is allowed to develop naturally and then uploaded with MODOK's mind. This new MODOK (who has
1639-473: A female counterpart (the first) of himself. Horrified by MODOK's callous disregard for life, Waynesboro demands to be returned to human form and MODOK willingly complies. Wishing to disassociate themselves from MODOK for good, A.I.M. hires the Serpent Society to assassinate the villain. They succeed, with Death Adder striking the killing blow. The Serpent Society returns MODOK's corpse to A.I.M., with
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#17327942043231788-740: A ghoulish return in Iron Man #205 (April 1986). During the Taking A.I.M. storyline in Avengers #386–387 (May–June 1995), Captain America #440 (June 1995), The Avengers #388 (July 1995) and Captain America #441 (July 1995), MODOK is resurrected. More typical attempts to better the character's situation followed in Iron Man/Captain America Annual 1998 ; The Defenders (vol. 2) #9–10 (Nov.–Dec. 2001); Wolverine (vol. 2) #142–143 (Sept.– Oct. 1999); Captain America and
1937-447: A group, would be responsible for destroying the world. While The Beast reforms the team as an official superhero team complete with government clearance. DeMatteis stayed on for only six issues of The New Defenders before turning it over to writer Peter Gillis , whose run was marked by shorter, more personal stories. Gillis recounted, "I had been working for a while at Marvel, and was constantly pumping for more work, and specifically
2086-781: A medial decimal point . Particularly in British and Commonwealth English , all such punctuation marking acronyms and other capitalized abbreviations is now uncommon and considered either unnecessary or incorrect. The presence of all-capital letters is now thought sufficient to indicate the nature of the UK , the EU , and the UN . Forms such as the U.S.A. for "the United States of America " are now considered to indicate American or North American English . Even within those dialects, such punctuation
2235-518: A new form during a confrontation with the newest incarnation of the West Coast Avengers (of which Gwen Poole is now a member), appearing as an attractive, long-haired man, calling himself BRODOK (Bio-Robotic Organism Designed Overwhelmingly for Kissing) and insisting that he was now reformed. The team eventually exposed his scheme to turn various citizens of Los Angeles into giant mindless monsters and defeated him, reverting him back to
2384-662: A one-shot issue (one of 24) that is part of the Amalgam Comics imprint, which is itself part of the four-issue miniseries DC vs. Marvel . MODOK is crossed with the DC Comics character Hector Hammond to form H.E.C.T.O.R. (Highly Evolved Creature Totally Oriented for Revenge), who is the leader of the Weaponers of A.I.M. (a cross between DC's the Weaponers of Qward and Marvel's A.I.M.) A Marvel Zombies MODOK
2533-407: A period when the letters are pronounced individually, as in " K.G.B. ", but not when pronounced as a word, as in " NATO ". The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the punctuation scheme. When a multiple-letter abbreviation is formed from a single word, periods are in general not used, although they may be common in informal usage. "TV", for example, may stand for
2682-515: A rotating line-up from 1972 until 1986, with Dr. Strange and the Hulk being usually constant members along with a number of other mainstays such as Valkyrie , Nighthawk , Hellcat , Gargoyle , Beast , the Son of Satan and Luke Cage , and many temporary members. The publication was retitled near the end of the run as The New Defenders but featured none of the original members and only Valkyrie, Beast and
2831-747: A secret organization of genius-level supervillains. During the Fall of the Hulks storyline, it is revealed that MODOK is a member of the Intelligencia, a secret organization of genius-level supervillains who had a part in the creation of both the Red Hulk and the Red She-Hulk. They captured some of the smartest men in the world and brought about the events that would lead up to the World War Hulks storyline. When several heroes are subjected by
2980-691: A series of my own. So when I heard DeMatteis was leaving Defenders , I was in [editor] Carl Potts ' office like a shot, and I got the gig." Though the series remained a modest hit through the Gillis/Perlin run, it was cancelled to make room in Marvel's production schedule for the New Universe line. The final issue was The New Defenders #152. In the final issue, several members (Gargoyle, Moondragon and Valkyrie), plus allies ( Andromeda , Manslaughter , Interloper ) seemingly die in battle with
3129-436: A single word, such as NATO (as distinct from B-B-C )" but adds later "In everyday use, acronym is often applied to abbreviations that are technically initialisms, since they are pronounced as separate letters." The Chicago Manual of Style acknowledges the complexity ("Furthermore, an acronym and initialism are occasionally combined (JPEG), and the line between initialism and acronym is not always clear") but still defines
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#17327942043233278-735: A storyline in Sub-Mariner #49 (May 1972), before becoming the major villain in an extended storyline in The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #167–170 (Sept.–Dec. 1973). MODOK also participated in "The War of the Super-Villains" storyline in Iron Man #74–75 (May–June 1975). MODOK had a series of encounters with the superheroine Ms. Marvel in Ms. Marvel #5 (May 1977), 7 (July 1977) and 9–10 (Sept.–Oct. 1977). Constant battles against
3427-671: A team outside the Initiative with the Son of Satan , She-Hulk , Krang , and Nighthawk ( S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Joaquin Pennyworth). The team reappears in the mini-series Vengeance (2011). In the 2009 ongoing Hulk series (Issues #10–12), Red Hulk assembles a counter team of supervillains called the Offenders , which includes Baron Mordo , Terrax the Tamer , and Tiger Shark , and fights past versions of their enemies. During
3576-607: A truce to help fight the soldiers of the Serpent. During that time, MODOK Superior starts to develop a crush on Zero/One. In the prologue to the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, MODOK Superior targets an ex-A.I.M. scientist named Dr. Udaku who was being escorted to the Pentagon by Wakandan forces. Before MODOK Superior could kill Dr. Udaku, the Scarlet Witch arrives and fights MODOK Superior, while smaller MODOK pawns surround
3725-515: A twentieth-century phenomenon. Linguist David Wilton in Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends claims that "forming words from acronyms is a distinctly twentieth- (and now twenty-first-) century phenomenon. There is only one known pre-twentieth-century [English] word with an acronymic origin and it was in vogue for only a short time in 1886. The word is colinderies or colinda , an acronym for
3874-471: A word, an abbreviation is not an acronym." In contrast, some style guides do support it, whether explicitly or implicitly. The 1994 edition of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage defends the usage on the basis of a claim that dictionaries do not make a distinction. The BuzzFeed style guide describes CBS and PBS as "acronyms ending in S". Acronymy, like retronymy , is a linguistic process that has existed throughout history but for which there
4023-488: Is a question about how to pluralize acronyms. Often a writer will add an 's' following an apostrophe, as in "PC's". However, Kate L. Turabian 's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations , writing about style in academic writings, allows for an apostrophe to form plural acronyms "only when an abbreviation contains internal periods or both capital and lowercase letters". Turabian would therefore prefer "DVDs" and "URLs" but "Ph.D.'s". The style guides of
4172-504: Is a resistance against Morgan le Fay who has conquered half of Earth. In the Iron Man: Fatal Frontier storyline taking place on Earth-10429, a version of the Defenders consisting of Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor encountered Rescue, this reality's version of Ho Yinsen . After a brief fight over a misunderstanding, Rescue joins up with the Defenders. During the " Secret Wars " storyline, different versions of
