Advanced Idea Mechanics
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A.I.M., or Advanced Idea Mechanics, is a fictional group in the Marvel Universe. The organization first appeared in Strange Tales #146.
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[edit] History
A.I.M. is an organization of brilliant scientists and their hirelings dedicated to the acquisition of power and the overthrow of all governments by technological means. A.I.M. was organized late in World War II by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker to develop advanced weaponry for his subversive organization HYDRA. They were close to developing and attaining nuclear weapons when HYDRA Island was invaded by American and Japanese troops. Although HYDRA suffered a major setback, it survived and grew in secret over the following decades.
A.I.M. has created three major implements of deadly potential which stand far above the rest of their accomplishments. The greatest of these was the Cosmic Cube, a device capable of altering reality. A.I.M. did not realize that they had only manufactured the cubical containment device; the real power was an entity accidentally drawn into this dimension. The Cosmic Cube recently evolved into Kubik. The second was the Super-Adaptoid, an android capable of mimicking the appearance and superpowers of other beings. The Super-Adaptoid's powers were made possible by incorporating a sliver of the Cosmic Cube into its form. When Kubik repossessed the sliver after defeating the Adaptoid, the android was rendered inanimate. A.I.M.'s third achievement was the creation of the MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing), an artificially mutated human with an enormous head and psionic abilities. Modok was originally an ordinary AIM scientist who was selected by AIM's leader, the Scientist Supreme, to be the subject of the bionic and genetic experiments that turned him into MODOK. After his transformation, MODOK killed the Scientist Supreme and took control of A.I.M., and later took advantage of the organizational chaos following the destruction of HYDRA Island and the deaths of Baron Strucker and most of HYDRA's leading members to sever A.I.M.'s ties with HYDRA.
The organization is renowned for the 'beekeeper' uniform of its underlings since the first appearance. This has continued to this day, with artists making it fearsome or ridiculous, depending on the needs of the story.
However, as a result of the Poison Tomorrow arc of Amazing Fantasy, AIM has gained a new costume, which tends towards insectoid armour and large guns. The organization was also revealed to have become a 'techno-anarchist' group, with no connection to HYDRA, and even a hatred for fascism. With the introduction of the Death's Head 3.0 character, a pacifist future version of the organization is promised, with a surprise character as leader.
A.I.M. maybe connected somehow to the Livewires as one of their members, Cornfed, wears an AIM uniform. He also wears a button referencing "The Real AIM".
A.I.M. has also gone under some other fronts including Cadence Industries, IDIC and Koenig and Strey, Omnitech)
[edit] Membership
| Character | Real Name | Joined in | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaders | ||||
| Baron Strucker | Wolfgang von Strucker | Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #5 | A nazi; founder of HYDRA | |
| Grand Imperator | ||||
| George Clinton | George Clinton | Captain America vol. 1 #133 | Former Scientist Supreme; Involved in creation of MODOC/MODOK and the Cosmic Cube; his mind was eventually drained by the Red Skull (Schmidt), Arnim Zola and the Hate Monger (Hitler) in attempt to recreate the Cosmic Cube | |
| Maxwell Mordius | ||||
| MODOK | George Tarleton | Tales of Suspense vol. 1 #93 | Former A.I.M. scientist, was mutated by George Clinton and driven insane by energies present at the creation of Earth's first Cosmic Cube; split off a rival from AIM; was killed by Death Adder but his body was reanimated and destroyed by Yorgon Tykkio. Apparently restored by the Cosmic Cube; mind merged with Damocles Rivas. Also known as Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, MODOC, Mental Organism Designed Only for Computation | |
| Monica Rappacini | Amazing Fantasy vol. 1 #7 | Mother of Carmilla Black & the Scorpion; Italian national; has a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Padua; became a radical, developed poisons for the Black Orchestra and AIM, sought to reestablish contact with daughter | ||
| Valdemar Tykkio | Iron Man vol. 1 #201 | Scientist Supreme; instituted takeover of Boca Caliente; brother of Yorgon Tykkio | ||
| Allesandro Brannex | n/a | Quasar #9 | An android and Chairman of the Board | |
| Chet Madden | Captain America vol. 3 #35 | Former head of AIM and former client of Connie Ferrari | ||
| Members | ||||
| Solemne Brannex | Marvel Comics Presents #174 | Possibly the sister of Allesandro Brannex, sought aid from SHIELD when AIM obtained a Shi'ar vessel | ||
| Billups | Clete Billups | Captain America vol. 3 #25 | Infiltrated SHIELD; revealed himself and killed his "partners" in order to steal body of Protocide, he was duped by Captain America and Sharon Carter into leading them to the AIM headquarters. | |
| Copernicus | Uncanny X-Men #352 | |||
| Brice Courtland | ||||
