From: dvandom@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (David VanDomelen)
Subject: What constitutes a "classic" character
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 18:20:19 GMT

I'm not sure exactly if Taskmaster is a classic character or not.  I guess 
first I have to define some parameters for classic characters.
     1: The have been around at least as long as the current crop of fans has 
been alive (so if suddenly all the teenage readers stopped reading, Tasky 
wouldn't pass this one).  This is also to mean that if you can look at the 
character, recall reading the first appearance on the stands and it makes you 
feel old, the character passes this criterion.  (I feel old having seen Star 
Wars in the theaters, esp when the 14 yr old in my gaming group misses a joke 
from SW)
     2: The character must have been either a: significantly developed in the 
first few years of his existence (a la Warlock), or have been consistently used
over a period of time.  Characters that appeared once in an issue of She-Hulk 
don't count, but She-Hulk herself meets this criterion.  Since TM has been 
around in books every year or two since his creation, he passes this one too.
     3: The character must be currently in use or established as currently dead
and making the occasional cameo in a flashback.  This shows the continuing 
importance of the character.  For example, Mar-Vell still shows up a coupla 
times a year despite being dead.  TM was last seen in ASM a few months back, so
he passes this one.
     4: You have to be able to respect the character in his role.  The villain 
must be at least a fair threat to his usual foes.  The hero must be developed 
well as a protagonist and effective in his role (he need no be able to beat the
bad guys, he may be a tragic hero or the like).  If the role is supposed to be 
a serious world-shaking threat, the villain must not act totally stupid.  
Generally it is harder to gain respect if your role is that of comic-relief, 
tho.  Only the really good ones are classics in that domain.  As far as I have 
seen, TaskMaster fulfills his role of challenging foe to mid-to-low power 
heroes admirably.  He is intelligent and plans ahead, and has a power that 
keeps a hero on his toes.
     Of the criteria, #4 is the most subjective, of course.  And depending on 
your age and preferences, the limit for #1 may be that the character may not 
come from post-1965 or so.  But I think that Taskmaster is a classic foe.
     To give one very recent opposing example, Magus is not a classic by these 
criteria.  He appeared for one storyline in the 70's, was wiped from existence 
and didn't reappear until a single storyline now.  He was not really developed 
as a separate character, being simply another way of defining Warlock's 
character.  However, Thanos is a classic IMO, since he was not only around alot
before Warlock dealt with him in the 70's, he was also around enough in the 
last few years that between the two eras he has been developed quite a bit.
     Dave Van Domelen, "It's easy to tell the difference between Freshman 
Physics Majors and Physics Grad Students, at a glance.  The former look like 
rabbits caught in your headlights.  The former look like those same rabbits 
after a passage of time." - me
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc