A.I.M. or
Advanced Idea Mechanics aka THEM, first appeared in
Marvel Comics Strange Tales #146.
AIM is a unique secret society of scientists and their lackeys who have the
anarchic goal of overthrowing all
world governments through the use of
technology. AIM is headed by
The Scientist Supreme, a post that has been filled by many different people. As it is a secret society, all members wear identity concealing yellow uniforms and helmets, and the Scientist Supreme is anonymous, having no other title or name. Their goal regularly brings the group into conflict with the
superheroes of the
Marvel Comics Universe. It follows the general formula of a faceless, far-reaching and unremittingly evil corporation/society that has a single
supervillain type goal:
world domination. Ironically, AIM consists of brilliant scientists and technicians, none of which has enough smarts to avoid super-hero types until after their sinister plans have reached
fruition.
The History of A.I.M.
During
World War II, the infamous Nazi
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker formed a secret subversive society called
HYDRA. Strucker gathered together scientists that shared his goals and formed AIM to develop advanced weapons and technologies for
HYDRA. This mindtrust would provide
HYDRA with most of its supervillainous weapons until the end of the war.
With
Allied Victory came disaster for HYDRA. Driven underground, it regrouped and existed secretly, plotting to return. AIM survived HYDRA's initial defeat but splintered into several
factions. It played the role of legitimate business in order to survive. Having never been official labeled as the technological research division of HYDRA, it escaped the
stigma that forced the organization underground. AIM prospered during this time, growing in size and making great advances in various fields, including
robotics,
bioengineering,
bionics, and
physics. The scientists publicly
incorporated their organization under the name of
Advanced Idea Mechanics. AIM's subversive goals and activities remained hidden from the world. The appearance that AIM was simply an "international cartel dealing with the development and marketing of new technological products" took shape. AIM also
curried favor in the
U.S. Government, as a supplier of hardware and weapon to governmental and
quasi-governmental agencies.
HYDRA, after quietly rebuilding and amassing AIM created weaponry, re-emerged and tried to
take over the world.
SHIELD rose to the challenge and defeated HYDRA, driving them underground again. After this initial defeat, AIM attempted to discredit SHIELD Director
Nicholas Fury, in order to keep its connection with HYDRA secret. This attempt, publicly led by
Count Bomag Royale, failed, and Fury exposed AIM as a
subversive organization, but never officially exposing the
HYDRA link.
Fury and SHIELD believed it had put an end to AIM's operation. However, much of the organization escaped capture. During the time between SHIELD's exposure and the destruction of
HYDRA Island, an important development occurred: The creation of
MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing), an artificially mutated human being with an enormous head and a stunted body who possesses superhuman intelligence and various
psionic abilities. Modok was originally an ordinary AIM member who was selected by AIM's leader to be the subject of vast
bionic experiments.
After being transformed, MODOK
slew the Scientist Supreme and seized control of AIM. Upon the demise of
Baron Strucker and the deaths of most of HYDRA's leading members in the destruction of HYDRA Island, AIM, now under the leadership of MODOK, severed its ties with HYDRA, and has remained an independent organization ever since. This division from HYDRA also
split AIM in half, into pro- and anti-MODOK camps. For years AIM existed merely to serve MODOK's ambitions for power. Under his leadership, AIM
stagnated intellectually, created no truly impressive weapon, and launched no
major attack on any nation.
Other
cadres spent their time either attacking MODOK or working on
esoteric technological weaponry. After years of following MODOK's whims, the main body of AIM revolted against his dictatorship and
ousted him from the organization, eventually using the
Serpent Squad to dispose of him. With all parts of the organization re-united, AIM returned to technological advancement as a means for
world conquest. Today AIM remains at odds with HYDRA, with both following different
ideological paths and attempting different tactics to control the same planet.
Major Achievements of A.I.M.
AIM has created several major instruments of deadly potential which stand out above the rest. The first is the
Super-Adaptoid, an
android capable of
duplicating the form and
superhuman powers of another being.
The second instrument was the
Cosmic Cube, an unimaginably powerful object capable of restructuring reality. AIM manufactured the containing device - the cube - not the reality-transforming energy itself, whose nature and origin remain mysteries.
The success of the MODOK experiment is debatable, but it did create two supremely intelligent and evil creatures, MODOK and MODAM.
AIM also has at its disposal vast technical resources, which includes an elaborate network of
underwater bases, vehicles capable of
space flight, and the sort of off-the-wall weaponry only
comic book writers can come up with. All members of AIM are
fanatics, with individual members often choosing
suicide over
capture.
Those Damned Heroes!
Commonly a foe for
Iron Man,
Captain America,
SHIELD and the
Avengers, AIM remains a relic of
Silver Age of Comic Book villains. Created during the
Cold War, when large scale secret enemies (eg.
Serpent Society,
HYDRA, the
Molemen,
Atlantis) seemed truly frightening, AIM has fallen into the shadows, underused by today's comic writers.
During its peak,
Nick Fury and
SHEILD were the main adversaries of AIM. Fury first exposed AIM as a subversive organization, and
HYDRA was the major adversary of SHIELD, therefore so was AIM.
Iron Man is another continual foe. AIM scored a major victory against his alter ego,
Tony Stark, when it infected Stark's dream project, a space station, with a virus that made human habitation of the station impossible.
AIM operatives, who are fascinated by the alien technology, have a real love-hate relationship with
Quasar and his
Quantum Bands. AIM is determined to attain them at all costs.
Captain America, by way of the
Red Skull, has had major troubles at the hands of the
Cosmic Cube, AIM's prize invention.
A Prime Example of A.I.M thinking.
AIM
annexed the
Caribbean island of
Boca Caliente by vaporizing half of it with a microwave beam transmission, and bombing the other half into submission as seen in
Iron Man #207. Using
Boca Caliente as its main base of operations, AIM has been producing high-tech weapons and selling them to anyone without asking what the purchaser plans on using them for.
Better living through technology!