4321-721: Is becoming increasingly uncommon. Some style guides , such as that of the BBC , no longer require punctuation to show ellipsis ; some even proscribe it. Larry Trask , American author of The Penguin Guide to Punctuation , states categorically that, in British English , "this tiresome and unnecessary practice is now obsolete." Nevertheless, some influential style guides , many of them American , still require periods in certain instances. For example, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage recommends following each segment with
4470-506: Is captured and taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. In GLX-Mas Special #1, MODOK and A.I.M. fought Dum Dum Dugan and his S.H.I.E.L.D. squad, but were defeated by Squirrel Girl and her squirrel sidekick Tippy-Toe. MODOK then seeks a sample of the cybernetic species the Phalanx , and after brief encounters with the mutant superhero team the X-Men , battles Ms. Marvel once again, with
4619-411: Is common for grammatical contractions (e.g. don't , y'all , and ain't ) and for contractions marking unusual pronunciations (e.g. a'ight , cap'n , and fo'c'sle for "all right", "captain", and "forecastle"). By the early twentieth century, it was standard to use a full stop/period/point , especially in the cases of initialisms and acronyms. Previously, especially for Latin abbreviations , this
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4768-631: Is especially important for paper media, where no search utility is available to find the first use.) It also gives students a convenient review list to memorize the important acronyms introduced in a textbook chapter. Expansion at first use and abbreviation keys originated in the print era, but they are equally useful for electronic text . While acronyms provide convenience and succinctness for specialists, they often degenerate into confusing jargon . This may be intentional, to exclude readers without domain-specific knowledge. New acronyms may also confuse when they coincide with an already existing acronym having
4917-621: Is exposed to the virus. Abandoned by A.I.M. for these failures, the character resurrects long-time Hulk foe the Abomination from the dead, planning to use the monster against his former organization. The plan fails when the Abomination is revealed to be mentally unstable to the point of sheer cowardice whenever he even hears the Hulk's name mentioned, although during the course of the storyline MODOK transforms Dr. Katherine "Kate" Waynesboro (an associate of Bruce Banner) into Ms. MODOK,
5066-596: Is formed from the Greek roots akro- , meaning 'height, summit, or tip', and -nym , 'name'. This neoclassical compound appears to have originated in German , with attestations for the German form Akronym appearing as early as 1921. Citations in English date to a 1940 translation of a novel by the German writer Lion Feuchtwanger . It is an unsettled question in English lexicography and style guides whether it
5215-464: Is generally said as two letters, but IPsec for Internet Protocol Security is usually pronounced as / ˌ aɪ ˈ p iː s ɛ k / or / ˈ ɪ p s ɛ k / , along with variant capitalization like "IPSEC" and "Ipsec". Pronunciation may even vary within a single speaker's vocabulary, depending on narrow contexts. As an example, the database programming language SQL is usually said as three letters, but in reference to Microsoft's implementation
5364-650: Is infected by the Gah Lak Tus probe, he is eventually reduced to a disembodied head. Another version of MODOK appeared in Ultimate Armor Wars #2, when Doctor Faustus revealed that he, too, was a cyborg and harbored a tiny MODOK inside his hollow head. At least four versions of MODOK, apparently based around Elvis Presley , were created by the Beyond Corporation to defend their secret weapons factory, State 51. They were defeated by
5513-446: Is its original meaning and in common use. Dictionary and style-guide editors dispute whether the term acronym can be legitimately applied to abbreviations which are not pronounced as words, and they do not agree on acronym spacing , casing , and punctuation . The phrase that the acronym stands for is called its expansion . The meaning of an acronym includes both its expansion and the meaning of its expansion. The word acronym
5662-550: Is legitimate to use the word acronym to describe forms that use initials but are not pronounced as a word. While there is plenty of evidence that acronym is used widely in this way, some sources do not acknowledge this usage, reserving the term acronym only for forms pronounced as a word, and using initialism or abbreviation for those that are not. Some sources acknowledge the usage, but vary in whether they criticize or forbid it, allow it without comment, or explicitly advocate it. Some mainstream English dictionaries from across
5811-459: Is not uncommon for acronyms to be cited in a kind of false etymology , called a folk etymology , for a word. Such etymologies persist in popular culture but have no factual basis in historical linguistics , and are examples of language-related urban legends . For example, " cop " is commonly cited as being derived, it is presumed, from "constable on patrol", and " posh " from " port outward, starboard home ". With some of these specious expansions,
5960-557: Is reunited with his father and A.I.M.'s true founder, Alvin Tarleton. Alvin reveals to MODOK Superior that he forced his son George to undergo the process of becoming the original MODOK against his will as, contrary to his origin, George was a rather inept employee at A.I.M. His wife Jodie was a manifestation of a program called JOD1E that was meant to sequester him. Now empowered with the knowledge of his true upbringing, MODOK Superior traps his father's consciousness inside his phone and uses
6109-576: Is seen being eaten by zombified versions of the She-Hulk and Hawkeye . Later, it is discovered that this universe's Ash Williams had watched this MODOK being devoured. An alternate version of MODOK appeared in Earth X . In recent history, MODOK, like every other telepath on the planet, was killed when the Red Skull 's powers first manifested. MODOK's Doomsday Chair, ironically, was later recovered by
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6258-680: Is so extraordinary that it bordered on precognition . His hunches are heightened to the degree they were almost always correct. He can recall every moment with his perfect memory. However, his creativity remains at an average human level. Courtesy of A.I.M. technology, MODOK wore a headband on his forehead that enables him to focus his mental power into devastating energy beams variously known as "Brain-Beams" or "Mind-Beams". He has vast psionic abilities, plus allowing him to contact others through telepathy , mentally control individuals or large groups, and generate force fields strong enough to withstand minor nuclear explosions. A side effect of this mutation
6407-691: Is thwarted by Iron Man and the superhero team the Champions . After an attempt to plunder the resources of the Savage Land and a battle with Ka-Zar and the Hulk, the character develops a new biological agent called Virus X. MODOK's attempts to test the agent on the homeless is prevented by the Thing , the Sub-Mariner and Captain America, although the villain escapes and the Thing almost dies when he
6556-415: Is traditionally pronounced like the word sequel . In writing for a broad audience, the words of an acronym are typically written out in full at its first occurrence within a given text. Expansion At First Use (EAFU) benefits readers unfamiliar with the acronym. Another text aid is an abbreviation key which lists and expands all acronyms used, a reference for readers who skipped past the first use. (This
6705-520: The Age of Ultron to keep Ultron from being created, a splinter timeline called Earth-26111 is created. In the new timeline, the Defenders became the world's premier superhero team after the disbanding of the Avengers. The new Defenders line-up consisted of Doctor Strange, Captain America , Wolverine, Janet Van Dyne as Captain Marvel , Thing , Scott Summers as Cable , Hulk , and Star-Lord . The group
6854-516: The Colonial and Indian Exposition held in London in that year." However, although acronymic words seem not to have been employed in general vocabulary before the twentieth century (as Wilton points out), the concept of their formation is treated as effortlessly understood (and evidently not novel) in an Edgar Allan Poe story of the 1830s, " How to Write a Blackwood Article ", which includes
7003-714: The Dr. Strange series being canceled in the middle of a story arc , leaving Thomas no choice but to resolve the storyline in other series that he wrote. In the story, Dr. Strange teams with Sub-Mariner and the Hulk to protect the Earth from invasion by Lovecraftian interplanar beings known as the Undying Ones and their leader, the Nameless One . Barbara Norriss, later the host of the Valkyrie , first appears in this story. In
7152-676: The Dragon of the Moon controlling Moondragon. The remaining mutant members leave the team to join X-Factor . Gillis has claimed that killing off the other members of the group was a directive from the editorial staff to free up the surviving members for usage in X-Factor , pointing out that he shortly after revived several of these seemingly-deceased members in issues of Solo Avengers , in Strange Tales vol. 2 #5–7, followed by issues #3–4 of
7301-914: The Falcon #9 (Jan. 2005) and Cable & Deadpool #11 (March 2005). The character then made three humorous appearances, in Wha...Huh? #1 (Sept. 2005); Marvel Holiday Special 2006 (Jan. 2007) and GLA-Xmas Special #1 (Feb. 2006). After appearing briefly in the mutant titles X-Men #200 (Aug. 2007) and The Uncanny X-Men #488 (Sept. 2007), MODOK was featured in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #14–17 (June–Sept. 2007) and appeared in two miniseries: Marvel 1985 #1–6 (July–Dec. 2008) and Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 #1–5 (Aug.–Dec. 2008). MODOK also featured in The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #600 (Sept. 2009); Astonishing Tales (vol. 2) #2 (May 2009) and
7450-623: The Modern Language Association and American Psychological Association prohibit apostrophes from being used to pluralize acronyms regardless of periods (so "compact discs" would be "CDs" or "C.D.s"), whereas The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage requires an apostrophe when pluralizing all abbreviations regardless of periods (preferring "PC's, TV's and VCR's"). Possessive plurals that also include apostrophes for mere pluralization and periods appear especially complex: for example, "the C.D.'s' labels" (the labels of
7599-684: The Nextwave Squad. Their principal mode of attack seemed to involve shooting cheeseburgers at their target. The following issue revealed that the Beyond Corporation was being run by a disguised infant MODOK Junior , apparently conceived by a MODOK and a MODAM. This MODOK escapes the Nextwave Squad, but it is subsequently killed by its master, Devil Dinosaur . A version of the character features in Iron Lantern #1,
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#17327942043237748-539: The Restoration witticism arranging the names of some members of Charles II 's Committee for Foreign Affairs to produce the "CABAL" ministry . OK , a term of disputed origin, dates back at least to the early nineteenth century and is now used around the world. Acronyms are used most often to abbreviate names of organizations and long or frequently referenced terms. The armed forces and government agencies frequently employ acronyms; some well-known examples from
7897-542: The Silver Age of Comic Books , MODOK has appeared in over four decades of Marvel continuity, and starred in the miniseries Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 #1–5 (Sept.–Dec. 2008), the self-titled one-shot M.O.D.O.K.: Reign Delay #1 (Nov. 2009) and the miniseries M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #1–4 (Dec. 2020–April 2021), the last of which was released as a promotion for the eponymous animated series M.O.D.O.K. (2021), in which MODOK (and his younger alternate self,
8046-620: The Silver Surfer and Iron Fist . The new series follows the reunion of the Defenders in Fear Itself: The Deep . During the battle against the Death Celestials the characters Black Cat , Nick Fury , and Ant-Man join the team. The series was cancelled at issue #12. Despite the prophecy supposedly being a hoax, the central storyline of the series involves a reunion of the original four Defenders setting off
8195-538: The Ultimates , and the Valkyrie was rewritten as having powers and skills akin to her Earth-616 counterpart, along with expertise in sword fighting, some degree of enhanced strength, and training by Thor. The Defenders return in Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates #1 (May 2010) with the original members now possessing superhuman abilities that fit their namesakes. It is revealed that Loki gave them these powers (Valkyrie included), to steal Thor's enchanted hammer Mjolnir . Following Wolverine 's murder of Hank Pym during
8344-480: The "Defenders" brand as "The Secret Defenders". The new team first appeared, unofficially, in Dr. Strange #50 and later Fantastic Four #374, before being officially introduced in Secret Defenders #1. The series' premise originally was that Doctor Strange would organize various teams of heroes for certain missions, with him as the leader. Members included Wolverine , Darkhawk , Spider-Woman , Spider-Man , Hulk, Nomad , Ghost Rider , and others. This lasted for
8493-640: The "Xenogenesis: Day of the Demons" storyline (issues #58–60). The "Defenders for a Day" storyline in issues #62–64 saw dozens of new applicants attempting to join the Defenders, as well as a number of villains attempting to present themselves as Defenders members in order to confuse the authorities and the public as they commit robberies. Kraft and artist Ed Hannigan explained some of the Valkyrie's backstory in The Defenders #66–68 (December 1978 – February 1979). At Kraft's request, Hannigan helped write issue #67 but found that he could not handle both writing and artwork at once, and so transitioned to being just
8642-480: The "belief" that the etymology is acronymic has clearly been tongue-in-cheek among many citers, as with "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden" for " golf ", although many other (more credulous ) people have uncritically taken it for fact. Taboo words in particular commonly have such false etymologies: " shit " from "ship/store high in transit" or "special high-intensity training" and " fuck " from "for unlawful carnal knowledge", or "fornication under consent/command of
8791-411: The 'Avengers' or the 'Invaders,' so Stan probably came up with that one." Due to the popularity of their tryout in Marvel Feature , Marvel soon began publishing The Defenders with Steve Englehart writing and Sal Buscema penciling, while Thomas moved into the editor's seat. Despite Lee's continuing edict on the use of the Silver Surfer, he approved Englehart's pitch to include the Silver Surfer in
8940-463: The 160-character SMS limit, and to save time, acronyms such as "GF" ("girlfriend"), "LOL" ("laughing out loud"), and "DL" ("download" or "down low") have become popular. Some prescriptivists disdain texting acronyms and abbreviations as decreasing clarity, or as failure to use "pure" or "proper" English. Others point out that languages have always continually changed , and argue that acronyms should be embraced as inevitable, or as innovation that adapts
9089-461: The 18 letters between the initial "i" and the final "n"). Authors of expository writing will sometimes capitalize or otherwise distinctively format the initials of the expansion for pedagogical emphasis (for example, writing: "the onset of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)" or "the onset of c ongestive h eart f ailure (CHF)"). Capitalization like this, however, conflicts with the convention of English orthography, which generally reserves capitals in
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#17327942043239238-476: The 2011 " Fear Itself " storyline, Doctor Strange forms a new version of the Defenders with Lyra (daughter of Hulk), Namor , Loa (a student of the X-Men ), and the Silver Surfer to confront Attuma who has become Nerkkod, Breaker of Oceans. Many past Defenders appear in the last issue. Marvel launched a new Defenders series in December 2011, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Terry Dodson. The new book features Doctor Strange , Red She-Hulk , Namor ,
