The Human Target Volume 1
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- Create Date：2022-10-15 09:51:39
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Tom King
- ISBN：1779516703
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Summary
Christopher Chance has 12 days to solve his own murder！ Superstar writer Tom King and acclaimed artist Greg Smallwood team for a new， noir examination of a classic DC character！
Christopher Chance has made a living out of being a human target--a man hired to disguise himself as his client to invite would-be assassins to attempt his murder。 He's had a remarkable career until his latest case protecting Lex Luthor when things go sideways。
An assassination attempt Chance didn't see coming leaves him vulnerable and left trying to solve his own murder， as he has 12 days to discover just who in the DC Universe hated Luthor enough to want him dead by slow-acting poison。 And the prime suspects happen to be。。。the Justice League International？
Human Target is a hard-boiled， gritty story in the vein of classic detective noirs， told by bestselling and critically acclaimed creators Tom King and Greg Smallwood！
This volume collects Human Target #1-6， the first half of the murder mystery。
Christopher Chance has made a living out of being a human target--a man hired to disguise himself as his client to invite would-be assassins to attempt his murder。 He's had a remarkable career until his latest case protecting Lex Luthor when things go sideways。
An assassination attempt Chance didn't see coming leaves him vulnerable and left trying to solve his own murder， as he has 12 days to discover just who in the DC Universe hated Luthor enough to want him dead by slow-acting poison。 And the prime suspects happen to be。。。the Justice League International？
Human Target is a hard-boiled， gritty story in the vein of classic detective noirs， told by bestselling and critically acclaimed creators Tom King and Greg Smallwood！
This volume collects Human Target #1-6， the first half of the murder mystery。
Reviews
Comics Instrucciones de uso
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De las mejores decisiones que DC ha tomado en los últimos años ha sido la de permitir que Tom King ocupe a personajes menos concidos -o sencillamente desconocidos- de la editorial， y los deconstruya， elevándolos de súbito， a categoría de superestrella。 Ya lo hizo con Mr。 Miracle （magistral）， los Omega Men （ídem）， Adam Stranger o Supergirl （insuperable）。 Ahora ha elegido a Human Target， un personaje， ni siquiera de categoría B， sino de clase C， por lo menos， y lo ha conducido a una aventura， que De las mejores decisiones que DC ha tomado en los últimos años ha sido la de permitir que Tom King ocupe a personajes menos concidos -o sencillamente desconocidos- de la editorial， y los deconstruya， elevándolos de súbito， a categoría de superestrella。 Ya lo hizo con Mr。 Miracle （magistral）， los Omega Men （ídem）， Adam Stranger o Supergirl （insuperable）。 Ahora ha elegido a Human Target， un personaje， ni siquiera de categoría B， sino de clase C， por lo menos， y lo ha conducido a una aventura， que involucra a Lex Luthor y， sobre todo， a la vieja Liga de la Justicia Internacional。 Es una historia de detectives: Human Target （cuya "habilidad" es la de servir de carnada humana para quien lo contrate; además de tener un don para los disfraces） es envenenado mientras realiza un trabajo para Lex Luhtor。 A causa de ello， le quedan 12 días de vida （confirmado por el mismísimo Dr。 Midnite）。 En lugar de echarse a llorar， Human Target -de un caracter y un aplomo digo de James Bond-， decide averigurar quién fue el que lo ha envenenado。 Todo apunta a la Liga de la Justicia Internacional， y su primera sospechosa es Ice， que lo impacta con su belleza， y suscita en él una paradójica relación de atracción y desconfianza。 Cada número narra un día en la vida de Human Target， de modo que a medida que avanza la historia se le acaba， a la vez， el tiempo。 Tom King introduce， con ingenio y hasta humor， a viejos personajes: Boster Gold， Blue Bettle， Martian Manhunter y Green Lantern （Guy Gardner， insufrible）。 Todos guardan un secreto -hasta la propia Ice-， de modo que Human Target trata con todos， pero no confía en nadie。 Fiel a su estilo realista， Tom King pone a los personajes en situaciones menos infantiles que las acostumbradas （cuando Ice hace el amor baja tanto la temperatura de la casa que congela las cañerías， o se nos cuenta que Martian Manhunter tiene un fetiche sexual con el fuego）， sin que por ello parezcan fuera de lugar。 