After going up against some of the most dangerous people in the Marvel Universe, Taskmaster’s quest to clear his name of Maria Hill’s murder is almost at an end. He just needs one thing – to study the body language of Okoye – and to do that, he’s going to need to infiltrate one of the most technologically advanced nations on the planet. Written by Jed McKay, art by Alessandro Vitti, colours by Guru-eFX, and lettering by VC’s Joe Caramagna.
In his Black Cat series, Jed MacKay excels at two things – one, giving his readers a whirlwind tour of the Marvel Universe to highlight some of its most unique characters, and two, heists. Taskmaster has been a lot of the same, so far, with a lot less fabulous style and a lot more grump and savagery. Taskmaster has one ace up his bright orange sleeve, however – he’s stealing something nobody really thinks to keep safe.
We start with a reminder of just how close Taskmaster is to completing his journey – all he needs is to observe Okoye for a few minutes, live and in person. In order to do that, however, he’s going to need to infiltrate Wakanda and get an audience with its top spy – and, harder still, get out in one piece. He’s got a plan, but not even he’s sure how it’s going to be turning out as he parachutes into a nation built to keep the rest of the world out.
Slowly drifting down into a beautifully colored Wakandan night, we get a few moments of reflection from Taskmaster, which is one of the best parts of the issue. Taskmaster has a unique, cynical but not inaccurate view of the Marvel Universe, pattern recognition that stops just shy of breaking the Fourth Wall into comics criticism itself. MacKay’s take on the Women In Refrigerators trope just manages to be funny without being uncomfortable (though your mileage may vary).
Within moments of his glorious white boots hitting the ground, however, Taskmaster’s plan quickly seems to go awry, and we get to the real meat of the issue – Tony Masters vs. Wakanda’s elite security force, the Hatut Zeraze, and their leader, Okoye herself. Okoye is none too pleased to see Taskmaster there, and one well-crafted lie after another falls apart under her intimidatingly-drawn glare. It’s easy to see that Taskmaster’s built himself up a bit of a reputation in the Marvel Universe as not just a deadly mercenary, but as a fast-talking con man who under no account should be listened to. The fact that Taskmaster never stops talking anyway is just one of the many reasons this series has been so fun.
Another main reason, of course, has been the fight scenes. We’ve seen Tony make several madcap escapes, and seen him go up against an opponent who’s vastly overpowered him, but this is the first time we really get to see Tony in a familiar element – pure hand-to-hand to hand combat, no powers, Pym Particles or golf carts. While the fight against the Wakandan henchman simply reminds us all that, as likeable as Taskmaster is, he’s still at his heart a savage bully, the fight with Okoye is something else entirely.
Alessandro Vitti’s art does a great job of mixing the grittier tone of a world through Taskmaster’s eyes with the humor this book is meant to bring out. When it comes to this fight, however, he and Guru-eFX bring something new to the page. Using flashes of colors to show who in the fight has the upper hand, and a lack of them for moments when both fighters have a bit of respite is a brilliant way to fit in a detailed but fast-paced fight into a single page in a way that makes it feel like more than just a montage of cool fight moves, as many comic book action sequences feel like.
Caption boxes that describe the action you see happening on the page have fallen out of fashion, and it’s something that makes Taskmaster fights that much more fun. He can’t help but let his inner critic out in a fight he’s enjoying, comparing his opponents to the best he’s seen, complimenting moves he truly admires, a kind of banter you don’t really get anywhere else. I would listen to a weekly podcast from Tony Masters talking about various Marvel fighting styles and would never get tired, but for now, I’ll have to settle for throwaway comments in between artfully thrown punches.
As fun as this issue was, it was comparatively light compared to everything else we’ve seen in the series. As we find out, Taskmaster’s plan went off more or less without a hitch – it’s a low stakes, high humor heist, a light snack of an issue before this miniseries’ finale next week. I’m looking forward to the end – though I’ll be equally as sad to see it go.