9387-697: The Anomaly ) was voiced by Patton Oswalt . A different depiction of the character made his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), portrayed by Corey Stoll as Darren Cross . MODOK first appeared in Tales of Suspense #93–94 (Sept.–Oct. 1967), and became a recurring foe for the superhero Captain America , where he was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby . Writer Mike Conroy stated "Inevitably, he (MODOK) returned to plague Captain America, whose physical perfection he so resented." MODOK reappeared in Captain America #112 (April 1969), 120 (Dec. 1969) and 133 (Jan. 1971). The character also featured in
9536-442: The Avengers attempt to stop them, the body is revealed to be the latest vessel for the consciousness of Ultron. In the battle with the Avengers, MODOK Superior takes on Thor, claiming he has the power of a god – and being immediately struck down as a result. During the " Fear Itself " storyline, MODOK Superior reviews the attacks by Skadi and tells his followers that she is actually the Red Skull 's daughter Sin , who has tapped into
9685-411: The British press may render it "Nato"), but uses lower case in " Unicef " (from "United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund") because it is more than four letters, and to style it in caps might look ungainly (flirting with the appearance of "shouting capitals"). While abbreviations typically exclude the initials of short function words (such as "and", "or", "of", or "to"), this is not always
9834-493: The Cognoscenti. The series was canceled with Secret Defenders #25. In 2001–02, the Defenders reunited in Defenders (vol. 2) #1–12 created by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen , immediately followed by The Order #1–6, in which Yandroth manipulated Gaea into "cursing" the primary four Defenders (Doctor Strange, the Sub-Mariner, the Hulk, and the Silver Surfer) so that they would be summoned to major crisis situations. These members were then mind controlled by Yandroth into forming
9983-541: The Deathloks following him down into it as well. In the four-issue miniseries M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games , MODOK Superior begins to have vivid hallucinations of a family life with a human wife and son, named Jodie and Lou, and a similarly robot daughter named Melissa. Believing that he is malfunctioning, and his life threatened by Monica Rappaccini and the rest of A.I.M., MODOK Superior sets out to "fix" himself. After being briefly killed and resurrected by Gwen Poole, his search for answers leads him to his childhood home, where he
10132-692: The Defenders are a group of amateur vigilantes who dress up as superheroes. None of them have superpowers, although they claim to be experienced in crimefighting. Henry Pym is invited to join them, and he accepts, adopting a new identity, Ant-Man, to avoid the potential legal problems of using his growth serum, as it has become the official property of the government. Their members include Ultimate versions of Power Man , Hellcat , Nighthawk , Valkyrie , Black Knight , Son of Satan and Whiz-Kid . The Ultimate Defenders are much more interested in becoming celebrities rather than actually stopping crimes or saving lives. Since The Ultimates (vol. 3), Pym has rejoined
10281-503: The Defenders are featured: The Justice League two-part episode "The Terror Beyond" features Doctor Fate , Aquaman , Solomon Grundy , and Hawkgirl banding together to fight an ancient supernatural entity called Icthulhu. According to series developer Bruce Timm , the team was meant to be an explicit homage to the Defenders, with each member paralleling a different Marvel hero (Doctor Fate / Doctor Strange, Aquaman / Namor, Solomon Grundy / Hulk, and Hawkgirl / Nighthawk ). This homage
10430-520: The English-speaking world affirm a sense of acronym which does not require being pronounced as a word. American English dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster , Dictionary.com's Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary as well as the British Oxford English Dictionary and the Australian Macquarie Dictionary all include a sense in their entries for acronym equating it with initialism , although The American Heritage Dictionary criticizes it with
10579-496: The Gargoyle of the former long-term members. The concept was modified in the 1993–95 series Secret Defenders, in which Dr. Strange assembled different teams for each individual mission. The original team was reunited in a short-lived 2001 series by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen . In 2005 Marvel published a five-issue miniseries featuring the classic line-up by J. M. DeMatteis , Keith Giffen and Kevin Maguire . In December 2011 writer Matt Fraction and artist Terry Dodson launched
10728-531: The Intelligencia to the Cathexis ray, which can transfer radiant energy from one subject to another, Amadeus Cho is affected as well. Unlike the others, who become "Hulked-Out Heroes", his mind expands and becomes so powerful that he gains the ability to warp reality within a 10-foot radius. Using this power, he reverses the process that created MODOK, turning him back into George Tarleton, who knows no better than to get away as quickly as possible. George Tarleton
10877-482: The Marvel heroes followed, including Iron Man Annual #4 (Dec. 1977); Marvel Team-Up #104 (April 1981) and Marvel Two-in-One #81–82 (Nov.–Dec. 1981). Following a failed bid to use fellow Hulk foe the Abomination to achieve his ends in The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #287–290 (Sept.–Dec. 1983), MODOK is assassinated by the Serpent Society in Captain America #313 (Jan. 1986). The character's body makes
11026-605: The Scarlet Witch. In the nick of time, Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman arrive and help to defeat MODOK Superior and A.I.M. MODOK Superior and some rogue A.I.M. agents joined up with S.H.I.E.L.D. to make a deal to take down Andrew Forson (the then-current leader of A.I.M.). After a brief retirement, MODOK Superior returned and organized a group of assassins called the Agents of MODOK (Mercenary Organization Dedicated Only to Killing) where they killed evil people. However, he made
11175-672: The Skull's army and the Skull used it as his personal throne. In the pages of Avengers of the Wastelands , which takes place on Earth-21923 and serves as a sequel to Old Man Logan , MODOK is among the villains that attack Danielle Cage's group in Osborn County. He was killed by Viv Vision . A Dazzler -centered story, "Disco Highway", in issue #4 of the miniseries X-Men : Serve and Protect , released in February 2011, features
11324-564: The U.S. Navy, is "COMCRUDESPAC", which stands for "commander, cruisers destroyers Pacific"; it is also seen as "ComCruDesPac". Inventors are encouraged to anticipate the formation of acronyms by making new terms "YABA-compatible" ("yet another bloody acronym"), meaning the term's acronym can be pronounced and is not an offensive word: "When choosing a new name, be sure it is 'YABA-compatible'." Acronym use has been further popularized by text messaging on mobile phones with short message service (SMS), and instant messenger (IM). To fit messages into
11473-646: The Ultimate Mutant and the Wrecking Crew . Wein also added Nighthawk to the cast because, in his words, doing so "gave me a character to play with who didn't have a whole lot of previous history ... [a] character I could do anything I wanted to without worrying about how it would affect any other titles that character might appear in." Steve Gerber first worked on the characters in Giant-Size Defenders #3 (January 1975) and became
11622-560: The United States are among the " alphabet agencies " (jokingly referred to as " alphabet soup ") created under the New Deal by Franklin D. Roosevelt (himself known as "FDR"). Business and industry also coin acronyms prolifically. The rapid advance of science and technology also drives the usage, as new inventions and concepts with multiword names create a demand for shorter, more pronounceable names. One representative example, from
11771-411: The acronym may use normal case rules, e.g. it would appear generally in lower case, but with an initial capital when starting a sentence or when in a title. Once knowledge of the words underlying such an acronym has faded from common recall, the acronym may be termed an anacronym . Examples of anacronyms are the words " scuba ", " radar ", and " laser ". The word "an acro nym" should not be confused with
11920-590: The adoption of acronyms was modern warfare, with its many highly technical terms. While there is no recorded use of military acronyms dating from the American Civil War (acronyms such as "ANV" for " Army of Northern Virginia " post-date the war itself), they became somewhat common in World War I , and by World War II they were widespread even in the slang of soldiers, who referred to themselves as G.I.s . The widespread, frequent use of acronyms across
12069-548: The agreement to avoid an encounter with the superhero non-team the Defenders . MODOK next clashes with the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight before being captured by a group composed of U.S. Naval Intelligence and a drug cartel . MODOK is then lobotomized and employed to infiltrate spy satellites and manipulate the stock market , but he recovers from the lobotomy and exploits the situation to his own benefit until he
12218-736: The aid of a hoverchair. He had no designs of world conquest, but instead was only interested in making money; this may be because the branch of A.I.M. that created him did so specifically so he could talk the head office into increasing their budget. He ended up practically ruling the airwaves, influencing millions of viewers through 100 android hosts, anchormen and reporters, all controlled directly by him. Iron Man has an encounter with MODOG (Mobile Organism Designed Only for Genocide) in The Invincible Iron Man (vol. 2) #2. Iron Man dispatches him with ease, dumping him into outer space. The miniseries U.S. War Machine , published under
12367-506: The apostrophe should be reserved for the possessive ("the TV's antenna"). In some languages, the convention of doubling the letters in the acronym is used to indicate plural words: for example, the Spanish EE.UU. , for Estados Unidos ('United States'). This old convention is still sometimes followed for a limited number of English abbreviations, such as SS. for Saints , pp. for
12516-405: The banner of The Defenders. Announced on August 24, 2018, the creative teams were respectively: In August 2021, Marvel launched a new Defenders series. Written by Al Ewing with art by Javier Rodriguez, this new version of the team features Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Masked Raider , Red Harpy and Cloud. Before the publication of the fifth and final issue of the 2021 series it was teased that
12665-503: The bodies of leftover Super-Adaptoids to create solidified and weaponized versions of his imaginary family. Formerly, George Tarleton was subjected to a mutagenic process that granted him hyper-intelligence, thus sacrificing his body in exchange for the world's most humungous brain. He possesses highly enhanced intuition, pattern solving, information storage/retrieval, and logical/philosophical structuring. MODOK's unique ability to predict probable outcomes of tactical and strategic scenarios
12814-1163: The case. Sometimes function words are included to make a pronounceable acronym, such as CORE ( Congress of Racial Equality ). Sometimes the letters representing these words are written in lower case, such as in the cases of "TfL" (" Transport for London ") and LotR ( The Lord of the Rings ); this usually occurs when the acronym represents a multi-word proper noun. Numbers (both cardinal and ordinal ) in names are often represented by digits rather than initial letters, as in "4GL" (" fourth generation language ") or "G77" (" Group of 77 "). Large numbers may use metric prefixes , as with " Y2K " for "Year 2000". Exceptions using initials for numbers include " TLA " ("three-letter acronym/abbreviation") and "GoF" (" Gang of Four "). Abbreviations using numbers for other purposes include repetitions, such as " A2DP " ("Advanced Audio Distribution Profile"), " W3C " ("World Wide Web Consortium"), and T3 ( Trends, Tips & Tools for Everyday Living ); pronunciation, such as " B2B " ("business to business"); and numeronyms , such as "i18n" ("internationalization"; "18" represents
12963-410: The client, an old Doombot who escaped from a fight in the past with Squirrel Girl, against them) the organization was disbanded and everyone went their separate ways. After reuniting, the organization faces off against MODOK Superior when he returns from outer space, who decides to flee rather than fight them. MODOK Superior and a group of A.I.M. members attacked a HYDRA airship to capture Shiklah, who
13112-413: The compact discs). In some instances, however, an apostrophe may increase clarity: for example, if the final letter of an abbreviation is "S", as in "SOS's" (although abbreviations ending with S can also take "-es", e.g. "SOSes"), or when pluralizing an abbreviation that has periods. A particularly rich source of options arises when the plural of an acronym would normally be indicated in a word other than
13261-564: The contrived acronym "P.R.E.T.T.Y.B.L.U.E.B.A.T.C.H." The use of Latin and Neo-Latin terms in vernaculars has been pan-European and pre-dates modern English. Some examples of acronyms in this class are: The earliest example of a word derived from an acronym listed by the OED is "abjud" (now " abjad "), formed from the original first four letters of the Arabic alphabet in the late eighteenth century. Some acrostics pre-date this, however, such as
13410-649: The creation of another Cosmic Cube. In one of the attempts to create the Cube, MODAM is killed (or at least disappears). Eventually it is revealed that MODOK has actually been stranded in an alternate dimension, but manages to return to Earth with the unintended help of the supervillain team the Headmen . After attempting to steal a device that boosts mental power, MODOK agrees to aid the Headmen in their plans of conquest, but after taking control of A.I.M. once again he reneges on
13559-497: The decision to select other heroes for the team. The line-up is led by Nighthawk, with Blazing Skull , Colossus , and She-Hulk as members. The Defenders are assigned to New Jersey under the Fifty State Initiative , because the proximity to New York City demands more experienced heroes than can just be recruited from the ranks of Camp Hammond . The team is disbanded for incompetence but Richmond eventually founds
13708-438: The dictionary entries and style guide recommendations regarding the term acronym through the twentieth century did not explicitly acknowledge or support the expansive sense. The Merriam–Webster's Dictionary of English Usage from 1994 is one of the earliest publications to advocate for the expansive sense, and all the major dictionary editions that include a sense of acronym equating it with initialism were first published in
13857-664: The exclusive sense for acronym and its earliest citation was from 1943. In early December 2010, Duke University researcher Stephen Goranson published a citation for acronym to the American Dialect Society e-mail discussion list which refers to PGN being pronounced "pee-gee-enn", antedating English language usage of the word to 1940. Linguist Ben Zimmer then mentioned this citation in his December 16, 2010 " On Language " column about acronyms in The New York Times Magazine . By 2011,
14006-416: The experiments result in him developing a freakishly overdeveloped head and a stunted body, causing the character's signature look and use of a hoverchair for mobility. After the experiments, he kills his creators and takes control of A.I.M. Following Tarleton being changed back to normal, a MODOK clone is created to replace him which dubs himself MODOK Superior , becoming the enemy of Gwenpool . Debuting in
14155-763: The final word if spelled out in full. A classic example is "Member of Parliament", which in plural is "Members of Parliament". It is possible then to abbreviate this as "M's P", which was fairly common in mid-twentieth-century Australian news writing (or similar ), and used by former Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley . This usage is less common than forms with "s" at the end, such as "MPs", and may appear dated or pedantic. In common usage, therefore, "weapons of mass destruction" becomes "WMDs", "prisoners of war" becomes "POWs", and "runs batted in" becomes "RBIs". Abbreviations that come from single, rather than multiple, words – such as "TV" ("television") – are usually pluralized without apostrophes ("two TVs"); most writers feel that
