TASKMASTER READING ORDER: Assassin Academy (1980-2007)

Despite appearing front and centre in the trailer for 2020's Black Widow film, the comics version of the Taskmaster has generally stayed behind the scenes, training assassins, mercenaries and other criminals in his various schools and academies. That's not to say he hasn't clashed with some major players in his time. His very first appearance saw him taking on an entire team of Avengers, despite his initial abilities being limited to photographic reflexes. Sure he can take on other people's moves and predict what they'll do next. But how would he fare against a lunatic like Deadpool or someone who's not even human like Jocasta?

For a behind-the-scenes guy, Taskmaster has a pretty flamboyant costume which goes some way to explaining his popularity. The film version seems to have adopted his toned-down costume when he briefly became more of a hands-on mercenary in the early 2000s. In the next installment of his history, Taskmaster will get the chance to manipulate things from behind the scenes once again, back in his classic garb for good.

Below, you'll find the first quarter-century of Taskmaster appearances in chronological order. As always, I'd like to thank the guys over at the Marvel Chronology Project which I use as a basis and work out my own continuity. Those guys have done all the heavy lifting for me.

MCG Notes:

• Issue listings in blue & black: The must-read Taskmasterstories from this time period, along with any often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
• issue listings in grey: Part of Taskmaster's chronology, cameo appearances or stories of note that non-essential or no longer considered 'required reading'.
• Chronology: Every Taskmaster appearance from this period is included in chronological order - mapping out his timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
• Spoilers: The are some spoilers in the story overviews, though I've tried to keep them to a minimum - just be warned!

Avengers #194 (1980)
Pernell Solomon sets up the Solomon Institute for the Criminally Insane as a front for Taskmaster's school for assassins.
MCG Note: Taskmaster does not appear in this issue.

Avengers #195-196 (1980)
First appearance of the Taskmaster; the Taskmaster returns to his school for assassins to discover Pernell Solomon has been blowing all his funding on cloning and has attracted the attention of the Avengers; Solomon's heart gives out when he tries to defend himself from the Taskmaster; Taskmaster holds his own against the Avengers - his ability to exactly emulate people's moves allows him to anticipate their attacks; the robot Jocasta turns out to be impossible for Taskmaster to emulate due to her robotic nature and he escapes rather than allow the Avengers to apprehend him.

Marvel Team-Up #103 (1981)
Taskmaster kidnaps Spider-Man to use as a 'teaching aid' in one of his fighting classes at his school for assassins; Spider-Man is freed by Ant-Man (Scott Lang) and Taskmaster predicts Ant-Man's moves based on Lang's predecessor, Hank Pym.

Avengers #223 (1982)
Hawkeye discovers Taskmaster is attempting to take over the circus that raised him, turning it into a mobile recruiting centre for assassins; Ant-Man comes to the rescue again, helping to thwart Taskmaster's plans, though the villain escapes.

Marvel Team-Up #146 (1984)
Taskmaster is recruited by the Black Abbott to train the members of his street gangs in his academy; Nomad (Jack Monroe) and Spider-Man disrupt the Black Abbott's plans.

Thing #26 (1985)
The Thing and Vance Astrovik discover the Taskmaster's scheme to train assassins using a circus as a cover; Taskmaster is apprehended by the police.

Captain America #334 (1987)
Taskmaster strikes a deal with the Commission on Superhuman Activities to train the new Captain America (John Walker) and Bucky (Lemar Hoskins).

Amazing Spider-Man #308 (1988)
While searching for his missing wife, Spider-Man runs into students from Taskmaster's academy for assassins who have been sent to attack him as part of their training.

Iron Man #254 (1990)
The only surviving student at Taskmaster's academy is selected as the new Spymaster.

Daredevil #292-293 (1991)
Daredevil pursues Taskmaster, mistakenly believing him to be responsible for a series of murders; Daredevil's interview upsets Taskmaster's role in a killing contest.

Captain America #394 (1991)
Taskmaster is revealed to be a member of the Red Skull's council.

Captain America #396 (1992)
Taskmaster trains Cutthroat to replace Crossbones as the Red Skull's right-hand man.

Captain America Annual #11[3/4] (1992)
Falcon gets the chance to test his new wings and equipment against the Taskmaster.

Amazing Spider-Man #366-367 (1992)
The Red Skull assigns the Taskmster the job of killing Spider-Man; Taskmaster sends his new agents - Blood Spider, Death-Shield and Jagged Bow - to carry out the kill, but they fail.

Alpha Flight #121 (1993)
Taskmaster cameo; Taskmaster is among the villains attending an auction for the super-powered Chess Set.

Daredevil #317-318 (1993)
The Taskmaster is among a group of villains engaging in a failed attack on Daredevil.

Sensational She-Hulk #59 (1994)
Taskmaster is among the villains who attend court as character witnesses against the Tinkerer.

Siren #∞ (1995)

Siren is transported from Earth-93060 (the Ultraverse) to Earth-616 (the mainstream Marvel Universe), finding herself in Taskmaster's dojo; after training with him, Siren and Diamondback are assigned to kill James Rhodes during BLACK SEPTEMBER / INFINITY POSSIBILITIES.

