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The Human Target #1-12
Human Target
Christopher Chance est une cible vivante professionnelle dont la réputation n'est plus à démontrer. Son métier consiste à endosser l'apparence et la psychologie de ses clients afin d'inviter les assassins potentiels à tenter de le tuer. Un jour, alors qu'il est en charge de la protection de Lex Luthor, les choses dérapent. Chance a désormais douze jours pour découvrir l'assassin.
Contenu vo : #1-12 + Tales of the Human Target #1
Contenu vo : #1-12 + Tales of the Human Target #1
424 pages, Hardcover
Published October 27, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
May 30, 2024
Top King
April 3, 2026
Still quite good, but my least favourite of the Tom King reinterpretations. In this, the eponymous Human Target is poisoned, while serving as a body double for Lex Luthor, and has only 12 days (or issues!) to live. Will our hero be able to figure out who tried to kill Luthor and got him instead?
It’s neat to see King’s darkening or maturing of classic comic teams and tropes. Here it’s the Justice League International that makes up the group of suspects. This makes for a comic that mixes hard boiled detective noir with technicolour heroes.
The art is great, but i really wish we got a slightly more compelling story to go along with it. To me, it’s firmly okay throughout, but never hits the highs of King’s other strange elseworld tales.
It’s neat to see King’s darkening or maturing of classic comic teams and tropes. Here it’s the Justice League International that makes up the group of suspects. This makes for a comic that mixes hard boiled detective noir with technicolour heroes.
The art is great, but i really wish we got a slightly more compelling story to go along with it. To me, it’s firmly okay throughout, but never hits the highs of King’s other strange elseworld tales.
February 23, 2026
Christopher Chance has a top tier jawline. He is hot, I’m hot, and the couple who bought this for my birthday are hot.
All round smokeshow.
Rating: 4 Spicy Sausages 🌭🌭🌭🌭
All round smokeshow.
Rating: 4 Spicy Sausages 🌭🌭🌭🌭
March 31, 2025
People seem to love this so I guess I'm missing something because I didn't find this interesting, mysterious, insightful. or entertaining. Tom King is so hit-and-miss he might as well be the NES Zapper being used on a flatscreen TV.
June 28, 2026
Por empezar por lo más positivo, me gusta mucho el dibujo de Greg Smallwood, limitado en las opciones narrativas pero con un trazo muy años 60 que grita portada de libro pulp. Más me cuesta entrar en el trabajo de King, al que hay que alabar su deseo de hacer suyos personajes de DC sacándolos de la continuidad, pero que termina liando cosas innecesarias y rompiendo la suspensión de la incredulidad con chorradas como el veneno que se saca de la manga para matar al Blanco humano, todo lo que rodea a la muerte de Guy Gardner, el puñetazo a Ganthet... Añádele una historia de una simpleza atroz (en la superficie es un quién lo hizo y en el subtexto es un quién lo hizo con un romance) que hubiera funcionado mejor condensada en seis u ocho números, con iteraciones de secuencias superfluas (vale, la pareja pasa mucho tiempo en la cama, lo hemos pillado), ridículas narraciones fragmentadas en una historia que no las requería... Y es una pena porque hay otras cosas que sí engranan, como la historia de amor o cómo rompe con la ingenuidad habitual de Hielo.
September 13, 2026
It's fine.
When people complain about King's writing I usually don't agree. I like alot of his work. This one is his worse tendencies coming out. Long monologs, scenes that don't add much to the plot, repeating dialogue, and so on. I really wish I liked it more.
Fantastic art though and cool ending but a lot of padding hurts it.
When people complain about King's writing I usually don't agree. I like alot of his work. This one is his worse tendencies coming out. Long monologs, scenes that don't add much to the plot, repeating dialogue, and so on. I really wish I liked it more.
Fantastic art though and cool ending but a lot of padding hurts it.
