In the previous post, I talked about the pipe dream of a run starring the Champions. One of the aspects I enjoyed crafting with my man Jose was the rivalry between Crossbones and Taskmaster. The first arc of the trilogy would see their distaste for each other grow into an outright blood feud. Taskmaster is a petty, backstabbing manipulator who thinks Crossbones is a brainless goon, and Crossbones thinks Taskmaster is an obnoxious, lazy prick who gets by on cheating. While Taskmaster ultimately finds Crossbones to be little more than annoyance, Crossbones hates Taskmaster's guts by the end and is all too happy to betray him.

This doesn't turn out too well for him, as Taskmaster gets him back for it by abandoning him on Counter-Earth.

Crossbones would be entirely absent for the entire second arc. As Taskmaster becomes the Slade to the Champions' Teen Titans, readers would be left to wonder what happened to him.

Only for him to come back with a vengeance in the third arc. There's hell to pay, and he's come back to collect.

This arc for Crossbones is something I've wanted to implement for a long time. As much as I like him as a character, like many of my personal favorites, he doesn't really have much in the way of personality. I can't tell you who he is or what he's like, other than 'gruff mercenary with some sense of honor.'

We'd get a miniseries inside the larger series showing how Crossbones learned to survive and even make a name for himself on Counter-Earth. Partially inspired by one of my favorite Captain America stories, Stranded in Dimension Z, as well as the legendary post-apocalypse comic Kamandi. We see him go from a scavenger desperately fighting to survive each day to a Mad Max style ruler of the wastelands.

Visually, it's pretty clear that Crossbones has been upgraded from an outfit to an actual suit. It's rudimentary but brutally efficient, even more of a contrast to the equipment Taskmaster uses. It's directly based on(basically all but taken from) his depiction here. Go watch that video, Zimaut Animation deserves way more love. He not only fixed the promising but flawed MCU Crossbones design, but animated him being a badass, too. Speaking of MCU Crossbones, however, I do want to give a shoutout to that version. Visually, I want to like him more, but he suffers from some of the same issues as Taskmaster where his visual uniqueness is watered down into a generic militarized look, and no skeletal imagery. It hurts him even more since it's the basis of his look. I do love his gauntlets, though, and replicated them here. Frank Grillo brought a life and personality to the character that hasn't been seen before or since. Ultraverse Crossbones, as a character, is most heavily influenced by that incarnation. That being a gruff, dickish SHIELD agent who eventually graduates to supervillainy. The only major difference would be that he doesn't get killed like a punk. Quite fittingly, this furthers his connection and rivalry with Taskmaster.

@Kyo85 actually hit the nail on the head about my favoritism for these types of characters. Villains who are able to form brilliant plans, but are just as likely to throw it all away for a brutal beatdown. I love it when heroes go up against someone who's dangerously cunning, and physically a beast/

Be sure to leave feedback down below, I'd love to hear what you think of my thoughts, feelings and ideas for the character! Be sure that you watch Zimaut Animation's video, too!