In the latest issue of Taskmaster, the mercenary calls out one of comic’s most infamous tropes while hunting down the real murderer of Maria Hill.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Taskmaster #4 by Jed MacKay, Alessandro Vitti, Guru-eFX & VC’s Joe Caramagna, on sale now
Taskmaster’s ability to read people’s physical movements and replicate them makes him one of the keenest observers in the Marvel Universe. Even beyond watching them and adding their abilities to his own, Taskmaster has even started to notice some of the trends that exist in the universe — including one of the most infamous elements of superhero comics.
Taskmaster just revealed that he’s been thinking about the in-universe ramifications of one of comics’ most problematic tropes — and if it applies to the mystery he’s found himself in.
Taskmaster has been traveling the Marvel Universe recently, working with Nick Fury to discover the truth behind the mysterious death of Maria Hill. Framed for the crime and with the Black Widow on his trail, Taskmaster has found himself going up against Hyperion, Silver Fox, and Okoye in pursuit of clearing his name. Along the way, Taskmaster notes how manipulative it all feels. The whole situation reminds him of something Bullseye once told him — about how killing Daredevil’s girlfriends (like Elektra and Karen Page) is supposed to give the villains an edge over the heroes. Taskmaster reveals that he disagrees with this strategy — partly because he finds it to be a disgusting tactic, and partly because he thinks the heroes “always seems that all they’re waiting for is one dead woman to motivate them” on their crusade.
Taskmaster notes that this could be the real reason Maria Hill was killed: to motivate Nick Fury towards moving in a direction that someone else can benefit from. It’s a notable analysis of the situation by Taskmaster, especially because he’s talking about one of the most infamous and prevalent tropes in superhero comics: the tendency for female characters to be abused or murdered as motivation for a male hero. The term is often referred to as “Stuffed in a Fridge” or “Fridging” someone — which was coined by writer Gail Simone and her website “Women in Refrigerators.” The title is a reference to a story where the then-new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner found his girlfriend Alex murdered and stuffed in his refrigerator as an early motivator for his superhero career.
Simone’s website charted the various female superheroes and supporting characters who’d either died or suffered serious injuries/trauma over the years in the medium, with the chief reason being to provide motivation for a male character. This has been an element that’s been analyzed and deconstructed in the ensuing years — although there are still examples of the trope occurring into the modern-day. Taskmaster is the perfect person to note this trope in-universe, thanks to his ability to effectively analyze and replicate basic elements of the world around him. It’s also notable that Taskmaster thinks the entire idea is wrong, and partly for the problematic and “gross” aspects of hurting women just to mess with a man.
Taskmaster even specifically calls out Bullseye for this, who has killed female characters in brutal manners just to enrage Daredevil. Noting this element of the mystery might give Taskmaster the final key he needs to figure out the truth around Maria Hill’s death and helping properly avenge her. It’s an interesting way for comics to approach the trope head-on in-story, and have someone not only note it but have a hatred for it that’s matched with the vitriol shared by fans who’ve argued against the endurance of the trope.