January 25, 2026
Tom King's love letter to pulp fiction, noir, and the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League. The mystery was easy enough to figure out, my curse and all that, but it was finely scripted, and beautifully illustrated by Greg Smallwood that all that matters was enjoying the ride.
December 22, 2025
Continues my favourite trend of Tom King taking an obscure DC character and breaking my heart over them. An absolute stunner of a book.
June 22, 2026
“Eleven days was enough.”
Tom King calls Human Target his passion project — the comic he always wanted to write — and you feel it on every single page. This isn’t a murder mystery dressed up with emotional depth. The emotional depth IS the mystery, and the noir scaffolding is just the vehicle King uses to ask questions about love, revenge, mortality, and what it means to live fully in the time you have left.
Christopher Chance has spent his whole life being other people, and it takes dying to finally make him present in his own story. King takes that irony and runs with it beautifully. And Ice — who you’d expect to be the warm, wholesome heart of the JLI — becomes one of the most complex, tragic femme fatales in recent comics memory. She loves him. She killed him. She never stops being both things at once.
Greg Smallwood’s mid-century aesthetic makes every panel feel like a memory you’re already mourning. The nine-panel grid becomes a countdown you feel in your chest.
This is a comic that cost King something personal to make. You can feel it in every page. And that’s exactly what makes it unforgettable.
Tom King calls Human Target his passion project — the comic he always wanted to write — and you feel it on every single page. This isn’t a murder mystery dressed up with emotional depth. The emotional depth IS the mystery, and the noir scaffolding is just the vehicle King uses to ask questions about love, revenge, mortality, and what it means to live fully in the time you have left.
Christopher Chance has spent his whole life being other people, and it takes dying to finally make him present in his own story. King takes that irony and runs with it beautifully. And Ice — who you’d expect to be the warm, wholesome heart of the JLI — becomes one of the most complex, tragic femme fatales in recent comics memory. She loves him. She killed him. She never stops being both things at once.
Greg Smallwood’s mid-century aesthetic makes every panel feel like a memory you’re already mourning. The nine-panel grid becomes a countdown you feel in your chest.
This is a comic that cost King something personal to make. You can feel it in every page. And that’s exactly what makes it unforgettable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2026
In dodici giorni, il veleno assunto da Christopher Chance lo ucciderà. Lo ha bevuto al posto del magnate criminale Lex Luthor. Perché Chance è lo Human Target, una persona che viene assoldata proprio per morire al posto del suo cliente. Le indagini lo portano a stingere il cerchio intorno alla Justice League International, i supereroi incaricati di difendere la Terra.
La forma, dipinta magistralmente da Smallwood, è indubbiamente il punto di forza di questo fumetto. Lo stile ritrattistico, l'uso dei colori netti e incredibilmente pop, restituiscono una accattivante atmosfera anni '60 che tiene alta la qualità narrativa anche negli snodi più maldestri.
La storia, prettamente noir, è abbastanza semplice nel suo intreccio e alcuni risvolti non sono perfetti. Ma l'interessante struttura narrativa ci trasporta nel mondo di Chance fissandolo come protagonista assoluto, nonostante la presenza dei superumani della DC. Impossibile non notare l'enorme tributo a "Watchmen" nella dilatazione del tempo nella scena del passaggio del sale. Fumetto consigliato.
La forma, dipinta magistralmente da Smallwood, è indubbiamente il punto di forza di questo fumetto. Lo stile ritrattistico, l'uso dei colori netti e incredibilmente pop, restituiscono una accattivante atmosfera anni '60 che tiene alta la qualità narrativa anche negli snodi più maldestri.
La storia, prettamente noir, è abbastanza semplice nel suo intreccio e alcuni risvolti non sono perfetti. Ma l'interessante struttura narrativa ci trasporta nel mondo di Chance fissandolo come protagonista assoluto, nonostante la presenza dei superumani della DC. Impossibile non notare l'enorme tributo a "Watchmen" nella dilatazione del tempo nella scena del passaggio del sale. Fumetto consigliato.
January 16, 2026
Nejsem největší fanoušek Toma Kinga. Jeho Batman: Killing Time byl otravnej a překomplexovanej a jeho Wonder Woman je tak ubíjející, že sem ji vzdal asi po deseti číslech.
Ale ty vole. The Human Target je jedna z nejlepších (a díky Gregu Smallwoodovi i jedna z nejkrásnějších) knížek, co sem kdy četl. Nejen komiksů. Knížek.
Ale ty vole. The Human Target je jedna z nejlepších (a díky Gregu Smallwoodovi i jedna z nejkrásnějších) knížek, co sem kdy četl. Nejen komiksů. Knížek.
June 6, 2026
holy fuck
March 22, 2026
The JLI featuring guest star Christopher Chance
June 8, 2024
Me ha gustado mucho como casi todas las obras de Tom King. El problema con este autor es que las premisas me gustan y disfruto de su desarrollo y de la calidad que siempre alcanza pero hay veces en las que pierden ritmo y me aburren. Tengo la sensación de que quiere resultar tan brillante, tan inteligente que en ocasiones se hace denso y confuso. Además veo cierta repetición de patrones con otras obras como strange adventures o Rorschach que me dan la sensación de ya haberlo leído antes. Pero dicho esto, gran calidad y muy por encima de lo habitual. El dibujo, una locura.
January 30, 2026
A self-insert Y/N fanfic for the boys who love comic books and imagining themselves as Humphrey Bogart. I am fundamentally unconvinced by this. I am unconvinced by the idea behind Mr. Target's character in general, and by his character journey in this run. One would think, the set up of investigating your own murder under a hard deadline, with every member of the Temu Justice League being on the suspect list could only ever be fun. Well, one would be wrong. The Human Target is not really a mystery, it's a very forced romance that goes through the motions of detective fiction, while our protagonist is sad, allegedly hardboiled, drinks a lot, and is irresistible to women. It really wants to be noir fiction but mostly deals in superficial noir tropes. I like Tom King as a writer, but here he is too self-indulgent and way too verbose. Whoever thought that having dialogue and inner monologue cluttering panels at the same time was a good idea was wrong. This just goes to show that boundaries and restrictions are actually good for a comics writer and his team.
It doesn't help that Mr. Target is not a well-established character, and that his main trait is passivity. Tom King added a huge Batman fakeout to this story, which works well with his core concept that Mr. Human Target here is a Batman reject. He also has to witness horrific murder of his father at a young formative age, he also decides to use this trauma to serve and to find his place in the world, he also is angsty and full of daddy issues, he also is a detective who uses disguise. By all means, he should be Batman Jr. - but he is not, and so he gets introspective and dies about it. Very sad. The only thing I liked about The Human Target outside of the very impressive visuals was when it reminded me of Doom Patrol. If you want great comics noir vibes, just read book 1 of Last Knight on Earth or Tom King's very own The Winning Card. If you want a fun comics about investigating your own poisoning while dying in real time, read Batman: Europa. The irony of leaving Batman recs in this review is not lost on me. What is also not lost on me is the fact that I keep calling the protagonist Mr. Target because I can't remember his name to save my life, despite staring at it for two days straight. Some things just belong to obscurity.
Beautiful artwork though, its vintage colours and the crayon look will stick with me for a long time.
It doesn't help that Mr. Target is not a well-established character, and that his main trait is passivity. Tom King added a huge Batman fakeout to this story, which works well with his core concept that Mr. Human Target here is a Batman reject. He also has to witness horrific murder of his father at a young formative age, he also decides to use this trauma to serve and to find his place in the world, he also is angsty and full of daddy issues, he also is a detective who uses disguise. By all means, he should be Batman Jr. - but he is not, and so he gets introspective and dies about it. Very sad. The only thing I liked about The Human Target outside of the very impressive visuals was when it reminded me of Doom Patrol. If you want great comics noir vibes, just read book 1 of Last Knight on Earth or Tom King's very own The Winning Card. If you want a fun comics about investigating your own poisoning while dying in real time, read Batman: Europa. The irony of leaving Batman recs in this review is not lost on me. What is also not lost on me is the fact that I keep calling the protagonist Mr. Target because I can't remember his name to save my life, despite staring at it for two days straight. Some things just belong to obscurity.