14304-464: The first letter of acronyms, reserving all-caps styling for initialisms, writing the pronounced acronyms "Nato" and "Aids" in mixed case, but the initialisms "USA" and "FBI" in all caps. For example, this is the style used in The Guardian , and BBC News typically edits to this style (though its official style guide, dating from 2003, still recommends all-caps ). The logic of this style is that
14453-527: The first several months of the title, before Doctor Strange was removed from the book, due to the character being reassigned to the " Midnight Sons " line at Marvel. After an arc where the supervillain Thanos organized a team of "Secret Defenders" for a mission, leadership of the Secret Defenders passed to Doctor Druid and the series itself abandoned the revolving-door roster in favor of Druid and
14602-522: The founding members gather to battle the alien techno-wizard Yandroth and remain as a team afterward. Editor Stan Lee , wanting to write all of the Silver Surfer's stories personally, had asked other writers not to use the character, and suggested that Thomas use Doctor Strange instead. Thomas has also speculated that Lee came up with the team's name: "The 'Defenders' is far too passive a name for my taste. I prefer more aggressive-sounding names like
14751-575: The hero on three more occasions, with the third and last encounter revealing the villain's origin. MODOK also battles Namor the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom , the latter intent on claiming the Cosmic Cube for himself. MODOK reappears and abducts Betty Ross , changing her into the Harpy with gamma radiation at a higher level than that which turned Dr. Robert Bruce Banner into the Hulk in a bid to destroy
14900-430: The heroine this time aided by fellow Avenger Wonder Man during an elaborate scheme by renegade A.I.M. branches to kill MODOK, with one of the rogue A.I.M. agents being MODOK's long-lost son, who seeks revenge for his abandonment. Employing an elaborate scheme and double-cross involving several supervillains, MODOK restores his personal wealth and power and re-establishes himself as the leader of A.I.M. once again. MODOK
15049-456: The initial letter of each word in all caps with no punctuation . For some, an initialism or alphabetism , connotes this general meaning, and an acronym is a subset with a narrower definition: an initialism pronounced as a word rather than as a sequence of letters. In this sense, NASA / ˈ n æ s ə / is an acronym but USA / j uː ɛ s ˈ eɪ / is not. The broader sense of acronym , ignoring pronunciation,
15198-435: The king". In English, abbreviations have previously been marked by a wide variety of punctuation . Obsolete forms include using an overbar or colon to show the ellipsis of letters following the initial part. The forward slash is still common in many dialects for some fixed expressions—such as in w/ for "with" or A/C for " air conditioning "—while only infrequently being used to abbreviate new terms. The apostrophe
15347-500: The label "usage problem". However, many English language dictionaries, such as the Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary , Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary , Macmillan Dictionary , Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English , New Oxford American Dictionary , Webster's New World Dictionary , and Lexico from Oxford University Press do not acknowledge such a sense. Most of
15496-836: The language to changing circumstances. In this view, the modern practice is just the "proper" English of the current generation of speakers, much like the earlier abbreviation of corporation names on ticker tape or newspapers. Exact pronunciation of "word acronyms" (those pronounced as words rather than sounded out as individual letters) often vary by speaker population. These may be regional, occupational, or generational differences, or simply personal preference. For instance, there have been decades of online debate about how to pronounce GIF ( / ɡ ɪ f / or / dʒ ɪ f / ) and BIOS ( / ˈ b aɪ oʊ s / , / ˈ b aɪ oʊ z / , or / ˈ b aɪ ɒ s / ). Similarly, some letter-by-letter initialisms may become word acronyms over time, especially in combining forms: IP for Internet Protocol
15645-425: The latter's War of the Super-Villains, but fails to gain the prize – a golden globe that is supposed to give the winner of the war ultimate power – after being defeated by Iron Man . A.I.M. becomes dissatisfied with the lack of scientific advancement under MODOK's leadership and MODOK's obsession with seeking revenge against metahumans , finally deposing him from power as a result. MODOK attempts to regain control of
15794-415: The mature-audience MAX imprint, showcases another version of MODOK salvaged by S.H.I.E.L.D. when it is discarded by A.I.M., apparently a victim of racial prejudice . The Ultimate Marvel version of the character features in the title Ultimate Vision , experimenting with a Gah Lak Tus probe on an A.I.M. space station. Although he starts the story as the amoral cyborg genius George Tarleton, after he
15943-583: The middle of sentences for proper nouns; when following the AMA Manual of Style , this would instead be rendered as "the onset of congestive heart failure (CHF)". Defenders (comics) Its original incarnation was led by Doctor Strange and included Hulk , Namor , and—eventually— Silver Surfer . They first appeared as the Defenders in Marvel Feature #1 (Dec. 1971), before receiving their own title, The Defenders , in 1972. The group had
16092-463: The mistake of recruiting Gwen Poole when she killed his top assassin and took credit for his kills. When he found out that she was not a superhuman and had no special training, he attempted to eliminate her, but she turned on him and sent him into outer space with an injured eye and damaged equipment. She then took over his organization for a brief time, but when her plans defeated a group of alien arms dealers and did not get them any money (having turned
16241-592: The monster. MODOK then follows the Hulk and the Harpy to a floating aerie , where Banner cures Ross of her condition. MODOK and a team of A.I.M. agents arrive in time to kill the creature known as the Bi-Beast , the guardian of the aerie, but not before activating a self-destruct mechanism, forcing everyone on board to flee. MODOK also accepts the offer of the extra-dimensional mystic the Black Lama to participate in
16390-466: The more general "x" can be used to replace an unspecified number of letters. Examples include "Crxn" for "crystallization" and the series familiar to physicians for history , diagnosis , and treatment ("hx", "dx", "tx"). Terms relating to a command structure may also sometimes use this formatting, for example gold, silver, and bronze levels of command in UK policing being referred to as Gx, Sx, and Bx. There
16539-452: The object, alongside the JOD1E program. MODOC , however, becomes ambitious, kills his creators and takes control of A.I.M. Renaming himself MODOK (an acronym for "Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing"), he comes into conflict with the hero Captain America , who is intent on rescuing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter from A.I.M. MODOK becomes a recurring foe for Captain America, battling
16688-615: The one-shot issue M.O.D.O.K.: Reign Delay #1 (Nov. 2009). MODOK later gained a counterpart and successor in MODOK Superior, who first appeared in Hulk (vol. 2) #29 and was created by Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman, who is depicted as the archenemy of Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole in The Unbelievable Gwenpool #1–25 (June 2016–April 2018), West Coast Avengers (vol. 3) #4 (Feb. 2019), and M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #1–4 (Dec. 2020–March 2021). George Tarleton
16837-595: The organization and prove his worth by unleashing a nerve agent on New York City , which is prevented by Ms. Marvel and the Vision . MODOK next seeks revenge against Ms. Marvel, first attempting to mentally control the heroine and then hiring the Shi'ar assassin Deathbird to kill her; Ms. Marvel overcomes both of these obstacles and defeats both Deathbird and MODOK. MODOK's ambitions grow and he seeks world domination, but
