CAPTAINS AMERICA versus TASKMASTER
The Hammer Falls Part 2 of 3 (Marvel)
Where: Avengers: The Initiative #34 When: May 2010 Why: Christos Gage How: Jorge Molina
The Story So Far...
When Tony Stark fought to bring about a new Superhero Registration Act -- he failed to fully consider what would happen if it all fell into the wrong hands!
A secret invasion by Skrulls allowed Norman Osborn to oust Iron Man and replace him as the "Iron Patriot" at the head of a reformed intelligence agency and Commission of Superhuman Activities.
In his hubris, Osborn conspires to bring about a siege on the City of Asgard that finally signals his dark reign has gone too far. Captain America returns to lead an assembly of Avengers against their dark counterparts, arriving just in time to join his temporary replacement against The Shadow Initiative's leader: Taskmaster!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Draw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Steve Rogers 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Steve Rogers 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Steve Rogers 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Taskmaster 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Bucky Barnes 3 (Explosives)
Total: Steve Rogers 28 (Metahuman)
That isn't a misprint! We're getting two Captains America for the price of one!
Steve Rogers is fresh off an apparent assassination, and excursion through time, dropping-in on his temporary replacement, Bucky Barnes, for the ultimate All-American team-up!
We got a brief glimpse of the stand-in when the Secret Avengers took on The Hood in New Avengers #54, but Bucky is best known as Cap's World War II fighting buddy who was thought dead until he reemerged as Winter Soldier.
The duo are taking on a classic Steve Rogers rival who's studied all his moves and learned to imitate them exactly!
Taskmaster possesses "photographic reflexes" that allow him to utilize the fighting techniques of anyone he observes. Cap is one of Taskmaster's stock favourites, leading him to frequently travel with a similar disc-shaped shield. He also favours the swordplay of Black Knight and the marksmanship of Hawkeye.
This intimate understanding of fighting styles means Taskmaster can anticipate and counter familiar studies, but therein lies a potential weakness.
Deadpool #2 showed that an unfamiliar and unpredictable opponent can get the drop on Taskmaster, negating some of his expertise. Deadpool's penchant for absurdity helped him win that fight, and again in Cable & Deadpool #36.
Bucky's programming as a Russian assassin means he's a very different fighter to Cap, and although we learned of a secret history involving well known characters, it's entirely possible he never encountered Taskmaster as The Winter Soldier!
Even if their activities did lead to a meeting, we can't forget that Taskmaster is a supreme fighter -- but he isn't infallible. Moon Knight once used the shock & awe of crashing a plane and staring down death to bamboozle him. It's entirely possible the teamwork of Captain America and Bucky could lead to defeat!
The Tape: Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes Ranking: Steve Rogers (#7)
What Went Down...
Where: Avengers: The Initiative #34 When: May 2010 Why: Christos Gage How: Jorge Molina
The Story So Far...
When Tony Stark fought to bring about a new Superhero Registration Act -- he failed to fully consider what would happen if it all fell into the wrong hands!
A secret invasion by Skrulls allowed Norman Osborn to oust Iron Man and replace him as the "Iron Patriot" at the head of a reformed intelligence agency and Commission of Superhuman Activities.
In his hubris, Osborn conspires to bring about a siege on the City of Asgard that finally signals his dark reign has gone too far. Captain America returns to lead an assembly of Avengers against their dark counterparts, arriving just in time to join his temporary replacement against The Shadow Initiative's leader: Taskmaster!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Athlete)Intelligence: Draw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Steve Rogers 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Steve Rogers 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Steve Rogers 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Taskmaster 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Bucky Barnes 3 (Explosives)
Total: Steve Rogers 28 (Metahuman)
That isn't a misprint! We're getting two Captains America for the price of one!
Steve Rogers is fresh off an apparent assassination, and excursion through time, dropping-in on his temporary replacement, Bucky Barnes, for the ultimate All-American team-up!
We got a brief glimpse of the stand-in when the Secret Avengers took on The Hood in New Avengers #54, but Bucky is best known as Cap's World War II fighting buddy who was thought dead until he reemerged as Winter Soldier.
