Durrzerker
Banned
TEXT WALL WARNING. This is a topic I'm enthusiastic about! I'm really excited to hear about any of ComicGAF's favorited underrated characters, so I figure I should go all out with mine.
Mine is Taskmaster, as my avatar reveals. I think he's the most brilliant character Marvel's ever come up with, and the fact that he's usually relegated to a cameo role or jobs for comedy's sake is an absolute tragedy.
For those of you who don't follow comics heavily or just haven't seen Taskmaster [very possible; despite being around for 36 years, he's only been in about 175 issues of comics total], his basic concept is pretty simple: much like some people have a photographic memory, The Taskmaster, AKA Tony Masters, has what he calls 'photographic reflexes', the ability to perfectly copy any physical action that he sees once. This includes not only combat skills, such as Captain America's shield-throwing, Hawkeye's archery, or Daredevil's acrobatics, but also other talents like cooking, driving, voice mimickry, and magic tricks. The limitation is that he can't do anything that a peak human couldn't do; watching Hulk pick up a car doesn't mean he can pick one up because he doesn't have the super strength, watching Captain Marvel fly doesn't mean he can fly, etc.
It's a pretty interesting kit that makes him a serious threat in the right hands, but what really sets Taskmaster apart is his mindset, personality, and attitude. Introduced as an Avengers villain in May of 1980, Taskmaster was a mercenary operative, but he was distinct from characters like Bullseye who just killed for money. You know all those henchmen and mooks that superheroes wiped out by the dozens? Taskmaster was established as the guy who trains and hires them out. His original backstory was that he was a mutant who decided to use his powers for training henchmen to avoid taking personal risks. They got the beatdowns, they got the jailtime, he got paid. What immediately stood out about Taskmaster was his sense of humor and pragmatic villainy in a time where most bad guys were either scheming masterminds or thuggish idiots. For quite a long time, Taskmaster was one of the only villains who never got arrested or captured; when things went wrong, he'd recognize he was out of depth and get the hell out of Dodge. When he did get into a fight, he always made it clear that it was nothing personal. Just business.
In a lot of ways, Taskmaster was the original Deadpool [in fact, the character that Deadpool's based off of, Deathstroke, is in turn based off Taskmaster, who was created six months earlier by the same person].Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, Taskmaster seemed to be on his way to becoming a street-level Marvel heavyweight, holding his own against the likes of Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Captain America, and on one occasion, even the entire Avengers roster. He was popular, he was deadly, and he was strangely likable.
Unfortunately -- well, speaking of Deadpool, Deadpool happened. 1997 is pretty much where things started going wrong for ol' Tasky. In an issue of Deadpool's ongoing at the time, he encounters Taskmaster, who has kidnapped and subsequently hired Wade's buddy Weasel to work for him. In their first fight, Taskmaster easily kicks Deadpool's ass with his photographic reflexes, but after Deadpool escapes from the cell that Taskmaster stuck him in, he manages to counter Tasky's reflexes by being so crazy and random that Task couldn't keep up. It was a creative, if strange way to beat the veteran mercenary, and that was that.
The problem is, subsequent writers took this idea and ran with it. A character that used to go toe-to-toe with The Avengers gradually became a joke, getting foiled comically by 'unpredictable' attacks that a few years before, he would have easily countered and turned against people. A promising self-titled miniseries in 2002 that tried to re-establish Tasky as a bon vivant mercenary with a culture streak a mile wide saw some success, but was almost immediately subverted by the 'Agent X' series of the same year, in which a character who shared some of Deadpool's traits essentially managed to humiliate Taskmaster and turn him into the 'sullen jerk best friend' archetype.
This streak of embarrassments largely continued until 2007, and after ten years of being treated like a punchline, the end pretty much seemed nigh for Taskmaster. This all changed when he was introduced as the new drill instructor in the Avengers: Secret Initiative run. Everything that made Taskmaster great was emphasized on: his drill sergeant personality, his wry sense of humor, his amoral pragmatism, his knowing when to quit, and his versatile skillset. We saw him try his hand at being a major villain and get dunked for it, but also hold his own against serious threats and prove himself a capable leader.
When the series concluded in 2009, Taskmaster had become a Marvel fan favorite. He got another miniseries in early 2010, which retconned his origin significantly. No longer a mutant, he instead became an amnesiac SHIELD agent who took an experiment mnemonic primer in an attempt to be the best soldier to ever live, and while he gained photographic reflexes, he forgot everything else; his name, his past, and even his wife, fellow agent Mercedes Merced. The series sold alright and was critically praised; it seemed like Taskmaster was about to become a breakout hit. He soon became a character in Capcom's Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Fox was even in early stages of making a Taskmaster movie [for some reason, his rights were tied into Daredevil's]. Hell, he even beat Deadpool a couple of times, finally getting past his apparent kryptonite.
The thing is, Marvel didn't capitalize. From 2011-2013, Taskmaster pretty much dropped off the radar. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it was his costume, an undies-on-the-outside set of tights with a giant cape and skull mask, that firmly planted him in the Silver Age. Maybe it was because Fox had his movie rights, and Marvel didn't get them back until early 2015. Maybe it was the fact that he made a useful 'one-shot' villain meant that it was risky to give him too much character development spotlight. Whatever their reasons, Marvel just stopped using him. He had an excellent appearance in 2013's Secret Avengers, brought to life by the tremendously talented Rick Remender, but since then, he's pretty much gone back to cameo status, especially post-Secret Wars in the All-New universe.
For all of the mercenaries and anti-villains in Marvel, Taskmaster remains a unique character to this day. Despite being barely featured in the comics, he pops up frequently in other media. He's the most-purchased hero on Marvel Heroes, was a major villain on the [admittedly terrible] Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and gets a surprising number of his own toys and merchandise. When written well, he's a rare blend of practicality and swagger, a likable example of a not-so-bad guy who knows his limits and just wants to get rich like a lot of us.
If you'd like to learn more about Tasky or see him in action, check out his awesome respect thread here.
I've rambled enough, GAF. Tell me about the comic book characters you think deserve more love!
Mine is Taskmaster, as my avatar reveals. I think he's the most brilliant character Marvel's ever come up with, and the fact that he's usually relegated to a cameo role or jobs for comedy's sake is an absolute tragedy.
For those of you who don't follow comics heavily or just haven't seen Taskmaster [very possible; despite being around for 36 years, he's only been in about 175 issues of comics total], his basic concept is pretty simple: much like some people have a photographic memory, The Taskmaster, AKA Tony Masters, has what he calls 'photographic reflexes', the ability to perfectly copy any physical action that he sees once. This includes not only combat skills, such as Captain America's shield-throwing, Hawkeye's archery, or Daredevil's acrobatics, but also other talents like cooking, driving, voice mimickry, and magic tricks. The limitation is that he can't do anything that a peak human couldn't do; watching Hulk pick up a car doesn't mean he can pick one up because he doesn't have the super strength, watching Captain Marvel fly doesn't mean he can fly, etc.
It's a pretty interesting kit that makes him a serious threat in the right hands, but what really sets Taskmaster apart is his mindset, personality, and attitude. Introduced as an Avengers villain in May of 1980, Taskmaster was a mercenary operative, but he was distinct from characters like Bullseye who just killed for money. You know all those henchmen and mooks that superheroes wiped out by the dozens? Taskmaster was established as the guy who trains and hires them out. His original backstory was that he was a mutant who decided to use his powers for training henchmen to avoid taking personal risks. They got the beatdowns, they got the jailtime, he got paid. What immediately stood out about Taskmaster was his sense of humor and pragmatic villainy in a time where most bad guys were either scheming masterminds or thuggish idiots. For quite a long time, Taskmaster was one of the only villains who never got arrested or captured; when things went wrong, he'd recognize he was out of depth and get the hell out of Dodge. When he did get into a fight, he always made it clear that it was nothing personal. Just business.