Beautiful artwork though, its vintage colours and the crayon look will stick with me for a long time.
Read
May 6, 2026I knew the Human Target by writer Greg Smallwood and artist Tom King would be great, but even still, I'm impressed by this project. King takes what could have been an old Hitchcock movie and reframes its narrative backbone around a cast of established superheroes and a deep sense of existential dread.
The story is a self-contained mystery with clever twists and a satisfying conclusion. Mysteries often fizzle out in monthly superhero comics, but King, a disciple of Alan Moore, prioritizes story structure and clearly maps out the reveals and twists from the start. Christopher Chance's investigation into who has poisoned him is a vehicle for checking in on a variety of characters and settings, but more importantly for getting into the heads of both Chance and his co-investigator, Ice. I wasn't familiar with either character beforehand, and King clearly takes some liberties that longtime fans may not appreciate. But divorced from continuity, this is a genuinely moving story I could comfortably recommend to almost anyone, superhero reader or not. Human Target is a self-contained story with the depth of a prose novel.
As much as I appreciate King’s brisk plotting and smart script, the star of the show is Smallwood, who delivers career-best work on this project. Smallwood leans heavily on photo reference and modeling, though his graceful, surprisingly loose linework keeps the art from becoming stiff or lifeless. This disciplined use of reference pays off most in his facial expressions, through which he captures subtext with impressive precision. That photorealism is counterbalanced by Smallwood's embrace of midcentury illustration: color blocks, angular linework in backgrounds, and vibrant, nearly psychedelic palettes that deliberately avoid black (a deliberate departure from the dreariness of typical noir visuals). Each page is visually stunning and unlike any other superhero comic I’ve read.
Seriously, Human Target is a graphic novel where the art alone merits a read, and King’s script is worthy of Smallwood’s art. This is the perfect comic to gift to my comics-curious friends.
The story is a self-contained mystery with clever twists and a satisfying conclusion. Mysteries often fizzle out in monthly superhero comics, but King, a disciple of Alan Moore, prioritizes story structure and clearly maps out the reveals and twists from the start. Christopher Chance's investigation into who has poisoned him is a vehicle for checking in on a variety of characters and settings, but more importantly for getting into the heads of both Chance and his co-investigator, Ice. I wasn't familiar with either character beforehand, and King clearly takes some liberties that longtime fans may not appreciate. But divorced from continuity, this is a genuinely moving story I could comfortably recommend to almost anyone, superhero reader or not. Human Target is a self-contained story with the depth of a prose novel.
As much as I appreciate King’s brisk plotting and smart script, the star of the show is Smallwood, who delivers career-best work on this project. Smallwood leans heavily on photo reference and modeling, though his graceful, surprisingly loose linework keeps the art from becoming stiff or lifeless. This disciplined use of reference pays off most in his facial expressions, through which he captures subtext with impressive precision. That photorealism is counterbalanced by Smallwood's embrace of midcentury illustration: color blocks, angular linework in backgrounds, and vibrant, nearly psychedelic palettes that deliberately avoid black (a deliberate departure from the dreariness of typical noir visuals). Each page is visually stunning and unlike any other superhero comic I’ve read.
Seriously, Human Target is a graphic novel where the art alone merits a read, and King’s script is worthy of Smallwood’s art. This is the perfect comic to gift to my comics-curious friends.
