Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Human Target #1!
Though assuredly a classic character from DC’s litany of comic book creations, The Human Target doesn’t seem like the cleanest of concepts: a master impersonator who goes undercover posing as potential targets for assassination in order to unearth the fiendish plots behind such heinous crimes. With this newest revival in Tom King (Batman/Catwoman, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) and Greg Smallwood’s (Darkhold Alpha) mature Black Label series The Human Target #1 (of 12) one might ask what lessons Christopher Chance, an aged splinter of yesterday’s spy-fiction zeitgeist, can provide in today’s very different social media-obsessed culture. However, it is this very challenge that has produced a great many of King’s most powerful recent stories, and so he sets out to tell the tale of a private investigator in a world of superheroes looking for a murderer in the least likely place imaginable.
The Human Target #1 picks up at what appears to be Chance’s final hour, reminiscing over some off-screen femme fatale as he settles himself down to prepare for death, before flashing back in typical noir fashion to the inciting incident of this proudly old-fashioned detective yarn: an attempted public murder of supervillain Lex Luthor. It's during this attempted murder where Chance, posing as Luthor, took a bullet and lived, but also took some poison and appears to not be so lucky at dodging that one. Informed he has only 12 days to live, Chance sets out to bring his soon-to-be killer to justice with only a single clue: that forensics ensure the culprit must be a member of The Justice League International.
With lavish art and tightly-wound action, The Human Target #1 presents itself as a carefully crafted labor of love by the creators, with a vibrant, Lichtenstein-esque pop art style from Smallwood that simply dazzles the reader. Fans of the late Darwyn Cooke should feel right at home with his muted Golden/Silver Age pastiche. The pairing of King with Smallwood proves to be a harmonious match, resurrecting a certain retro air that manages to bring the antique noir sensibility roaring into the 21st Century as if it never left. King’s deft psychological flair crackles here, as if he feels right in his element with the hard-boiled detective approach while still carrying some of his absurdist tendencies. Special attention goes to Smallwood's coloring work, which is incredibly effective.
What results is a story that manages to draw in the reader despite its off-center design and twisting narrative, another customary callback to the old noir stories this series is based upon. Rational, yet irascible, Christopher Chance is depicted as a man who, quite unlike the Caped Crusader, is not the world’s greatest detective, and knows he is likely wading in over his head when he sets out to match wits with DC stalwarts like Lex Luthor and the Justice League. The core of this book relies on Chance’s more subdued heroism in the face of this colorful costumed conspiracy that may already have cost him his life. King and Smallwood deliver on this delicate balance in their debut of Chance, following a hero whose gumption and grit are all the tools he needs to solve the worlds’ most baffling crimes.
Can Christopher Chance track down the culprits among earth’s most powerful defenders? The Human Target #1 is on sale now wherever comic books are sold.