I have some thoughts so I’m gonna share them, this time it’s going to be about deadpool and to a certain extent taskmaster’s design :]
Deadpool came around as a brainchild of rob liefield through and through and gives us an enormous amount of context as to why he looks the way he does. Liefield saw how easy it was to draw spiderman, with his simple face and colors and wanted that for his own work. Deadpool is decked out in pockets and weapons because those are the things his creator liked to draw most. Meta textually he was made as “spiderman but a jackass” and his color story agrees with that, he is Spider-Man’s colors but darker. (Also his katanas are a reference to snake eyes from gi Joe because liefield thought they looked sweet) liefield also really liked the teen titans which is probably almost definitely why earlier Deadpool had a lot in common with deathstroke, when you make characters you often tend to put traits you like from others into your own. The writer, nicieza pointed out this comparison and they came up with his name as an inside joke to that, Slade wilson- Wade Wilson
He’s about 70 percent red, 30 percent black with a a pinch of white and silver for accent colors. It’s a striking, recognizable palette. Iconic in its own right. It’s also just good on a baseline character level. Red is passionate and violent. It lends well to the grimy grungy settings that the character is typically set into. A lot of earlier comics used primary colors to differentiate protagonists from the rest, this was due to the limited amount of colors they could use and printing techniques at the time but slowly this expanded to a language of its own which I think is very cool. It’s why so many classic villains are purple and green and orange. It’s why morally neutral characters tended to go for a mix, in marvels case that would be the purple and blue combination.
When it comes to design, especially modern incarnations of Deadpool we can see what the character evolved into and the roles they play. For a look at a non Deadpool example, spiderman is designed on a page for movement above all else because that’s the power fantasy for the most part. Deadpool is not designed for lanky,swooping movement but he is a comedy character, his simple design makes it easy to “animate” him on a page. His simple iconography also help do the thing he’s mostly unique for, which is being beaten and chopped up. His design is segmented nicely so that when Deadpool’s arm gets chopped off and you see it you aren’t asking “whose arm is that?” It’s a large part of why he was and still is such a marketing powerhouse. Even his belt buckle is his face it’s a lot of fun.
Deadpool is truly a reflection of the time he was created, the early 1990s. It’s when comics started to trade the colors and silly antics for the most part for gritty characters and more transgressive plot lines. Think of how the joker changed and you’ll get the picture. I think it’s all really interesting when looking at his non intentional (now intentional) foil taskmaster. He was created in the 1980s, back when the printing color coding was still very much in effect, his first design is very toyettic, like an action figure almost. Campy but in a way that was taken seriously at the time. He had a skull for a face because they needed you to know he was the bad guy.
In contrast to Deadpool who has remained very consistent over the years, taskmaster will look different in about every run or series he’s a part of. He’s still recognizable due to his own color scheme and abilities but he’s not easy to draw. It’s funny from a meta perspective that the “crazy unpredictable” character is so much more consistent and almost boring for some writers because they just get his iconography and that’s it. Whereas the professional self preserving merc is constantly handled differently due to his many weird facets, like a quirky puzzle.
It’s funny that despite not being at all made for one another they still fit well. Taskmaster’s color story is explained by the comic color code but it’s also just clean looking. Mostly white with blue and accents of orange. Deadpool looks like he probably has that suit stained if that makes sense. The weapons they wield, the way they fight it’s all very fun. Taskmaster typically wields a two handed sword, a shield and a bow (along with other guns and weaponry) whereas Deadpool wields two katanas, two guns and a knife (along with other weapons) it can show you the kind of styles they fight with without you having to even read for the most part. Taskmaster will kick your ass and probably will win most fights but he’s pragmatic, he doesn’t like being punched in the face. Deadpool will throw himself at a fight and mash buttons till he wins typically because he doesn’t value his life even a little bit. It’s why Deadpool will typically win when tasky is fighting him because taskmaster doesn’t really wish to replicate a guy whose strategy is ?? And losing limbs is completely fine for him.
Honestly I love all the little differences and quirks between the mercenaries of marvel. Even ones not mentioned here. (Also side tangent I think it’s funny that both of them have been roped into spiderman series and media a lot for two different reasons which is funny. Spiderman as a franchise just kinda takes over other characters tbh. Deadpool is typically there because he’s popular but also his obvious contrast with Peter. People like the dynamic and I get it for the most part. Taskmaster is typically there because spiderman tends to be/ act young and he is a mercenary people can actually go “oh shit it’s taskmaster!” It’s also because he’s a teacher. Like the teacher role marvel comics typically. So there’s a power fantasy there)