February 5, 2026
Tengo mis altibajos con Tom King, y luego de algún que otro desacuerdo, vuelve a deslumbrarme con Human Target, donde demuestra que es capaz de (re)escribir personajes olvidados de DC sin llegar al extremo de destruirlos, como hizo por ejemplo, a mi modo de ver en Strange Adventures.
Luego de un memorable comienzo, la intriga y el suspenso nunca desaparecen. La puesta a punto de cada capítulo resulta muy útil, más aun cuando el plantel de invitados (JLI) era prácticamente una novedad para mi, sumado al hecho de que King construye todo su engranaje en base a la personalidad de muchos de ellos.
Greg Smallwood resultó todo un descubrimiento, un trabajo sobresaliente basado en una estética retro cincuentera aplicada al comic de superhéroes. Un artista que maneja magistralmente diferentes niveles de definición en sus viñetas, primeros planos realistas y expresivos, entornos con trazos simplificados y fondos muchas veces apenas bosquejados. Utiliza también sorprendentes cortes angulares para diferenciar color e iluminación y junto a una paleta intensa consigue dar marco perfecto al tono de comedia noir que King propone para la obra.
Preciosa la edición de Ovni Press.
Una maravilla.
Luego de un memorable comienzo, la intriga y el suspenso nunca desaparecen. La puesta a punto de cada capítulo resulta muy útil, más aun cuando el plantel de invitados (JLI) era prácticamente una novedad para mi, sumado al hecho de que King construye todo su engranaje en base a la personalidad de muchos de ellos.
Greg Smallwood resultó todo un descubrimiento, un trabajo sobresaliente basado en una estética retro cincuentera aplicada al comic de superhéroes. Un artista que maneja magistralmente diferentes niveles de definición en sus viñetas, primeros planos realistas y expresivos, entornos con trazos simplificados y fondos muchas veces apenas bosquejados. Utiliza también sorprendentes cortes angulares para diferenciar color e iluminación y junto a una paleta intensa consigue dar marco perfecto al tono de comedia noir que King propone para la obra.
Preciosa la edición de Ovni Press.
Una maravilla.
January 8, 2026
Wow. Just an amazing love letter to old-school detective stories and noir. A love letter to obscure DC characters. And some genuinely great writing and prose. This is not a children's book. It has all the typical comic censorship of swearing and stuff like that but it has lots of violent, sexual, and mature themes. In short, it's like a 30's detective novel.
Christopher Chance is the Human Target. You think someone is after you? Someone planning on killing you? You hire The Human Target. He'll disguise himself and take the shot for you. Then, he'll investigate and figure out who/how/why did it. But, who has killed The Human Target? While on a case stopping a murder, he accidentally is poisoned by a second murder plot. He has 12 days to investigate his poisoning and get revenge before he dies. Who could it be? And could it have even been one of the Justice League?
Tom King is very hit or miss for me. I love his Vision miniseries. I think his Batman run is average. Meh. But this is my favorite of his yet.
Christopher Chance is the Human Target. You think someone is after you? Someone planning on killing you? You hire The Human Target. He'll disguise himself and take the shot for you. Then, he'll investigate and figure out who/how/why did it. But, who has killed The Human Target? While on a case stopping a murder, he accidentally is poisoned by a second murder plot. He has 12 days to investigate his poisoning and get revenge before he dies. Who could it be? And could it have even been one of the Justice League?
Tom King is very hit or miss for me. I love his Vision miniseries. I think his Batman run is average. Meh. But this is my favorite of his yet.
January 14, 2026
So I was settling in the rating for this book and I was thinking 4 stars. I like King in general and although clever, I did not find Human Target amongst his best. A 3 star rating seemed fair.
Now, the art. OMG the art, Smallwood did something so gorgeous and layered and with all the right references that had to be no less than 5 stars.
And then I saw the process pages that come as extras in the deluxe and I was somewhat disappointed on how Smallwood managed that gorgeous art and I thought that maybe it was not for 5 stars.