Y hay que mencionar que el misterio central de la historia se va desplegando poco a poco， con suma inteligencia， de tal modo que -a pesar de ciertas sospechas- aún es imposible saber quién es el culpable。 El final de esta primera parte ha causado cierta polémica porque uno de los personajes se comporta de un modo "poco" heroico， llamémoslo así。 Ciertos fans dogmáticos no aceptan nuevas interpretaciones de personajes antiguos （si todos pensarán así no se podría haber hecho un comic com Watchmen， por ejemplo）。 Pero es precisamente esa vuelta de tuerca el mayor mérito de este comic genial。 La historia se acaba （provisoriamente）， con una tragedia terrible， y con los protagonistas metidos en un nuevo secreto dentro del secreto previo en el que ya estaban。 Por si fuera poco， todo es ilustrado por Greg Smalwood con un talento que cualquier cosa que uno pueda decir no le hace justicia。 Cada viñeta es una obra de arte， y su estilo -que imita a los anuncios publicitarios antiguos-， crea gran parte de la personalidad de Human Target， quien parece， cómo no， sacado de los años '50， como un personaje de Mad Men。 Historia imperdible， el mejor Tom King en el mejor comic de DC de este año， probablemente。 Contando los días para poder leer la segunda parte。 。。。more
Sam Quixote
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If you think you’re being targeted for assassination， call for Christopher Chance， aka the Human Target， to dress up like you and take the hit instead so you can find out who’s really gunning for you。 Except Chris’ latest job as stand-in for Lex Luthor sees him accidentally poisoned - by someone from Justice League International！ With just 12 issues， sorry “days”， to live， Chris has to interview everyone from the JLI to find out who’s killed him - but will he make it in time？ Tom King continues If you think you’re being targeted for assassination， call for Christopher Chance， aka the Human Target， to dress up like you and take the hit instead so you can find out who’s really gunning for you。 Except Chris’ latest job as stand-in for Lex Luthor sees him accidentally poisoned - by someone from Justice League International！ With just 12 issues， sorry “days”， to live， Chris has to interview everyone from the JLI to find out who’s killed him - but will he make it in time？ Tom King continues his pattern of writing 12 issue story arcs for some of DC’s less well-known characters， like he previously did with Omega Men， Mister Miracle and Adam Strange， with Human Target。 This latest one though isn’t among his better efforts and the first six issues collected in this volume are really slow and dull to read。 It’s amazing Human Target was a thing at all。 He’s got no superpowers and seems to rely entirely on Mission Impossible-style face masks。 His one job we see in this book is Lex Luthor - ie。 another white guy of the same height， age and build - and the one concession to looking like him is wearing a bald cap！ He’s a “master of disguise”？ How about doing something truly impressive like impersonating Harley or Black Lightning - or would black face be too controversial？ And he’s just wearing a bullet-proof vest！ So Chris Chance is… your average bodyguard。 Fascinating。 I can see why this character never took off for DC。 Everything about this book makes it feel like you’re reading classic noir fiction。 There’s the first person voiceover， the office where femme fatales linger， the ever-present hip flask， the constant suit-wearing and drinking of whiskey， and Chris looks like Cary Grant。 Greg Smallwood’s pop art-style underlines the feeling that this story is set in a different era， particularly those excellent covers。 No idea why this was done though as I’ve never read any other Human Target books - maybe they’re all like this or it might even simply be that Tom King wanted to write a noir-ish comic？ The atmosphere is fine and Smallwood’s superb art is easily the best part of the book， but the story is so very plodding and uninteresting。 Considering the clock is ticking the whole time， you never once feel any tension or urgency to the story。 We just watch Chris methodically work his way through the list of suspects - Guy Gardner， cast here as the jealous ex of Ice; Booster Gold， who’s launched a bagel franchise for some reason; Ted Kord， blathering bore; Martian Manhunter， a man with a secret; and Ice， who’s always at Chris’ side because she’s his love interest - gradually learning things to put together some theories。 It’s a lot of talking that never really made for particularly compelling reading， unfortunately。 Chris and Ice make a cute couple and the death at the end is a surprising twist （although， “death” in superhero comics， y’know…） but it’s nowhere close to what you’d call an enthralling narrative。 It’s all style and dreary substance。 Not that King’s previous forays into DC’s depths has resurrected new or lasting interest in any of those characters， but I especially don’t think anyone’s gonna be clamouring for more Human Target comics after reading this one。 We’ll have to wait for the second and final volume to find out whodunit and it’s a wait I can easily manage - perhaps indefinitely！ 。。。more
