Taskmaster
Taskmaster (Tony Masters) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was initially depicted as a supervillain but now is often portrayed as an antihero. Taskmaster first appeared in Avengers vol. 1 #195 (May 1980) and was created by David Michelinie and George Pérez. Introduced as an enemy of the Avengers, Taskmaster went on to feature in numerous Marvel titles, most notably as an enemy/ally of Deadpool. He is often hired as a training instructor by various criminal organizations, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. government. In Taskmaster vol. 2 #3 (2011), the character was revealed to be a sleeper agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. planted by Nick Fury to gather intelligence in the criminal underworld.
Publication history
The Taskmaster first appeared briefly in Avengers #195 (May 1980), before making his full debut in Avengers #196 (June 1980). The character went onto appear as a supervillain and a villainous training instructor in Marvel Team-Up #103 (1981), Avengers vol. 1 #223 (1982), Marvel Team-Up #146 (1984), The Thing #26 (1985), Iron Man vol. 1 #254 (1990), Captain America vol. 1 #334, (1987), #394 (1991), #396 (1992), #403 (1992), Captain America Annual #11 (1992), The Amazing Spider-Man #366–367 (1992), Daredevil #292–293 (1991) and #317–318 (1993), Sensational She-Hulk vol. 1 #59 (1994), Elektra #5, #7 (1997), Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman #1 (1998), Avengers vol. 3 #26 (2000), #38 (2001), Captain America vol. 3 #44 (2001), Moon Knight vol. 3 #3–6 (2006), Spider-Woman: Origin #2–3 (2006), Civil War #3, #5–7 (2006–2007), Marvel Comics Presents vol. 2 #1–2 (2007), Siege: The Cabal #1 (2010), Siege #2–3 (2010), Captain America & Crossbones #1 (2011), Avengers Academy #9 (2011) and Daken: Dark Wolverine #12 (2011).