The duo are taking on a classic Steve Rogers rival who's studied all his moves and learned to imitate them exactly!
Taskmaster possesses "photographic reflexes" that allow him to utilize the fighting techniques of anyone he observes. Cap is one of Taskmaster's stock favourites, leading him to frequently travel with a similar disc-shaped shield. He also favours the swordplay of Black Knight and the marksmanship of Hawkeye.
This intimate understanding of fighting styles means Taskmaster can anticipate and counter familiar studies, but therein lies a potential weakness.
Deadpool #2 showed that an unfamiliar and unpredictable opponent can get the drop on Taskmaster, negating some of his expertise. Deadpool's penchant for absurdity helped him win that fight, and again in Cable & Deadpool #36.
Bucky's programming as a Russian assassin means he's a very different fighter to Cap, and although we learned of a secret history involving well known characters, it's entirely possible he never encountered Taskmaster as The Winter Soldier!
Even if their activities did lead to a meeting, we can't forget that Taskmaster is a supreme fighter -- but he isn't infallible. Moon Knight once used the shock & awe of crashing a plane and staring down death to bamboozle him. It's entirely possible the teamwork of Captain America and Bucky could lead to defeat!
The Tape: Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes Ranking: Steve Rogers (#7)
What Went Down...
Avengers fall out of the sky like raindrops across the battlefield and Taskmaster begins weighing up his options. A besieged Norman "Iron Patriot" Osborn spells a back-up plan that could keep him in favour with powerful friends -- win or lose.
With shield raised, Taskmaster rushes to Osborn's aid, charging towards an attacking Captain America who doesn't see it coming.
Fortunately for the recently returned hero his erstwhile replacement has his back covered and opens fire!
With shield raised, Taskmaster rushes to Osborn's aid, charging towards an attacking Captain America who doesn't see it coming.
Fortunately for the recently returned hero his erstwhile replacement has his back covered and opens fire!
Taskmaster blocks the bullets with his shield and raises his sword to challenge the original Captain America.
The mercenary has been looking forward to a rematch with his old nemesis, as well as the professional opportunity to outdo Crossbones by killing the legendary hero with more permanence than his previous assassination.
Cap responds dismissively, so Taskmaster aims to make a lasting impression, continuing to deflect Bucky's gunfire as he slashes his sword across Captain America's defending shield.
A break in the shooting gives Taskmaster the opportunity to turn the tide of battle. With a single pivot he smacks Cap in the face with with his shield, and hurls his sword at Bucky with enough accuracy to knock the pistol from his hand!
Cap recovers quickly and takes advantage of the turn by sinking his knee into Taskmaster's exposed mid-section!
He remembers Taskmaster and his "photographic reflexes" all too well, and reasons that Bucky's lost decades could present a completely unknown opponent for the mimicking fighter.
Bucky tags in and introduces the mercenary to a very different kind of Captain America, brandishing Taskmaster's own sword against him!
Bucky tags in and introduces the mercenary to a very different kind of Captain America, brandishing Taskmaster's own sword against him!
For a moment the attack catches Taskmaster by surprise, but as the newest Captain America takes up the offensive, he begins to recognize the man fighting beneath the red, white, and blue. He's studied many World War II newsreels, and as impossible as it may seem, he knows this is Cap's long dead sidekick: Bucky!
Armed with this knowledge, Taskmaster swings his shield just so to knock the sword out of Bucky's hand, and clip him across the chin!
Bucky rallies with an assurance that Taskmaster and his allies will pay for what they've done to America during the dark reign of their administration.
"The flag. This country. The public trust. And for what you and your kind have done to them... I'M TAKING YOU DOWN!"
Taskmaster invites him to try, and the stand-in Captain America responds with seemingly reckless abandon -- charging directly into the line of Taskmaster's downward swinging sword!
The soldier blocks the sword strike with his right forearm -- hiding beneath his uniform the cyborg legacy of his days as The Winter Soldier!