Clay Bartel
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There is no DC writer that puts the novel in graphic novel better then Tom King。 Between Kings writing and Greg's simple but beautiful art we get a fantastic murder mystery， whodunit that will keep you guess the whole way through。Volume 1 is just half of the story but it's truely compelling。 This Black Label out of continuity story spins all the characters on their heads and tells a great self contained mystery story。 No real knowledge of DC is required， the story is very accessible and very wel There is no DC writer that puts the novel in graphic novel better then Tom King。 Between Kings writing and Greg's simple but beautiful art we get a fantastic murder mystery， whodunit that will keep you guess the whole way through。Volume 1 is just half of the story but it's truely compelling。 This Black Label out of continuity story spins all the characters on their heads and tells a great self contained mystery story。 No real knowledge of DC is required， the story is very accessible and very well told。Looking forward to volume 2。 。。。more
Nate
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A big part of Tom King's career has been spent writing maxi series about historically underserved characters。 I've found them to be hit or miss。 Vision and Mr。 Miracle I thought were both astonishingly good while Rorschach never got all the way there for me and I honestly never finished Strange Adventures。 I love Human Target and am not sure why there isn't a collection of all those Human Target backup stories from Action Comics。 The six issues contained here is a lot closer to Vision than Stran A big part of Tom King's career has been spent writing maxi series about historically underserved characters。 I've found them to be hit or miss。 Vision and Mr。 Miracle I thought were both astonishingly good while Rorschach never got all the way there for me and I honestly never finished Strange Adventures。 I love Human Target and am not sure why there isn't a collection of all those Human Target backup stories from Action Comics。 The six issues contained here is a lot closer to Vision than Strange Adventures and King does an admirable job telling a smaller story in a bigger world and the art really works all the way through with Smallwood's work giving off a Darwyn Cooke vibe that really works with King's story。 。。。more
Sean Gibson
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Bring on volume 2！
Garrett
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An awesome slow burn， as I have come to expect from King， and the art is luxurious， with each character's idiosyncracies coming across on the page。 A shame this is only the first half （because now I have to wait） but I'm looking forward to seeing how this old-school feeling mystery ramps up before it resolves。 An awesome slow burn， as I have come to expect from King， and the art is luxurious， with each character's idiosyncracies coming across on the page。 A shame this is only the first half （because now I have to wait） but I'm looking forward to seeing how this old-school feeling mystery ramps up before it resolves。 。。。more
Josh
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Wow， this is excellent。 I need to figure out how to read the second half。
FrontalNerdaty
