Count Bornag Royale first appeared on the SHIELD Heli-Carrier. If you read that episode carefully, it is NOT revealed yet that he was a villain.

In the CAP episode, it IS revealed that he is a villain. This episode takes place BEFORE the other one. Therefore, it should be viewed as a "flashback".

Dramatically, it does make more sense to read the SHIELD episode before the CAP episode.


The "writer" (so-called) and "editor" (ditto) also got confused as the the exact relationship between "A.I.M." and "Them". (Withut the comics in front of me to study extensively, I couldn't tell you where the error cropped up.)



One more time: "A.I.M." is a division of "Them". "Them" IS Hydra.

What's interesting is that the "Grand Imperator" of "A.I.M." was responsible for finding and bring The Red Skull out of suspended animation. LATER, we discover that the "Grand Imperator" was a disguise, as he was really Hydra's "Supereme Hydra" POSING as one of his own subordinates. (Isn't that nuts?)

But this is like finding out that "Them" (alias Hydra)--and really, quite probably, "A.I.M." (being the technical division) were the ones who supplied The Hate Monger with all his hi-tech equipment. If you know who's under the Hate-Monger's mask... well, think about THAT one!

Later still (I think) we discover that The Red Skull was one of the people originally responsible for the CREATION of Hydra in the first place. when he decided to betray "A.I.M.", did he KNOW they were part of Hydra?


So many questions to ponder... I do feel sure if ONE writer had done all this, instead of TWO (often working at cross-purposes), it probably would have been more consistent, and coherent.


And here's another one to ponder... WHAT IF Mainline had not gone under? If not, it seems a sure bet Marvel WOULD have. Would Joe Simon and Jack Kirby have hired Stan Lee as a writer? He might have come in handy filling in word balloons (if he could have kept himself from trying to RE-WRITE othe rpeople's stories iun the process...).