Siren #1-3 (1995)
Siren's true nature is revealed when she fails to kill James Rhodes, forcing her to flee from the Taskmaster during INFINITY POSSIBILITIES.

Elektra #5, 7 (1997)
Taskmaster is among the assassins hired to kill Elektra.

Deadpool #2 (1997)
Deadpool breaks into Taskmaster's assassin academy in Nevada to rescue Weasel; Taskmaster defeats Deadpool and sets him up as a teaching aid, only for Deadpool to turn things around and beat the Taskmaster in front of his students.

Hawkeye: Earth's Mightiest Marksman #1 (1998)
Taskmaster briefly gains superhuman powers, but he loses them thanks to Hawkeye, Firestar and Justice (Vance Astrovik).

Avengers #26 (2000)
'Captain America' leads a team of Avengers into the Triune Understanding headquarters; 'Cap' is actually Taskmaster in disguise and he uses the break-in to tarnish the Avengers' reputation.

Deadpool #39-40 (2000)
Taskmaster hires Deadpool to train a group of his assassins.

Deadpool #45 (2000)
Taskmaster cameo; Taskmaster witnesses Copycat's battle with Deadpool.

Wolverine #167-168 (2001)
Taskmaster defeats the Cat and Zaran in an underground fight club for super-humans in Madripoor run by Viper; Taskmaster is finally beaten by Mister X.

Avengers #38 (2001)
The Avengers shut down the Taskmaster's Florida training camp, but the villain himself escapes during THE KANG DYNASTY.

Captain America #44 (2001)
A mystery benefactor sends Taskmaster to capture Captain America.

Taskmaster #1-4 (2002)
First appearance of Sondra 'Sandi' Brandenberg; Taskmaster gets a new look and scales down his weapons when he stops training killers and starts handling jobs directly; Taskmaster starts dating Sandi Brandenberg; when Sunset Bain double-crosses Taskmaster when she sends him to sabotage Stark Enterprises, he stars a war between Baintronics and the Triads as payback.

Deadpool #67-69 (2002)
Taskmaster starts working closely with Deadpool; Sandi Brandenberg starts working as his personal assistant; the partnership ends when Deadpool is killed by an explosion while fighting another mercenary, the Black Swan.

Agent X #1-7 (2002-2003)
First appearance of Agent X and Agency X; Sandi finds an amnesiac she believes to be Deadpool and asks Taskmaster to train him up to help get his memory back; Taskmaster reluctantly agrees to help Agent X who starts working alongside him as a mercenary; Taskmaster's actions endanger Sandi.

Agent X #10 (2003)
Taskmaster continues to work alongside Agent X as part of Agency X.

Agent X #13-15 (2003)
Taskmaster finds out Sandi slept with Agent X and tries to kill him; the real Deadpool returns, revealing Agent X to be a hitman called Nijo who used to work for the Black Swan.

Deadline #2 (2003)
Taskmaster cameo.

Marvel Comics Presents #2[3/4] (2007)
Maria Hill hires Taskmaster (who goes back to his original look) to infiltrate the SHIELD Helicarrier to test their security measures.

Moon Knight #3-6 (2006)
The Committee hire Taskmaster to kill Moon Knight, but he finds the hero's moves too hard to predict and is unable to complete the contract.

Civil War #4-7(pp.1-12) (2006-2007)
Amazing Spider-Man #538 (2007)
Black Panther #25 (2007)
Civil War #7(pp.13-16) (2007)
When the super-human community is divided over the Super-Human Registration Act, Taskmaster finds himself hired by Iron Man's government-sponsored Fifty-State Initiative to train heroes; Taskmaster is among the members of the Thunderbolts who try to apprehend Captain America's Secret Avengers during CIVIL WAR.

Cable & Deadpool #36 (2007)
Deadpool decides to take on Taskmaster in a public fight in the hope of getting his old reputation back; Deadpool wins, but they part on good terms.

Taskmaster's history will continue in this reading order:

• 2007-2015: The Right Price

Taskmaster: Anything You Can Do
Amazing Spider-Man #308

Avengers (1963) #195-196, 223

Avengers (1998) #26

Captain America #44

Captain America Annual #11

Daredevil #292-293

Deadpool #2

Hawkeye: Earth's Mightiest Marksman #1

Iron Man #254

Marvel Team-Up #103, 146

Thing #26

Taskmaster: The Right Price
Includes... 

Marvel Comics Presents #2

Taskmaster #1-4

Captain America: The Captain
Includes... 

Captain America #334

Deadpool Classic Omnibus
Includes... 

Agent X #1-7, 10, 13-15

Deadpool #67-69

Moon Knight vol.1: The Bottom
Includes... 

Moon Knight #3-6

Civil War
Includes... 

Civil War #4-7

Cable & Deadpool vol.7: Separation Anxiety
Deadpool & Cable Omnibus
Deadpool & Cable: Ultimate Collection vol.3
All include... 

Cable & Deadpool #36