Taskmaster seems unfazed by this revelation, but isn't so nonchalant when a flash in the sky signals the arrival of The Hood and his Cabal.
Bucky presumes the villain is receiving reinforcements, but Taskmaster notes the fighter jets already shooting down the HAMMER Helicarrier. Distractions enough to bring their skirmish to an end as the chaos brings the City of Asgard towards total destruction.
The Hammer...There's direct overlap between the action seen in Avengers: The Initiative #34 and the concurrent events of Siege #3, but to the best of my knowledge todays featured fight ends as described. You could presume The Sentry's razing of Asgard is the capper.
With only one issue remaining: The Initiative creative team had to juggle contemporary concerns of the Dark Reign era, while also trying to give adequate send-off to some of the B and C list characters who were specific to the series, some since its beginning as a spin-off coming out of Civil War. The result is a slightly disjointed issue of a slightly disjointed series.
Taskmaster was first installed by Henry Peter Gyrich in Avengers: The Initiative #8 as a drill instructor at Camp Hammond. He was to train new recruits brought into the Fifty State Initiative by the government's Superhero Registration Act, kept in line by the threat of exploding nanobots supposedly implanted in his brain.
TM became a bigger focus for the series once he was made field leader of the black-ops Shadow Initiative unit in issue #20. This positioned him perfectly to serve the interests of Norman Osborn, who assumed command of the Fifty State Initiative after he leveraged the events of Secret Invasion to replace an indicted Tony Stark as the head of America's military and intelligence agencies.
That all might sound dreadfully complicated, but like most of these things, it's really a pick 'n' mix situation.
You only need to understand the story you're reading, and you can read as little or as much as you like. These other events add background and larger context to the lay of the land, but they're really not essential to understanding the series, or the story as told from the perspective of Taskmaster.
Siege ostensibly brings an end to the cascading circumstances that were roughly started with Avengers Disassembled, and really got going in Civil War.
The event was essentially designed to put all the pieces back together, bringing Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man back onto the same page after a half decade of sidelining and opposition. Thor had been back amongst the living for a while, but kept to himself, while Cap returned from his apparent assassination at the end of Civil War, having actually rattled around in time rather than death.
The curious irony of Siege is that, although it was arguably the most tightly arranged of Marvel's events -- tying related issues directly to the main battle in the Siege mini-series -- it results in one of the most insubstantial of the era.
Background characters suggest some of the action occurring in other Siege series, but Jorge Molina's pencils are swamped in a necessary palette that ties everything together with a monotonous wash of explosions occurring in the main title.
I like the detail of Taskmaster's deep understanding of fighting styles allowing him to identify Bucky Barnes beneath the shiny new Captain America costume. I'm a little less clear why, if this is their first meeting, he doesn't note any surprise that Bucky blocked a sword strike with his forearm. It seems like there's time, but a lot of other things are happening.
The goal of telling micro-stories inextricably linked to a single conflict and place was an intriguing one. It plays to the fantasy of telling a superhero war epic that goes back to Secret Wars, and maybe earlier. Siege may even achieve the genuine sensation of being on the frontlines, but its narrow focus makes everything feel small and just a little inconsequential.
I tend to think Final Crisis achieved a similar result without losing its sense of scope and grandeur. Siege benefits from having clearer long term goals, but even they manage to feel small and perfunctory. Its more of an end than a beginning, and we already knew what to expect long before it arrived.
What followed for Marvel Comics was less a return to good old character-driven comics, and more of a meandering freefall. Siege feels like the first chapter in the next ten years of scattershot comics. They chose to return to the event format shortly after, and each installment seemed more like Siege - "important" by design, but insubstantial and easily skipped by impression.
At some point I imagine I'll return to the main Siege series to take a closer look at its most significant battles. In the mean time, if you'd like to draw your own conclusions about the 2010 event you can check out collected editions of Siege: Avengers - The Initiative and Siege via Amazon links embedded below.