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Tom King continues to take less known/ less modern characters and somehow， essentially， reinvent them for a modern audience whilst still keeping （mostly） true to their origins etc。 It’s always a fine balance to keep but King has proven time and again how good he is at it。The premise here is solid and above all intriguing - someone tried to kill Alex Luthor but instead Christopher Chance is the victim。 He’s poisoned and has 12 days to figure it out before he dies。 It’s a premise used to essential Tom King continues to take less known/ less modern characters and somehow， essentially， reinvent them for a modern audience whilst still keeping （mostly） true to their origins etc。 It’s always a fine balance to keep but King has proven time and again how good he is at it。The premise here is solid and above all intriguing - someone tried to kill Alex Luthor but instead Christopher Chance is the victim。 He’s poisoned and has 12 days to figure it out before he dies。 It’s a premise used to essentially progress each revelation per issue。 Chance is joined by Ice， the dame to his brooding detective lead。 The noir lite vibe here is strong and the story suits that setting perfectly。 The real star here though is Greg Smallwood’s art。 The more pencilled style really works here and perfectly captures the tone King is going for。 It’s a whodunnit and I’m excited to see how the rest unfolds。 4/5。 。。。more
Steven W
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This was simply incredible。 I may die if I don't find out what happens。。。 This was simply incredible。 I may die if I don't find out what happens。。。 。。。more
Jason Ragle
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Damn。 This book is gorgeous。
Scott Stelter
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4。5。 Some of the best art I’ve ever seen in a comic。 Also， fun to see what King can do when he doesn’t have to worry about continuity！
Joshua Lawson
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Another TK banger with Smallwood just indisputably knocking all the way out of the freaking park。 Soon as I was done with this volume I wanted to go back and look at all the colors。
Chris Lemmerman
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Poisoned while trying to protect Lex Luthor from an assassination attempt， Christopher Chance， the human chameleon known as the Human Target， now has 12 days to solve his own murder before he dies。 He knows it was one of the Justice League International - but which one？ And can he work it out in time？When Tom King's on， he's on， man。 Human Target is fantastic。 The character work， though out of 'main' continuity， is top notch， and each issue delves into the mind of one of the JLI （and Christopher Poisoned while trying to protect Lex Luthor from an assassination attempt， Christopher Chance， the human chameleon known as the Human Target， now has 12 days to solve his own murder before he dies。 He knows it was one of the Justice League International - but which one？ And can he work it out in time？When Tom King's on， he's on， man。 Human Target is fantastic。 The character work， though out of 'main' continuity， is top notch， and each issue delves into the mind of one of the JLI （and Christopher Chance） to amazing effect。 It manages to be just as close to realistic as possible while remaining a book about superheroes punching each other。 The mystery evolves organically， taking Chris from character to character as he gets closer and closer to solving it， and each revelation brings with an 'oh obviously！' moment when everything slots into place。Greg Smallwood's art is a great complement to King's story as well， again nailing that gritty realism while still being able to bend itself to superheroics as and when necessary。 It's reminiscent of Mitch Gerads on Mister Miracle， but a little more solid， if that makes sense。The only thing that could knock this series' five star rating would be if the second half doesn't resolve itself in a satisfying way。 But for now， this first half doesn't give me any reason to think that might be the case。 Human Target should be in everyone's sights。 。。。more
Mitchell Kukulka
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One of my favorite modern writers telling a story in one of my favorite genres with one of my favorite artists。 It isn’t fair how much of a mark I was for this。
som
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ذي أفضل قصة مصورة قريتها هالسنة بلا منازع وأنا بعدي ما خلصتها ؟ستايل الرسم وأسلوب الكتابة وبناء الشخصيات الرئيسية - والرومنس بعد ؟ ما توقعت بحبه وايد كذيه فالبداية بس قاد وايد عايبتني علاقتهم 😣❤️🔥- كله مثالي مثالي وفجر مخي تفجير اليوم ！ كان عندي توقعات مرتفعة من البداية - بسبب الكڤر لأني سطحي وأحكم على الكتب من غلافها - وفالنهاية تجاوزت هالقصة كل توقعاتي ！ متحمس جداً للإشيوز اليايين أتمنى ينزلوا بأسرع وقت ！
Ray Alvarez