In a lot of ways, Taskmaster was the original Deadpool [in fact, the character that Deadpool's based off of, Deathstroke, is in turn based off Taskmaster, who was created six months earlier by the same person].Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, Taskmaster seemed to be on his way to becoming a street-level Marvel heavyweight, holding his own against the likes of Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Captain America, and on one occasion, even the entire Avengers roster. He was popular, he was deadly, and he was strangely likable.
Unfortunately -- well, speaking of Deadpool, Deadpool happened. 1997 is pretty much where things started going wrong for ol' Tasky. In an issue of Deadpool's ongoing at the time, he encounters Taskmaster, who has kidnapped and subsequently hired Wade's buddy Weasel to work for him. In their first fight, Taskmaster easily kicks Deadpool's ass with his photographic reflexes, but after Deadpool escapes from the cell that Taskmaster stuck him in, he manages to counter Tasky's reflexes by being so crazy and random that Task couldn't keep up. It was a creative, if strange way to beat the veteran mercenary, and that was that.
The problem is, subsequent writers took this idea and ran with it. A character that used to go toe-to-toe with The Avengers gradually became a joke, getting foiled comically by 'unpredictable' attacks that a few years before, he would have easily countered and turned against people. A promising self-titled miniseries in 2002 that tried to re-establish Tasky as a bon vivant mercenary with a culture streak a mile wide saw some success, but was almost immediately subverted by the 'Agent X' series of the same year, in which a character who shared some of Deadpool's traits essentially managed to humiliate Taskmaster and turn him into the 'sullen jerk best friend' archetype.
This streak of embarrassments largely continued until 2007, and after ten years of being treated like a punchline, the end pretty much seemed nigh for Taskmaster. This all changed when he was introduced as the new drill instructor in the Avengers: Secret Initiative run. Everything that made Taskmaster great was emphasized on: his drill sergeant personality, his wry sense of humor, his amoral pragmatism, his knowing when to quit, and his versatile skillset. We saw him try his hand at being a major villain and get dunked for it, but also hold his own against serious threats and prove himself a capable leader.
When the series concluded in 2009, Taskmaster had become a Marvel fan favorite. He got another miniseries in early 2010, which retconned his origin significantly. No longer a mutant, he instead became an amnesiac SHIELD agent who took an experiment mnemonic primer in an attempt to be the best soldier to ever live, and while he gained photographic reflexes, he forgot everything else; his name, his past, and even his wife, fellow agent Mercedes Merced. The series sold alright and was critically praised; it seemed like Taskmaster was about to become a breakout hit. He soon became a character in Capcom's Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Fox was even in early stages of making a Taskmaster movie [for some reason, his rights were tied into Daredevil's]. Hell, he even beat Deadpool a couple of times, finally getting past his apparent kryptonite.
The thing is, Marvel didn't capitalize. From 2011-2013, Taskmaster pretty much dropped off the radar. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it was his costume, an undies-on-the-outside set of tights with a giant cape and skull mask, that firmly planted him in the Silver Age. Maybe it was because Fox had his movie rights, and Marvel didn't get them back until early 2015. Maybe it was the fact that he made a useful 'one-shot' villain meant that it was risky to give him too much character development spotlight. Whatever their reasons, Marvel just stopped using him. He had an excellent appearance in 2013's Secret Avengers, brought to life by the tremendously talented Rick Remender, but since then, he's pretty much gone back to cameo status, especially post-Secret Wars in the All-New universe.
For all of the mercenaries and anti-villains in Marvel, Taskmaster remains a unique character to this day. Despite being barely featured in the comics, he pops up frequently in other media. He's the most-purchased hero on Marvel Heroes, was a major villain on the [admittedly terrible] Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and gets a surprising number of his own toys and merchandise. When written well, he's a rare blend of practicality and swagger, a likable example of a not-so-bad guy who knows his limits and just wants to get rich like a lot of us.
If you'd like to learn more about Tasky or see him in action, check out his awesome respect thread here.
I've rambled enough, GAF. Tell me about the comic book characters you think deserve more love!
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They only bring him out to explain why he can't stay around anymore.
