I saw this image on an old Taskmaster fan site (that has been offline for a long time now).

Seems to be part of a cover - Does anyone know what issue/title this is?
Is it real?
Is that really Taskmaster?

Because damn, it looks cool. I recall there being a caption on the image that said something like "Unused Taskmaster Udon Concept so and so..."

I'm currently trying to collect comic books that have Taskmaster appearances, and my search for the source of this image has been pretty fruitless. I hope one of you might be able to point me in the right direction.

Thanx!!

-Gogo

I know this is not the comic you are talking about but taskmaster just made his first ultimate universe appearance in ultimate Spider-Man today

No clue.
Looks like art from a casrtoon/animated series used as cover art.
Maybe look for books (particularly Avengers/IM) based on something animated?

There was that series from the early 2000s (IIRC) that had a more manga style to it. Could have been unused art from that, or a potential cross-over with that version of Tasky.

I found some pics that look like they may come from that book but not a full cover shot.

There's actually a pretty neat story behind this.

I also posted this question in other forums, same thing... people knew little to nothing about it. So over the weekend, my search led me to Deviant Art where I asked Udon about it directly.

Lo and behold they claimed ownership.
The design was (a pitch) done by Francis Manapul - who was supposed to be the artist for the 2002 Taskmaster series. However, before Marvel could give the green light ~ he was hired by DC to do something else, causing UDON to do a switch with the creative team.

That was actually supposed to be the cover for Taskmaster 2002 #1. And before Udon did the design change - the costume was actually used in Deadpool #68 during a flashback that Taskmaster REMEMBERED (take that Van Lente *__*) and told Deadpool about his early days as a merc.


Check it out:

1
2
3

So the design is actually a 616 canon alternate outfit for Taskmaster, and the rarest one at that.

Side note:
Taskmaster is a pretty solid recurring cast member for Deadpool's stories, so WizKids if by any chance you're reading this... I'd be very baffled as to why Taskmaster wouldn't be included in a Deadpool set ~ if ever one was made *COUGH*...