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The writing in this book is incredible。 I guess people are mad at the portrayal of certain characters like J’onn and Guy？ Not sure why。 It’s standalone work。 That’s the point of these kinds of stories， it gives writers free reign on characterization without confining them to a box。 Tom King is easily in my top 5 comic writers。 Shout out to Smallwood as well。 The dialogue and art in this book are amazing。 A classy whodunit with the typical noir tropes， but done in such a fun way。 Issue 6 ends in The writing in this book is incredible。 I guess people are mad at the portrayal of certain characters like J’onn and Guy？ Not sure why。 It’s standalone work。 That’s the point of these kinds of stories， it gives writers free reign on characterization without confining them to a box。 Tom King is easily in my top 5 comic writers。 Shout out to Smallwood as well。 The dialogue and art in this book are amazing。 A classy whodunit with the typical noir tropes， but done in such a fun way。 Issue 6 ends in a pretty shocking manner， I think this entire issue （and issue 5 with Manhunter） is what people have a tough time swallowing。Spoilers:It makes Manhunter out to be a lovesick puppy who is simping for Fire。 It also turns up the douchebag meter a ton on Guy Gardener。 Then they straight up murder him。 But again， this is NOT in continuity。 Same as any standalone， elseworlds or other unrelated title。 It’s art。 Unique art that is allowed to take liberties due to its placement outside of the main DC canon。 I loved it。 Excited for the last half。 。。。more
Ross
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Black Label always brings the curveball stories。 Sometimes they're dark。 Sometimes they're graphic。 Most are out of main continuity。 Love it either way。This is collecting #1-#6 of a 12 issue miniseries。 Classic noir story about The Human Target saving Luthor's life but ultimately paying the price for protecting。 Somehow he got poisoned。 The poison is linked to a JLI member。 Only one of them could have passed off the poison。 He's got 12 days to figure out who killed him。 Will he live to see day 1 Black Label always brings the curveball stories。 Sometimes they're dark。 Sometimes they're graphic。 Most are out of main continuity。 Love it either way。This is collecting #1-#6 of a 12 issue miniseries。 Classic noir story about The Human Target saving Luthor's life but ultimately paying the price for protecting。 Somehow he got poisoned。 The poison is linked to a JLI member。 Only one of them could have passed off the poison。 He's got 12 days to figure out who killed him。 Will he live to see day 13？Bonus: Bowl cut Guy Gardner is， and always will be， a huge jerk。。。Bonus bonus: There need to be more noir stories outside of the Batman family。。 。。。more
Matty Dub
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If this stays the course， it could become a new high score for writer Tom King。 Every issue of this series has taken me to my happy place， they all held surprises and featured some of the smoothest storytelling I have ever experienced。 This book doesn't just excel with its narrative and its art or the synergy they combine to achieve， it excels at being cool， this is the coolest bit of comics in ages。 Avoid online spoilers， go to your comic shop and buy the issues。 Run， don't walk。 If this stays the course， it could become a new high score for writer Tom King。 Every issue of this series has taken me to my happy place， they all held surprises and featured some of the smoothest storytelling I have ever experienced。 This book doesn't just excel with its narrative and its art or the synergy they combine to achieve， it excels at being cool， this is the coolest bit of comics in ages。 Avoid online spoilers， go to your comic shop and buy the issues。 Run， don't walk。 。。。more
John Funderburg
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Absolutely outstanding。 King is at the top of his game with this one。 And the art by Smallwood is sublime - it's MAD MEN meets Hanna-Barbera。 Absolutely outstanding。 King is at the top of his game with this one。 And the art by Smallwood is sublime - it's MAD MEN meets Hanna-Barbera。 。。。more
A。J。 Anders