16986-437: The organization using it as a supercomputer . A rogue A.I.M. agent remotely operates MODOK's corpse in a bid to destroy Iron Man, with the battle ending with the corpse's destruction. Although MODOK had died, A.I.M. temporarily replaced him with his more loyal, and in some ways more effective, second female counterpart MODAM . During the Taking A.I.M. storyline, MODOK is resurrected solely because A.I.M. needs him to assist in
17135-606: The original four Defenders to battle Dormammu and Umar . This series focuses mostly on humor as the characters spend most of their time arguing with and criticizing one another. In 2008, Joe Casey wrote a new miniseries with a new line-up of Defenders as a result of the Super-Human Registration Act and the events of the Civil War . Nighthawk wanted a team made up of previous Defenders such as Hellcat and Devil Slayer but Tony Stark ( Iron Man ) makes
17284-729: The plural of 'pages', or mss. for manuscripts . The most common capitalization scheme seen with acronyms is all-uppercase ( all caps ). Small caps are sometimes used to make the run of capital letters seem less jarring to the reader. For example, the style of some American publications, including the Atlantic Monthly and USA Today , is to use small caps for acronyms longer than three letters; thus "U.S." and " FDR " in normal caps, but " nato " in small caps. The acronyms " AD " and " BC " are often smallcapped as well, as in: "From 4004 bc to ad 525 ". Where an acronym has linguistically taken on an identity as regular word,
17433-653: The powers of the Asgardians . He then views from his surveillance that the Red Hulk is fighting the Thing (in the form of Angrir: Breaker of Souls). When he learns that Zero/One and the Black Fog are also after the Red Hulk, MODOK Superior plans to get to the Red Hulk first. MODOK Superior prevents the Black Fog from killing the Red Hulk. MODOK Superior becomes intangible to keep himself from getting attacked by Angrir (who shoots down Zero/One's Helicarrier). MODOK Superior has his encounter with Zero/One and both of them declare
17582-483: The pronunciation is reflected graphically by the capitalization scheme. However, it conflicts with conventional English usage of first-letter upper-casing as a marker of proper names in many cases; e.g. AIDS stands for acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome which is not a proper name, while Aids is in the style of one. Some style manuals also base the letters' case on their number. The New York Times , for example, keeps "NATO" in all capitals (while several guides in
17731-685: The publication of the 3rd edition of the Oxford English Dictionary added the expansive sense to its entry for acronym and included the 1940 citation. As the Oxford English Dictionary structures the senses in order of chronological development, it now gives the "initialism" sense first. English language usage and style guides which have entries for acronym generally criticize the usage that refers to forms that are not pronounceable words. Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage says that acronym "denotes abbreviations formed from initial letters of other words and pronounced as
17880-625: The relaunched Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme series. In 1990, the original trio reunited in The Incredible Hulk #370–371, in which it was revealed that the prophecy was a hoax. The originals then rejoined with the Silver Surfer in a story entitled The Return of the Defenders running in The Incredible Hulk Annual #18, Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #2, Silver Surfer Annual #5, and Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Annual #2. In 1993, Marvel sought to revive
18029-433: The same physical appearance, genius-level intelligence and psionic powers as the original MODOK, but apparently none of his weaknesses) calls himself MODOK Superior and prepares to make his own mark on the world independent of his predecessor. Cooperating with the Intelligencia once again, MODOK Superior and the Intelligencia attempt to study the body of a Spaceknight , which had crashed on Earth for unknown reasons. When
18178-407: The second arc, featured in Sub-Mariner #34–35 (February–March 1971), Namor enlists the aid of the Silver Surfer and the Hulk to stop a potentially devastating weather control experiment, inadvertently freeing a small island nation from a dictator and facing the Avengers under the name of the "Titans Three". The Defenders first appeared as a feature in Marvel Feature #1 (December 1971), where
18327-541: The series with issue #92. He and Mark Gruenwald co-wrote The Defenders #107–109 (May–July 1982), which resolved remaining plot points from the Valkyrie story by Kraft and Hannigan published three years earlier. As of issue #125, The Defenders was retitled to The New Defenders as the original four members (Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, and Namor) are forced to leave the team, in response to an alien prophecy that states that these four, operating as
18476-483: The series's writer with the following issue. Steven Grant wrote a conclusion to Steve Gerber's Omega the Unknown series in two issues of The Defenders , at the end of which most of the original series' characters were killed. While Gerber seemed unhappy with Grant's conclusion, it nevertheless tied up the loose ends of the comic series, and is considered "canon" by Marvel. Writer J. M. DeMatteis took over
18625-470: The sides of railroad cars (e.g., "Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad" → "RF&P"); on the sides of barrels and crates; and on ticker tape and newspaper stock listings (e.g. American Telephone and Telegraph Company → AT&T). Some well-known commercial examples dating from the 1890s through 1920s include " Nabisco " ("National Biscuit Company"), " Esso " (from "S.O.", from " Standard Oil "), and " Sunoco " ("Sun Oil Company"). Another field for
18774-485: The story. Valkyrie was introduced to the team in issue #4 (February 1973). Englehart wrote "The Avengers–Defenders War" crossover in The Avengers #116–118 (October–December 1973) and The Defenders #9–11 (October–December 1973), leaving The Defenders afterwards because he "didn't want to keep doing two team books at the same time." Len Wein briefly wrote the series and introduced such characters as Alpha
18923-467: The team would be returning after a short break in summer 2022 for another five part run. Following a message from beyond the grave from Doctor Strange, a new team is assembled featuring Blue Marvel , America Chavez , Taaia (the mother of Galactus ), Tigra , and Loki (a variant of the God of Mischief) to tackle a new cosmic threat. Defenders membership was fluid, yet a few members were relatively constant:
19072-502: The terms as mutually exclusive. Other guides outright deny any legitimacy to the usage: Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words says "Abbreviations that are not pronounced as words (IBM, ABC, NFL) are not acronyms; they are just abbreviations." Garner's Modern American Usage says "An acronym is made from the first letters or parts of a compound term. It's read or spoken as a single word, not letter by letter." The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage says "Unless pronounced as
19221-482: The then-U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump . Multiple original incarnations of MODOK appear or were considered to appear in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): Acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with
19370-637: The three founders (Doctor Strange, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Hulk), the Silver Surfer, the Valkyrie , Nighthawk , the Hellcat , and the Gargoyle. Membership was clearer in the New Defenders era when the team was more formally organized. This group's composition was even more fluid than that of the original Defenders, but typically included either Doctor Strange or Doctor Druid as leader, joined by
19519-509: The title Marvel Adventures: The Avengers , briefly turning the Avengers into (superior) versions of itself before being defeated. Over the course of her two comic book series, Carol Danvers ( Ms. Marvel ) had several interactions with both A.I.M. and MODOK; among others, she was both saved from being disincorporated by 24 embryonic MODOCs who had been outfitted with reality-altering powers when working in unison and separated into two separate entities to fulfill her fondest wish. Also, reference