| Commander Cypher | Sabretooth & Mystique #1 | Sought technology to take control of nuclear missiles | ||
| Janet Galloway | ||||
| James Hendrickson | Sabretooth & Mystique #1 | |||
| Kepler | Uncanny X-Men #352 | |||
| Mr. Jinx | ClanDestine #9 | |||
| Newton | Uncanny X-Men #352 | |||
| Planck | Uncanny X-Men #352 | |||
| Drake Previn | ||||
| Lifeform | George Prufock | Punisher Annual vol. 1 #3 | was mutated into a progressively larger carnivorous creature by exposure to experimental virus developed by his father, Jethro Prufock, at AIM | |
| Jethro Prufock | Jethro Prufock | Punisher Annual vol. 1 #3 | father of George and Martha Prufovk, was a perennial right-wing Libertarian candidate for President and a staunch advocate of arms-stockpiling; he was slain by a mutated George in Punisher Annual vol. 1 #3 | |
| Dr. Ralph Rider | Ralph Rider | Nova vol. 1 #12 | brother of Charles Rider, uncle of Rich and Robert Rider, leading research scientist until killed by Photon in Nova vol. 1 #12 | |
| Rilker | Captain America vol. 3 #13 | |||
| Ritter | Sabretooth & Mystique #1 | |||
| Count Bornag Royale | Strange Tales vol. 1 #146 | |||
| Dr. Ryder | Captain America vol. 1 #127 | posed as a SHIELD agent to regain control of Android X-4 | ||
| Ramona Starr | Ka-Zar the Savage #18 | shot Ka-Zar in the head and then forced him to perform a mission for AIM; also known as Ramona Courtland | ||
| Timekeeper | Marvel Graphic Novel #16: Aladdin Effect | scientist and leader of an AIM outpost in Venture Ridge, Wyoming; he attempted to tap into the power of Holly-Ann Ember | ||
| Yorgon Tykkio | Iron Man vol. 1 #201 | brother of Valdemar; became a cyborg and led a revolt against his brother's rule; controlled the body of MODOK and destroyed it after he was defeated in battle against Iron Man; allied with Clytemnestra Erwin against Tony Stark/Iron Man; was killed by Clytemnestra when she was attempting to flee from him in Iron Man vol. 1 #216 | ||
| Professor Whyte | ClanDestine #9 | |||
| Bernard Worrell | Captain America Annual #7 | Member of AIM's Blue Faction; former apprentice of George Clinton; led capture of Cosmic Cube/Kubik but was unable to control it once it began its metamorphosis into Kubik | ||
| Dr. Aldo Zane | ||||
| Agents | ||||
| Cyborg | Captain America vol. 1 #124 | AIM hired assassin | ||
| Destructor | Kerwin Korman | Ms. Marvel vol. 1 #1 | former premier weapons-maker, stumbled on and unleashed the power core of Kree Psyche-Magnitron, later built into Doomsday Man by AIM technicians and used as its power source, discovered and freed by Avengers, required continued connection to remnants of Doomsday Man for life support | |
| Dr. Nemesis | Michael Craig Stockton | Marvel Feature vol. 1 #9 | ||
| Doomsday Man | non-applicable | Ms Marvel vol. 1 #3 | virtually indestructible robot created by Dr. Kronton in order to steal cobalt bomb and blackmail the USA, initially defeated by Silver Surfer, later revived by Kree Psyche-Magnitron, battled and destroyed by Ms. Marvel, rebuilt by AIM and merged with Kerwin Korman, whom it used as a power source, battled Avengers, sought Warbird as replacement when Kerwin began to weaken, destroyed by Justice, remnants used as life support for Korman. | |
| Grizzly | AIM agent R-1, used by MODOK in a plot to capture atomic scientist Paul Fosgrave; not to be confused with the Spider-Man enemy or Cable's deceased teammate. | |||
| Harness | Erika Benson | New Mutants Annual #7 | mother of Piecemeal; forced him to locate and absorb the energy of Proteus; wore an armored exo-skeleton | |
| Highwayman | Marvel Comics Presents #137 | English criminal, agent of AIM, attempted to steal the Cognium Steel from Oracle INC. but was defeated by Iron Fist | ||
| Karl | Marvel Adventures - The New Avengers #9 | Karl has the tendency to mess things up. | ||
| Lars | ||||
| Lombardi | Captain Universe/Hulk #1 Captain America/Hulk #2 (named) |
AIM agent, sought Uni-Power, slew David Garrett when he had outlived his usefulness, confessed after captured by Daredevil | ||
| MODAM | Olinka Barankova | Quasar #9 (as MODAM) West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #36 (as Maria Pym) Solo Avengers #16 (as SODAM) |
also known as Mobile Organism Designed for Aggressive Maneuvers, "Maria Pym", SODAM. Killed by MODOK is Captain America vol.3 #3 | |
| Arthur Shaman | Defenders vol. 1 #57 | hypnotist, kidnapped Michael Barnett and attempted to force the Hulk to kill Ms. Marvel | ||
| Strikeback | Anthony "Tony" Davis | Also known as Ringer | ||
| AD-45 Riot-Bots | Captain America vol. 3 #13 | |||
| Wakers | non-applicable | Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #11 | AIM deep penetration agents under the leadership of Scorpion (Carmilla Black) and 4 others, genetically-engineered to resist all chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons | |
| Warbot | Defenders vol. 1 #57 | AIM weapon, used by Arthur Shaman to capture the Hulk to use against Ms. Marvel, destroyed by her | ||
| David Garrett | Captain Universe/Hulk #1 | ally of AIM, funded Gilbert Wiles to monitoring his tracking of the Uni-Power, slain by Lombardi after outliving usefulness in Captain Universe/Hulk #1 | ||
[edit] Alternate Realities
[edit] House of M
In the House of M, Advanced Idea Mechanics is re-imagined as a human resistance movement.