And at the same time King's script kept coming back to me, and yeah, it's 4 stars for each.
As for my art disappointment? well, maybe we shouldn't find out how the sausage is made. my bad.
Now, the art. OMG the art, Smallwood did something so gorgeous and layered and with all the right references that had to be no less than 5 stars.
And then I saw the process pages that come as extras in the deluxe and I was somewhat disappointed on how Smallwood managed that gorgeous art and I thought that maybe it was not for 5 stars.
And at the same time King's script kept coming back to me, and yeah, it's 4 stars for each.
As for my art disappointment? well, maybe we shouldn't find out how the sausage is made. my bad.
August 11, 2026
This was a refreshing experience between the art and story. It felt like an old 50’s/60’s noir adjacent or Alfred Hitchcock movie where it’s part mystery and part romance. Greg Smallwoods Art really does this story wonders between the colors and the stylistic choices that are reminiscent a colorful retro 1960s and it’s pop culture like Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie.I know King is controversial but I do enjoy the themes he gets into with his stories whether that be Miracle Man, Strange Adventures or this story. My only gripe is some parts in the first half of this series are hard to follow but it’s explained later on. Overall this was a solid read as I love stories about existentialism and romance and placing that within the realm of DC makes this a unique and fun ride.
June 26, 2026
Pretty good. Really good actually.
One thing that bothered me:
SPOILERS AHEAD
Guy Gardner dies in the middle of the book, but actually he doesn't now in the context of the story it makes sense but I hoped there would be more hints to this revelation. They also explain that Gardner used his ring to create a fake version of himself that dies. I know this is not mainline continuity, but unless I'm mistaken a Green Lantern has never actualy done that. They normally make green constructs. I would have liked it if an illusionist character was dragged into the sheme, hinting at their involvment early.
It's a bit of a nitpick but whatever.
One thing that bothered me:
SPOILERS AHEAD
Guy Gardner dies in the middle of the book, but actually he doesn't now in the context of the story it makes sense but I hoped there would be more hints to this revelation. They also explain that Gardner used his ring to create a fake version of himself that dies. I know this is not mainline continuity, but unless I'm mistaken a Green Lantern has never actualy done that. They normally make green constructs. I would have liked it if an illusionist character was dragged into the sheme, hinting at their involvment early.
It's a bit of a nitpick but whatever.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2026
Another great noir by King, the story maintains its tension all throughout, and even though you know what's gonna happen in the end, King still manages to keep the reader interested until the last page. The way he narrated some of the issues, especially issue 5, was something I'd never seen before. Both the origin and the whole concept of Human target were really unique, and Ice's character arc was truly well done as well.
All that aside, the thing that stands out the most about the comic is definitely the art, especially the coloring. Fantastic work by Greg Smallwood.
Oh and one last thing, I love the way King writes Booster Gold.
All that aside, the thing that stands out the most about the comic is definitely the art, especially the coloring. Fantastic work by Greg Smallwood.
Oh and one last thing, I love the way King writes Booster Gold.
September 11, 2026
The art is great, it's Greg Smallwood. The story is nice and keeps you going. There's a little too much dialogue in some sections (so you know going in, if that's not your thing in comics), but that's just standard Tom King style; he likes his dialogue, and his caption boxes. I guessed the killer from the beginning, so the ending wasn't surprising for me, but some issues ended in an unpredictable way that I enjoyed.
Overall, it's a good comic with great art. I'd give it a 3.75/5. I did enjoy it, but it fell a little below my expectations.
Overall, it's a good comic with great art. I'd give it a 3.75/5. I did enjoy it, but it fell a little below my expectations.
September 12, 2026
Fantastic to read. The art is simple and great to look at. A great film noir book. I do find it weird that a normal guy, Christopher Chance, is the human target. There are at least 2 other extraordinary beings in the story who are more suited to be a hired human target than Mr. Chance. Probably because they are busy being superheroes. It probably helps more that Christopher Chance is an extremely skilled professional impersonator/bodyguard/detective who is willing to become the person being hunted.