19668-523: The traditional appearance that George Tarleton once had. During the " Iron Man 2020 " story arc, the War Machine was about to be experimented on by some Deathloks on Lingares when he is saved by someone. When the War Machine catches up to the rest of Force Works and gives them their equipment, they discover that his rescuer is MODOK Superior. He states that he wants to add his brainpower to Force Works as its newest member. It turns out that MODOK Superior
19817-570: The twenty-first century. The trend among dictionary editors appears to be towards including a sense defining acronym as initialism : the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary added such a sense in its 11th edition in 2003, and both the Oxford English Dictionary and The American Heritage Dictionary added such senses in their 2011 editions. The 1989 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary only included
19966-407: The use of harvested clones which are utilized to sustain his life. As the leader of A.I.M. , MODOK has advanced technology, vast resources, and a personal army at his disposal. MODOK's successor, MODOK Superior, also has the same appearance, intellect, and powers as Tarleton does, but apparently none of his weaknesses. A version called MODOC (Mental Organism Designed Only for Conquest) appears in
20115-537: The villains that were on a rampage for what happened in Pleasant Hill. They were defeated when Nitro exploded. 2018 saw a new five part crossover storyline involving the "Big Four" members of the team. Published throughout December, the plot features separate issues all sub-titled "The Best Defense" in Immortal Hulk , Namor , Doctor Strange and Silver Surfer which culminates in a final issue under
20264-536: The whole range of linguistic registers is relatively new in most languages, becoming increasingly evident since the mid-twentieth century. As literacy spread and technology produced a constant stream of new and complex terms, abbreviations became increasingly convenient. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) records the first printed use of the word initialism as occurring in 1899, but it did not come into general use until 1965, well after acronym had become common. In English, acronyms pronounced as words may be
20413-425: The word " an achro nym ", which is a type of misnomer. Words derived from an acronym by affixing are typically expressed in mixed case, so the root acronym is clear. For example, "pre-WWII politics", "post-NATO world", " DNase ". In some cases a derived acronym may also be expressed in mixed case. For example, " messenger RNA " and " transfer RNA " become "mRNA" and "tRNA". Some publications choose to capitalize only
20562-594: The world-dominating "Order"; once the Order were freed from this control by their fellow heroes (including their teammates Hellcat , Nighthawk , and Valkyrie ), the Defenders apparently disbanded. A fill-in issue set between these two series was published in 2011. A Defenders five-issue miniseries debuted in July 2005, by Keith Giffen , J. M. DeMatteis , and Kevin Maguire , featuring Doctor Strange attempting to reunite
20711-671: The writer of the main title with issue #20 the following month. He wrote the series until issue #41 (November 1976). Part of Gerber's oeuvre was reviving forgotten characters; he brought back three pre-Marvel characters, now organized as the Headmen , as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy . The Defenders met Gerber's Howard the Duck in Marvel Treasury Edition #12 (1976). Due to Marvel's shuffling of editors-in-chief,
20860-521: Was a technician for the criminal organization Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), founded by his father Alvin. He was born in Bangor, Maine . Having recently created the Cosmic Cube , the A.I.M. scientists used advanced mutagenics to alter Tarleton and created the super-intelligent man-mind originally named MODOC (an acronym for "Mental Organism Designed Only for Computing") to study and improve upon
21009-586: Was also the enormous growth of Tarleton's head to the extent that his own body can no longer support its weight without assistance. Now, he relies on an exoskeleton and a hoverchair called the Doomsday Chair for support, as well as movement. The Doomsday Chair is also equipped with destructive weapons, including missiles and lasers. Twice in his career, MODOK employed a large mechanical android body specially made so he could fit inside its head for greater mobility. His organs also wore out quickly, necessitating
21158-511: Was done with a full space between every full word (e.g. A. D. , i. e. , and e. g. for " Anno Domini ", " id est ", and " exempli gratia "). This even included punctuation after both Roman and Arabic numerals to indicate their use in place of the full names of each number (e.g. LII. or 52. in place of "fifty-two" and "1/4." or "1./4." to indicate "one-fourth"). Both conventions have fallen out of common use in all dialects of English, except in places where an Arabic decimal includes
21307-507: Was in its custody. Deadpool saved her and stole MODOK Superior's Doomsday Chair. MODOK Superior was taken to the hospital, where he vowed vengeance on Deadpool for stealing his Doomsday Chair. During the " Secret Empire " storyline, MODOK Superior appears as a member of the Army of Evil and took part in the attack on Manhattan in retaliation for what happened at Pleasant Hill during the " Avengers: Standoff! " storyline. MODOK Superior resurfaced in
21456-449: Was little to no naming , conscious attention, or systematic analysis until relatively recent times. Like retronymy, it became much more common in the twentieth century than it had formerly been. Ancient examples of acronymy (before the term "acronym" was invented) include the following: During the mid- to late nineteenth century, acronyms became a trend among American and European businessmen: abbreviating corporation names, such as on
21605-401: Was made by A.I.M. personnel to many actual MODOCs who, apparently, really did function in the way that MODOK was originally supposed to have done (namely, as docile organic supercomputers). MODOT (Mobile Organism Designed Only for Talking), formerly Nobel Prize hopeful Dimitri Smirkov , appears in the third Howard the Duck miniseries and, unlike his predecessor MODOK, can walk without
21754-467: Was suggested to him that it should run as a Defenders title, however Bunn explained that beyond the name there is "little connection" to the Defenders. In August 2017, Marvel launched a new Defenders comic book series starring Daredevil , Jessica Jones , Luke Cage and Iron Fist , based on the Netflix incarnation of the team . During the " Secret Empire " storyline, the Defenders were seen fighting
21903-456: Was taken into custody by the U.S. military and remains confined, where Bruce Banner occasionally calls on him to help defuse the "doomsday plans" that MODOK installed in the possibility that his master plan should fail. However, Tarleton appears to remember next to nothing of his former life as MODOK and, in fact, seems to be either traumatized or just a normal man again. Unknown to everyone, the doomsday plans left behind by MODOK actually serve as
22052-479: Was the one behind the Deathloks of Lingares and manipulated Force Works into taking out Ultimo's head so that he can take control of it and ultimately become Ulti-MODOK . After the bearded Deathlok was beheaded by the U.S. Agent , the War Machine temporarily turned into a Deathlok to control the remaining Deathloks into fighting Ulti-MODOK. When Quake briefly opened a lava-filled chasm, Ulti-MODOK fell into it, with
22201-717: Was then seen in Puerto Rico attempting to create an army of genetically enhanced monkeys called A.I.Monkeys to eliminate the recession in A.I.M., until he was defeated by Mister Fantastic , the Invisible Woman and the rookie Puerto Rican superhero known as El Vejigante. It is revealed that MODOK was involved in the creation of both the Red Hulk and the Red She-Hulk and is a member of the Intelligencia ,
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