AIM Scientist Supreme

We know what you're thinking: "wait, isn't MODOK the leader of AIM?" Brilliant and diabolical, the Scientist Supreme helms a massive criminal cabal known as Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.). The idea of there being a "Scientist Supreme" (similar in its way to a Sorcerer Supreme) first appeared in 1971, and several different people have held the title - including Hank Pym at one point, though he wasn't associated with AIM, suggesting the name is just up for grabs to whoever can science the best. How has Reed Richards never been it? Or Bill Nye? Judging by the costume, this one is Andrew Forson, a character who's not even a decade old at this point. He took control of AIM after they leaned over and copied Cobra's homework, grabbing their own small Atlantic island and declaring it a sovereign nation. Technically their second sovereign island nation, because if a story point is good enough to use once, it's good enough to use twice. But only after waiting 26 years in the hopes that people will have forgotten. The sci-guy doesn't just wear the normal AIM "beekeeper" outfit, he gets fancy golden armor. Personally, I'd have opted for shared anonymity, especially when the Avengers kick the door down and start looking for who's in charge, but hey, maybe that's why I'm not the Scientist Supreme. That, and I wasn't born the heir to an Apatheid-era emerald mine, so I can't just pay people to do work and then put my name on it for the clout. The arms and legs are the Taskmaster molds we've seen a few times, but the trunk is new work by Jonathan Gilboa. The chest armor has four blue hexagons, the same symbol that was on the back of MODOK's head. Guess someone decided that's AIM's symbol now. There are flat pads over the shoulders, and a tall black collar around the neck. The lower torso is solid black, but he wears a large utility belt with a huge blue device in the center. Does that do anything other than look cool? Probably. But not on this toy. Even the helmet isn't the stanard AIM style. It's similar, in that it's a tall yellow basket that's flat on top, but instead of a narrow visior to look through, there's a large metallic blue window on the front. It still conceals the identity of who's inside, but it looks fancier. There's also a blue grille over the mouth area. His neck is black, so it blends into the shadows of his collar and doesn't stick out. Taskmaster had slightly unusual articulation, so the Scientist Supreme does, too. The ankles are swivel/hinges, then they have another swivel immediately above, where they disappear into the shins. The double-hinged knees and elbows are normal, as are the swivel thighs and biceps, and the swivel/hinge wrists and shoulders, but then the neck is a barbell and the chest is a balljoint. Like we said, just "slightly" unusual, not "very.". The knees do feel a bit gummy, and these arms always have more trouble moving at the upper half of the elbow than the lower half - the shape of the bicep armor just doesn't want to play nicely with the rest for whatever reason. He's only got one accessory, a blue... thing. It's translucent plastic, with solid grey painted down one edge. It's presumably some sort of high-tech, see-through tablet thing, which is why both sides seem to be sculpted with different kinds of charts and graphs. It's... interesting, and adds a little to his appearance in a display, but it's a weird thing to have nonetheless. And if they ever decide to reuse it in solid colors, the AIM honeycomb logo in one corner of the screen will definitely make it easy to recognize. He also gets the right arm of Xemnu the Titan, this series' Build-A-Figure. AIM's Scientist Supreme is the odd man out in this all-villains series. Not because he's not villainous - this one certainly is - but because he's new and obscure, not recognizable and long-awaited. It's not that he's a bad inclusion, it's just hard to see there being as much demand for the Scientist Supreme as there is for, say, vintage Dormammu or Red Skull. -- 09/18/21

Tweet