The menace called Argh!yle! was once a simple sock worn by Brum-El of the planet Schwab. Argh!yle! and his wife Marnie were sent to Earth in the same spaceship as the Ambush Bug uniform. The ship was smooshed by a radioactive space-spider, its alien energy absorbed by the socks. Marnie died in the crash, but Argh!yle! and the uniform survived. When Irwin Schwab – the soon to be Ambush Bug – salvaged the suit, he didn't notice the newly-sentient sock. Crushed by rejection and maimed by a cat, Argh!yle! stumbled into an abandoned lab, where he used advanced machinery to mend himself. He made an iron mask to hide his disfigurement and gain great powers. Stealing socks from laundromats, he started bringing them to life, building an army. Finally, he created the Bureau, an orbiting headquarters from which he attacks his most hated foes, everybody, and in particular Ambush Bug. After several attempts of world conquest and clashes with the Bug, Argh!yle!'s plans were foiled when his headquarters was blown up.
He is a scientific genius with the powers of The Legion of Super-Heroes' socks.