With only one issue remaining: The Initiative creative team had to juggle contemporary concerns of the Dark Reign era, while also trying to give adequate send-off to some of the B and C list characters who were specific to the series, some since its beginning as a spin-off coming out of Civil War. The result is a slightly disjointed issue of a slightly disjointed series.
Taskmaster was first installed by Henry Peter Gyrich in Avengers: The Initiative #8 as a drill instructor at Camp Hammond. He was to train new recruits brought into the Fifty State Initiative by the government's Superhero Registration Act, kept in line by the threat of exploding nanobots supposedly implanted in his brain.
TM became a bigger focus for the series once he was made field leader of the black-ops Shadow Initiative unit in issue #20. This positioned him perfectly to serve the interests of Norman Osborn, who assumed command of the Fifty State Initiative after he leveraged the events of Secret Invasion to replace an indicted Tony Stark as the head of America's military and intelligence agencies.
That all might sound dreadfully complicated, but like most of these things, it's really a pick 'n' mix situation.
You only need to understand the story you're reading, and you can read as little or as much as you like. These other events add background and larger context to the lay of the land, but they're really not essential to understanding the series, or the story as told from the perspective of Taskmaster.
Siege ostensibly brings an end to the cascading circumstances that were roughly started with Avengers Disassembled, and really got going in Civil War.
The event was essentially designed to put all the pieces back together, bringing Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man back onto the same page after a half decade of sidelining and opposition. Thor had been back amongst the living for a while, but kept to himself, while Cap returned from his apparent assassination at the end of Civil War, having actually rattled around in time rather than death.
The curious irony of Siege is that, although it was arguably the most tightly arranged of Marvel's events -- tying related issues directly to the main battle in the Siege mini-series -- it results in one of the most insubstantial of the era.
Background characters suggest some of the action occurring in other Siege series, but Jorge Molina's pencils are swamped in a necessary palette that ties everything together with a monotonous wash of explosions occurring in the main title.
I like the detail of Taskmaster's deep understanding of fighting styles allowing him to identify Bucky Barnes beneath the shiny new Captain America costume. I'm a little less clear why, if this is their first meeting, he doesn't note any surprise that Bucky blocked a sword strike with his forearm. It seems like there's time, but a lot of other things are happening.
The goal of telling micro-stories inextricably linked to a single conflict and place was an intriguing one. It plays to the fantasy of telling a superhero war epic that goes back to Secret Wars, and maybe earlier. Siege may even achieve the genuine sensation of being on the frontlines, but its narrow focus makes everything feel small and just a little inconsequential.
I tend to think Final Crisis achieved a similar result without losing its sense of scope and grandeur. Siege benefits from having clearer long term goals, but even they manage to feel small and perfunctory. Its more of an end than a beginning, and we already knew what to expect long before it arrived.
What followed for Marvel Comics was less a return to good old character-driven comics, and more of a meandering freefall. Siege feels like the first chapter in the next ten years of scattershot comics. They chose to return to the event format shortly after, and each installment seemed more like Siege - "important" by design, but insubstantial and easily skipped by impression.
At some point I imagine I'll return to the main Siege series to take a closer look at its most significant battles. In the mean time, if you'd like to draw your own conclusions about the 2010 event you can check out collected editions of Siege: Avengers - The Initiative and Siege via Amazon links embedded below.
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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 600 battles and ranked over 1000 characters! You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number -- or discover more by following topical links found in each article!
If all of that isn't enough you can follow and subscribe on Twitter and Facebook to get daily links to superhero smackdown inspired by the topics of the day! Don't forget to like, fave, and share all the action!
Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#7 (--) Captain America (Steve Rogers)
#58 (--) Captain America (Bucky Barnes)
#991 (+2) Taskmaster
Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 600 battles and ranked over 1000 characters! You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number -- or discover more by following topical links found in each article!
If all of that isn't enough you can follow and subscribe on Twitter and Facebook to get daily links to superhero smackdown inspired by the topics of the day! Don't forget to like, fave, and share all the action!
Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#7 (--) Captain America (Steve Rogers)
#58 (--) Captain America (Bucky Barnes)
#991 (+2) Taskmaster
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