ARTHUR SHAMAN

Real Name: Arthur Shaman

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: AIM agent

Group Membership: AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics)

Affiliations: AIM agents (at least three, including Agent B-4), Warbot

Enemies: Michael Barnett, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Defenders (Hellcat/Patsy Walker, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Shammy (as called by Hellcat)

Base of Operations: Various AIM headquarters

First Appearance: Defenders I#57 (March, 1978);
{Edizione Italiana: I Difensori#14 Editoriale Corno (giugno 1980)}

Powers/Abilities: A master of hypnotism, Arthur Shaman could entrance and control a person's will with just a glance of his eyes. His hypnotic control seemed to be only temporary, and would wear off after a few hours; however, he could re-establish his control over a person by subjecting them to AIM's Psycho-Conditioner.

Shaman was also armed with some form of a handgun, and probably had the normal field-operative training of an AIM agent; however, he seemed to be too dependent upon his hypnotic power, and had poor skills when involved in an actual physical fight.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black (including mustache)

History:
(Defenders I#57 (fb) - BTS) - At some point he developed the ability to hypnotize people with a glance; he became an agent of the subversive organization known as AIM, where apparently (according to him) he never failed in his missions.

(Ms. Marvel I#7 - BTS) - Carol Danvers discovered the AIM headquarters of New York.

(Defenders I#57 - (fb) - BTS) - AIM decided to find out how Danvers had located their base, so they could "plug the leak"; they ordered Shaman to lead a task force to capture Michael Barnett, Carol Danvers' psychiatrist.

(Defenders I#57) - Arthur Shaman met Michael Barnett at a pub in Manhattan; Shaman hypnotized him, then forced Barnett to accompany him to an AIM base near Central Park. But Shaman's hypnotic control over Barnett was fading, and Barnett tried to free himself from the AIM agents, so Shaman punched the groggy psychiatrist and stunned him. Barnett was then subjected to the Psycho-Conditioner, and following the unpleasant procedure, Shaman and the other AIM agents learned from Barnett that Carol Danvers was experiencing nightmares about being attacked and killed by the Hulk--fortunately, Barnett didn't reveal Carol's heroic alter-ego.

(Defenders I#57 - BTS) - Shaman decided to capture the Hulk and brainwash him with the Psycho-Conditioner as well, then force the jade giant to kill Carol Danvers, so AIM could not be linked in any way with Danvers' death.

(Defenders I#57) - Shaman and other agents took the Warbot and boarded an AIM airscar, then attacked Dr. Strange house (see comments). The unleashed Warbot succeeded in defeating the Defenders and capturing the Hulk, so it climbed back aboard the aircar with the frozen Hulk and they flew away.

(Defenders I#57 - BTS) - Nighthawk saw the AIM aircar flying away, so he covertly attached a "tracer bug" to it.

(Defenders I#57) - The aircar reached its destination: an AIM laboratory, hidden within an abandoned barn in the wilds of  Long Island's Suffolk county. But as they carried their prisoners (Barnett and the still-frozen Hulk) to the barn, Shaman and the AIM agents were surprised by Nighthawk, Ms. Marvel, and Hellcat, and a fight ensued.

   Ms. Marvel fought and slowly destroyed the Warbot, and the AIM agents were getting trounced by Nighthawk and Hellcat. Shaman pulled out his handgun and tried to shoot at Hellcat, but the heroine was faster than he, and she disarmed him by kicking the gun from his hand; then she jumped on Shaman's shoulders and covered his eyes, so he couldn't use his hypnotic power. As Shaman began to run in a blind panic, he smashed into a tree and knocked himself out.

   Afterward, the AIM laboratory was destroyed; Shaman and the AIM agents were presumably taken into custody.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, George Tuska and Dave Cockrum.

I understand that AIM wanted Carol Danvers to die, but why did she have to be killed by her "nightmare"? Wasn't there another killer that would not implicate AIM, and that would be easier to capture and control than the Hulk?

Since the Defenders were a "non-team" of heroes, they didn't have an official headquarters at this time, so they would usually just meet in Doctor Strange's home; and Strange himself never encountered Arthur Shaman because he was away in the Quadriverse at the time of this story.--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Spidermay. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Arthur Shaman has no known connections to:

AIM's Psycho-Conditioner has no known connections to:

AIM's psycho-conditioner

A portable device used by the subversive organization AIM, it consisted of a helmet and supporting machinery.

After a person was subjected to the device's long and unpleasant process, it would brainwash that person and make him susceptible to the commands of AIM personnel.

It was first used on Carol Danver's psychiatrist Dr. Michael Barnett, to learn her fear of being attacked and slain by the Hulk; upon learning this, Arthur Shaman lead AIM agents and the Warbot to capture the Hulk, for the purpose of also brainwashing the jade giant with it and have him act as their assassin to kill Danvers.

But Shaman and the agents were defeated by the Defenders, and their laboratory was destroyed--presumably, the Psycho-Conditioner was destroyed as well.

--Defenders I#57

images: (without ads)
Defenders I#57, p12, pan5 (main image - Arthur Shaman)
Defenders I#57, p5, pan5 (headshot - Arthur Shaman hypnotizes Michael Barnett)
Defenders I#57, p15, pan1 (Arthur Shaman holding handgun)
Defenders I#57, p15, pan4-6 (Hellcat jumps on Shaman, covers his eyes, and causes him to run into a tree)
Defenders I#57, p7, pan3 (AIM agent presents Psycho-Conditioner)
Defenders I#57, p7, pan6 (Michael Barnett gets subjected to Psycho-Conditioner)

Appearances:
Defenders I#57 (March, 1978) - Gerry Conway (plot), Chris Claremont (script), George Tuska & Dave Cockrum (pencils), Dan Green (inks),  Francoise Mouly (colors), Peter Iro (letters), Archie Goodwin (editor)

First posted: 06/11/2005
Last updated: 09/07/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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