Phil Coulson is probably one of the most protected men on the planet right now. He is the brains behind the Squadron Supreme of America. It’s a good thing what Taskmaster needs to steal from him he can take without touching him. All he has to do…is not get spotted. I hope he has been staring at Black Cat a lot lately and not for five finger fist of fury purposes either or else he will be staring at the deadly end of the Black Widow.

The scavenger hunt commences, with Fury as the game master. This series has an interesting dynamic. I love the team up idea of Nick Fury and Taskmaster out to find Maria Hill’s killer while being pursued by Black Widow. You don’t know what Widow knows, so you don’t know if she knows or thinks Fury is involved. She is definitely out to kill Taskmaster and he would rather go up against Coulson and Hyperion than Black Widow. I find that absolutely delicious.

We have Fury and Taskmaster for about half the issue talking about the plan. Taskmaster real just needs a little bit of time to get close to Coulson. It doesn’t sound difficult at all. Fury even knows Coulson’s routine. Coulson is a comic collector, comics come out on Wednesday. Task just needs to keep a low profile and watch and learn, but Coulson is one of those chatty assholes at the shop that can’t leave until he talks to everyone around him.

Taskmaster gets busted and then gets his ass busted up and down the city by Hyperion and it is glorious.

Final Thoughts:

I love this series. Writing, Art, Covers all just fantastic. It is fun. It is stupid. It is gruesome. It has nonsense weird science and plenty of intrigue to keep me going. I really liked how Taskmaster pushes himself to the breaking point. It helps sell the conclusion you already expect is coming. Jed MacHay’s sarcastic humor he instills in his books feels like a direct tap from my soul. The Coulson at the comic shop meet up felt a bit forced but that is about the only slight negative I could find in this issue.

9.5/10