[edit] Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel world, the AIM commissioned the ultimate Mad Thinker to steal Cerebro from the Ultimate X-Men and frame the Ultimate Fantastic Four, as seen in the Ultimate X4 mini-series. Ultimate AIM's full purpose and function has yet to be revealed. The mini-series Ultimate Vision introduces AIM as comprised of several directorates spread across the globe, with George Tarleton as an AIM leader on an orbital research facility. Tarleton and his team attempted to take control of a Gah Lak Tus module that was left behind in orbit after the swarm was driven away. Being unable to do so on their own, they lured Vision to the station to help them by claiming they would use the knowledge to order the Gah Lak Tus swarm to self-destruct. Once the cyborg Tarleton had connected to the module using Vision, he had the module fire an energy beam at her. Tarleton then incorporated the Gah Lak Tus' circuitry into his own body, but it has seemingly taken him over, transforming him more into a machine, with a monstrous appearance. He has since taken over the entire station remotely and has set it to plummet out of orbit, along with the Gah Lak Tus module, which he says has "unfinished business on Earth."
[edit] Avengers UTS
Members of AIM appear in The Avengers: United They Stand #5.
[edit] Other media
Although unnamed, A.I.M. agents appear in an episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends.
A.I.M. also appear in some episodes of the Iron Man animated series' second season. Besides, the sabotage that kills Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark, in the first season episode "The Origin of Iron Man", and hinted to be caused by Justin Hammer, is retconned in one episode as having been caused by A.I.M.
A.I.M. Troopers (and other versions of A.I.M. soldiers) appear in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance where they are one of the foot soldiers of Doctor Doom's Masters of Evil.
[edit] Other versions
A future (2020) version of A.I.M was featured heavily in the Marvel UK limited series Death's Head II. This future organisation created the cyborg Minion, which was later taken over by the personality of Death's Head. A.I.M's representative Evelyn Necker became a popular character in the ongoing series that followed.
In Amazing Fantasy ##16-20, set further in the same future, A.I.M is on the point of making peace with the UN, when a renegade AIM scientist unleashes Death's Head 3.0 on the peace conference.
[edit] Bibliography
- Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #7-12, 16-20
- Avengers vol. 1 #87, 387-388
- Avengers vol. 3 #13, 56
- Cable & Deadpool #11
- Captain America vol. 1 #124, 127, 133, 313, 410-414, 440-441
- Captain America vol. 3 #13, 20, 25-31, 33-35, 38-40, 50
- Captain America vol. 5 #3, 15
- Captain America Annual #7, 2000
- Captain America and the Falcon #7-11
- Captain Universe/Daredevil #1
- Captain Universe/Hulk #1
- Captain Universe/X-23 #1
- Citizen V & the V-Battalion #1-2
- ClanDestine #9-12
- Deadpool vol. 3 #26
Death's Head II ltd. series from Marvel UK.
- Defenders vol. 1 #57
- Defenders vol. 2 #9-10
- Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comic Magazine #4
- Fantastic Force #4
- GLX-MAS Special #1
- Identity Disc #1-6
- Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #289-290
- Incredible Hulk Annual vol. 2 #16
- Infinity Abyss #1
- Iron Man/Captain America Annual 1998
- Iron Man & the Sub-Mariner #1
- Iron Man vol. 1 #1, 201, 207-208, 215
- Iron Man vol. 3 #1, 42-45
- Marvel Comics Presents #125-126, 152-155, 174
- Marvel Knights vol. 1 #4
- Marvel Two-In-One #81,82
- Maverick vol. 2 #10-12
- Ms. Marvel vol. 1 #2, 7-10
- Punisher Annual vol. 2 #3
- Quasar #1, 8
- Sabretooth & Mystique #1-4
- Solo Avengers #14-16
- Strange Tales vol. 1 #146, 147, 149
- Tales of Suspense vol. 1 #75, 76, 78-79, 93-94
- Uncanny X-Men #352
- Venom: Sinner Takes All #1
- Weapon X vol. 2 #5, 23
- Wolverine vol. 2 #142-143
- Wolverine vol. 3 #22, 28, 30
- Wolverine/Captain America #4
- X-23 #3-4
- X-51 #7, 10-12
- X-Men vol. 2 #143
- X-Men Unlimited vol. 2 #6
