Well. If David Michelenie says Taskmaster just has an uncanny ability and isn't a mutant, then...he ain't. I wonder if he wrote that Daredevil comic I read where he got his butt handed to him by Daredevil and was SHOT by the Punisher? That SUCKED. But, then again, if Dave wrote it, that means he knows the limits of his character.

thanks to all who have replied so far

Taskmaster may not be a mutant, but he is definately not just a well trained normal guy. Bullseye is a learned skill. A extremely learned skill but still just a learned skill. Taskmaster was born with an ability that normal people cannot do. So again within the definations of Marvel comics what is he. Just because the dude who created him says he isn't a mutant still doesn't mean he isn't a mutant. If i was writing for marvel and said supercoolman was born with the ability to shoot lasers from his ears, but he is not a mutant.

well i thought the whole idea of being born with a power/ability was that, that person would be a mutant.

He's listed in Avengers-Coast to Coast (MA2 6874), but it doesn't list his "type". The short background he has implies an "ability" like David Michelinie mentions--no mutant overtones.

I don't have any other Marvel Super-Heroes book that has lists Taskmaster. For what it's worth, I think by real-world definitions he's a mutant, but since Marvel hasn't explicitely mentioned whether or not he has the "X" gene, we can't by their definition say if he is or not.

Yes, for god sakes, that is exactly what it means. Are you people so mutant crazed that you assaume anything you can't explain (or more likely, anything that is cool) is a mutant. Photographic Memory, Perfect Pitch and Savant math skills (ala Rainman) are all extraordinary human abilities that not everyone possesses but give those that do an extra edge. The creator of this character simply made a new one of those abilities and gave it to his character.

If Todd McFarlane decides to tell us that spawn got his powers from picking flowers on Sunday then by god that's how he got his powers. That's the way it is written guys and that's the way it is. I didn't write the handbook to the marvel universe but I certainly can read it and if they say is normal human then he simply is.

Thank You, Quade.

so writers are never wrong?
the key idea here is BORN WITH an ability that normal people can't have.
this alone means mutant.
How many times has a writer said one thing about a character just to have another writer change it 10 years later. Just cause someone said it was one way doesn't make it written in stone. I mean originally superman couldn't fly, only jump high. The examples are endless.

i don't believe myself to be mutant crazy and i don't really care if taskmaster is a mutant or not. But within all the definations of mutant, Taskmaster fits.

Just as being born with the ability to see the future, move things with your mind, understand all languages, and having enhanced sense of taste are mutant abilitites.

to say a rose is not a flower because you don't want it to be a flower and you want it to be something else doesn't change the fact that it still fits the description/class of a flower.

Michelinie isn't jsut a writer, tyroc...he's the guy who CREATED the frickin' character. Sure, if he was just some guy whop wrote the character I would agree with you. It cannot be said though about a guy who CREATED a character that he can be wrong about the character. Marvel writers who come down the pike can change things, but the creator of Taskmaster said he just has an ability. It's Uncanny, sure, but not quite Superhuman.

Bullseye is similar. He trained himself to an extreme degree, and i have seen a guy throw playing cards through a watermelon's skin. He had an aptitude for throwing things, but he trained himself to an amazing degree.

Taskmaster just has a natural talent for remembering physical moves. People have Photographic Memory, why not Photographic Reflexes. Before today, i thought he was a mutant. But he has a talent. Anything is possible, epecially in a comic book.

so really being born with the talent to read minds doesn't mean you are a mutant?

it is not superhuman to watch a tape of kung fu fast forwarded then mimic it for a limited amount of time?
(taskmaster lmtd series #4)

Remembering another athlete's moves and reading somebody's mind are two different things.

I think you are too stringently following the definition of Mutant in Marvel Comics. If this were a pulp fiction universe, Taskmaster's Photographic Reflexes wouldn't be a problem. But in a world of superhumans, it's impossible for people to believe a guy can have an uncanny ability that isn't made possible by the x-gene. What have the X-men done to our imaginations?

Once again, as i stated, other writers can come along and change the initial parameters of the character. That's fine. Maybe with what he has done since Avengers 195-196 (great issues - read em), he could ONLY be classified as a mutant. The creator of Taskmaster says that in his mind TM wasn't a mutant when he dreamed him up. Other people's interpretations could of course, change that by upping the scale of his ability.

He still can't perform superhuman feats of agility, or strength no matter how hard he tries because his body isn't superhuman.

EVERYONE is a mutant. Honestly.

Everyone has an infinitessimal amount of genetic drift from their parents. Therefore, everyone is a mutant.

Although, only one case of induced mutation has ever been recorded... and those records were sealed shortly thereafter...

Just because the creator didn't have taskmaster as a mutant when he thought him up maybe just means that he didn't put a whole lot of thought into him.
I mean there isn't a lot of info on him in the first place so i can't see it being too hard creating a character like that.

let's see real name-unknown
history- very limited-watched a cowboy on tv then imitated-decided being a criminal is more lucrative then hero-yeah that will do.
costume-let's see he will need to be able to have all of his peripheral vision-give him a hoody, also he will be doing lots of acrobatics like Daredevil, Captain America, Spiderman all of whom don't wear capes-so let's give him a cape.

I like the character, but do i think the creator put a lot of thought into him, NO.

Can't you just live with the fact that he's not a mutant? *raids Sol's fridge*