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Oh no！ Characters are acting out of character in an out-of-continuity noir Black Label series。 The horror！In all seriousness though， this book has been fucking great， but for some reason， people just don’t seem to realize it’s a Black Label book， which means this shit just isn’t in continuity。 This has loose connections to JLI， but that’s it， and it’s not like you have to even read JLI to enjoy this。 And no， King did not "ruin" Martian Manhunter or Guy Gardner。 I roll my eyes so hard every time Oh no！ Characters are acting out of character in an out-of-continuity noir Black Label series。 The horror！In all seriousness though， this book has been fucking great， but for some reason， people just don’t seem to realize it’s a Black Label book， which means this shit just isn’t in continuity。 This has loose connections to JLI， but that’s it， and it’s not like you have to even read JLI to enjoy this。 And no， King did not "ruin" Martian Manhunter or Guy Gardner。 I roll my eyes so hard every time I hear someone say that， and you’d be surprised how many times I’ve heard that just walking through my LCS。 The amount of people this book has riled up is beyond fucking hilarious。 You’d think Tom King fucked their moms or killed their dogs with the amount of genuine anger surrounding issue 6， but nope， he just wrote a superhero in a way they didn’t like。 THE HORROR！ Human Target is an-out-of continuity Noir detective story。 Characters are going to be framed in certain roles when you do a story like this， and these roles are to get the story where it needs to be。 Human Target is the Hard-Boiled Detective， Ice is the femme fatale， and Guy Gardner is the jealous ex-lover， etc。 Whether you are fine with these character reworks is 100% up to you， and this book is by no means devoid of criticism， but reading this shouldn't make you genuinely angry or upset。 Like coupling together two characters out of continuity isn’t “disrespectful"， and it really isn’t a big deal if characters are acting slightly different than how they usually would， or some side character that pops up in one issue has their character development during some dumb crisis/mega-event ignored， as this book， as stated multiple times now， is NOT in continuity。 King & Smallwood are doing their own thing， and this book does it mostly perfectly。 The art is amazing， King’s dialogue is sharper than usual， and his captions thankfully don’t slow the book's pace down as they did in Supergirl。 Amazing read and probably King’s most consistent work so far。 Hopefully， he can stick the landing at the end， because that’s usually where his stories fall apart for me。 My only real complaint is in every single one of King’s Black Label books， his cursing is always censored， and I genuinely don’t know why。 Other Black Label titles drop fucks and shits left and right， so to constantly censor King’s cursing is such a strange decision， especially since there is a lot of it in here， and frankly， it can be super annoying trying to decipher which word he’s using sometimes。 。。。more
ShamNoop
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This is one of the best comics I’ve ever read。 Shame about the hiatus。2nd read: 4 days till the hiatus ends。 I’m so excited。
Alan
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I definitely believe that DC Comics should just allocate a section of their catalog to King and call it its own separate universe。 Because， despite how good his work has been with the company's established IP there is no way a corporate executive is going to let any of this， especially what happens at the end of this volume， stand。 Yep， I know this a little lower than what I usually rate King's work （full disclosure read as digital floppies）。 I think it is because the series is going on hiatus， I definitely believe that DC Comics should just allocate a section of their catalog to King and call it its own separate universe。 Because， despite how good his work has been with the company's established IP there is no way a corporate executive is going to let any of this， especially what happens at the end of this volume， stand。 Yep， I know this a little lower than what I usually rate King's work （full disclosure read as digital floppies）。 I think it is because the series is going on hiatus， and the cliffhanger ending to volume one just frustrates me。 The ending works within， what I would term， the noir story telling， but there is a little WTF and we have to wait how many months now？That said this is a reversion to the original version of Christopher Chance， not the one featured in the Vertigo titles。 Chance is an older man who uses disguise， and other skills， to impersonate people marked for death。 Except Chance finally slip up。 In protecting Lex Luthor he imbibed a poison for which there is no cure。Now， he has 12 days to live。 This volume literally end a the end of Day Six。BTW don;t expect DCU characters to behave the way you're used to them acting。 this includes， Fire， Ice， Guy Gardner， Martian Manhunter， Blue Beetle and more。 。。。more
Alec Jensen 75
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