Greetings Semantinkers!

Technology can be a beautiful thing. Just think about all we can do today that wasn’t possible just ten years ago; we can check our email on our phones, we have robots that can perform surgery, ugly people can be made pretty in Photoshop. Yes, technology is wonderful, but, there is a downside to all these modern miracles, and nowhere is this more evident then in the world of comics.

Once upon a time, comics were filled with human villains plotting bank heists and world domination. Sure, these baddies were often ugly people, but at least they were people. Sadly, as technology has advanced, computers have gotten involved in super-crime, and now we have reached the point where robots and their kind are not just evil, but UGLY.

The prime example of this terrifying trend of robotic repulsiveness would have to be Marvel Comics’ M.O.D.O.K. Behold the terror of technology gone awry!

M.O.D.O.K. or the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, was created by the dirty bastards at A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), probably because of a drunken wager. If you are a clandestine organization hell-bent on ruling the world and you want to mutate a dude into a crazy floating cyborg, that’s your prerogative, but why does he have to look like a midget with a failed face-lift?

M.O.D.O.K. is not the only instance in comics where technology has progressed to a state of ugliness. The field of cybernetics also has created monstrosities. Behold Heavy Metal!

This menagerie of hideous cyborg animals shows the dangers of trying to improve upon nature. Just look at the octopus on tank treads, or the vulture with a steel mohawk. You can’t see it in this picture, but that menacing purple shark has legs. Cybernetics is a field of science rife with possibilities, but seeing a gorilla dressed up like a cross between Robo-cop and an S&M fetishist shows just how hideous the future could be.

Bio-engineering is another field that comics have shown us can progress to a state of ugliness. I know what you are thinking, ” Bio-engineering? that’s why we get such nice produce in the supermarket, how could that be a bad thing?” My answer to that is Three Willied Seth from THE AUTHORITY. Ewww.

Willy was given over one hundred super powers by the American government, one of which was poop-vision. Apparently none of those powers was the ability to look like anything like a human being. And while we are on the subject of bio-engineering, let me show you another example of how this branch of science go go horribly wrong: The Alpha Lanterns!

Green Lanterns are pretty awesome, they can do basically anything with those neat little rings. So, to be an Alpha Green Lantern (basically a super green lantern), you get bio-engineered to have a gaping hole in your chest and a face that lifts up to reveal a gasmask when s#!t is afoot. This isn’t right, and moreover, it isn’t pretty. Shame on you scientists for allowing things like this to happen!

So, I suppose my point here is that while technological advances have largely made our lives better, there can be pit falls, and they will not be pretty, in fact they could be downright fugly. Watch out for technology getting unpretty on you, otherwise you could wind up with a real life M.O.D.O.K. living down the street from you.

On a serious note, keep an eye out for THE UNDERGROUNDS #3 coming out tomorrow, as well the latest issue of MYTHOI, MYTHOI Birth: TAROS! Both are free and can be found on semantink.com.