Writer: Ken Siu-Chong Artists: Arnold Tsang, Drew Hou, Omar Dogan, Rob Ross and Shane Law
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Plot: The book opens with the Taskmaster at the bottom of the river, and we see him flashback to a moment from his childhood where he nearly drowned, and this incident has left him with a healthy fear of water. However, he does manage to make his way to the surface, where he tears through the goons that had been given the job of killing him, and we then see him set out to pay Sunset Bain a visit. However before he carries out his revenge, we see him pay a visit to the hospital room of the woman who was injured during the attack last issue, and he leaves her a message expressing his apologies. We then follow the Taskmaster as he uses his talents, and his holographic generator to make his way into the offices of Sunset Bain. However before he can have his revenge, he has to defeat her bodyguard who possesses extraordinarily fast reflexes. While the Taskmaster does manage to win this fight, before he can kill Sunset Bain he is driven off by a gang of machine gun bearing goons, who force the Taskmaster to postpone his revenge.
Comments: Oh that just plain stinks! I'm not a huge fan of the characters who run around pumping bullets into villains, but this entire miniseries was constructed around the Taskmaster getting royally screwed over by Sunset Bain, and this entire issue was setup up so that we could watch the Taskmaster repay the favor. So what do we get? Why it's a slap in the face finish, where Udon Studios reveals that Marvel won't even let them kill off such a seeming minor character like Sunset Bain. I mean these evil business people are a dime-a-dozen in the Marvel Universe, and yet this miniseries is robbed of a rewarding climax because someone at Marvel has decided Sunset Bain needs to survive the Taskmaster's final attack. Even worse is that after he's fought his way through an entire building of armed guards the Taskmaster is spooked off by a trio with machine guns. I'm not saying her death had to be graphic, or even that it had to be anything more than a panel with the sound effect of a gun going off, but by having her survive the encounter in the manner that she did was extremely disappointing.
The one thing this issue did manage to do is deliver some fairly impressive action right up until the final few pages. Now the opening flashback is a bit silly as it asks the reader to accept that a young Taskmaster was dumb enough to jump in the water without knowing how to swim, but I do like the idea that his powers allow his memories to be crystal clear. In any event getting back to the action, the opening battle with the thugs is a nice display of how the Taskmaster can run circles around these goons, and it also has itself a couple amusing one-liners. The idea that the Taskmaster used increased tape speed to grant himself a momentary burst of super-fast attacks is a bit shaky from a logic standpoint, but it did make for a rather imaginative use of his powers nevertheless. One does wonder why the Taskmaster didn't test the bullet catching talents of Sunset Bain's henchman bit more though by sending half-a-dozen bullets his way, and seeing if he could catch them all, as the Taskmaster's use of the same trick later in the issue does reveal that it wasn't a superpower, but rather it was simply insanely fast reflexes.
The art on this miniseries hasn't exactly blown me away but it has had its moments, and this issue continues this trend by offering up a couple scenes that the art made more impressive than they might've been. The first is Taskmaster's explosive arrival at Sunset Bain's office building, as the art does a very nice job conveying the proficiency that Taskmaster is able to display against the small army of security guards. The second area would be the scene where the Taskmaster engages in a bit of fast-forward kung-fu, as the blurring effect is put to good use during this sequence to create a sense of speed. However, where the art isn't quite as impressive are during the quieter moments where a sense of danger is suppose to be conveyed, as the scene where we discover the Taskmaster is in Sunset Bain's office is hurt by the art's bright, almost cheery look. The same goes for the scene where we discover that the Taskmaster's up against a man who can catch bullets with his bare hands. This issue does have itself another great looking cover though.
Final Word: A very entertaining adventure, that made great use of its title character, but in the end this miniseries will forever stick in my mind as having one of the worst endings a story has ever been saddled with. I mean this entire miniseries has centered around the Taskmaster getting run through the wringer by Sunset Bain. He's been betrayed, and left for dead, but when this book reaches its big finish apparently someone suddenly informed the writer that Sunset Bain had to survive, and the readers are left with a big finish that is completely toothless. It's a solid issue in that the Taskmaster is presented as a highly competent character, but the ending this issue is given is almost embarrassing in its unwillingness to cross the line that it needed to. There are times when one has to wonder if Marvel has a rule stating nothing of any notable significance can ever take place in a miniseries.