November 26, 2025
Books like this are so fun. I don't know if I could read detective books all of the time, but if I can keep the frequency just right, the familiar beats read as "classic" rather than "cliché." Greg Smallwood's illustrations compliment the story perfectly, and, specifically, his coloring. The palette was perfect and the way the colors bleed outside of the lines is such a great touch. My only complaint is that end comes a little too early. I like my denouements at the very end.
February 7, 2026
I still remember reading JLI issues at the grocery store while my mom was shopping, so coming back to the key characters of that era was a nice return. But the story is very different in tone and focus; it's quite a balancing act to keep the character's personalities in this different genre of story. Very noir, and while the mystery ends up playing out just about as you would expect for a noir story, it's the journey that makes it a worthwhile and beautiful read.
May 8, 2026
Christopher Chance is the Human Target, a reverse hitman who impersonates clients when their life is at risk. While posing as Lex Luthor, Chance consumes a toxin intended for the supervillain and is soon given a prognosis of only twelve days to live. The presence of an otherworldly trace element in his bloodstream seems to lay blame upon a member of the JLI, all of whom possess the same contaminant as the result of an interstellar conflict. While attempting to deduce his inadvertent killer before he dies, the Human Target finds himself navigating a potentially duplicitous romance and unwrapping layers of conspiracy around the motivations behind his poisoning.
Smallwood's art in this book is just an absolute joy, a love letter to the design sensibilities of the mid twentieth century seamlessly integrated within a modern day thriller shell. The sketchy chalk / charcoal line work, contrasting of cooler color tones with high saturation pop-art palettes, soft yet angular lighting, and mid-century production design combine to construct an impeccably stylish and engaging aesthetic that I could not get enough of. Covers, title cards, and graphic design elements capably channel the genius of Saul Bass and David Klein, adding to the effortlessly cool personality of the visual presentation. Flowers must also be given to letterer Clayton Cowles for his engaging and broad font choices that feel like a playful homage to Hannah Barbara and 1960s poster typefaces, in addition to the routinely creative text latouts.
Narrative storytelling in Human Target is chock full of king-isms; disjointed dialogue and narration threads, severe and cheeky tones clashing, numerous interleaved timelines, rocky romance forward plotting, frequent internal soliloquizing, and cynical (potentially "character assassinating") re-imaginings of peripheral DC universe characters. For better or worse, it's a King book through and through and if his schtick hasn't worked for you in the past I can't imagine it working for you here. As someone who quite likes his storytelling style but finds the individual applications rather hit or miss, I was happy to discover this instance very much aligned with my tastes. Despite taking a few issues to fully grab me and having some occasional clunky line delivery, I found this revenge narrative turned dramedy-of-errors thoroughly entertaining and creatively told. Nearly every issue utilizes a distinct narrative structure while integrating new characters and emergent events, satisfying both as self contained yarns and as a progression of the overarching plot. My favorite example of this being the issue where Chase infers Martian Manhunter's involvement in the poisoning within the time it takes to pick up a salt shaker.
Smallwood's art in this book is just an absolute joy, a love letter to the design sensibilities of the mid twentieth century seamlessly integrated within a modern day thriller shell. The sketchy chalk / charcoal line work, contrasting of cooler color tones with high saturation pop-art palettes, soft yet angular lighting, and mid-century production design combine to construct an impeccably stylish and engaging aesthetic that I could not get enough of. Covers, title cards, and graphic design elements capably channel the genius of Saul Bass and David Klein, adding to the effortlessly cool personality of the visual presentation. Flowers must also be given to letterer Clayton Cowles for his engaging and broad font choices that feel like a playful homage to Hannah Barbara and 1960s poster typefaces, in addition to the routinely creative text latouts.
Narrative storytelling in Human Target is chock full of king-isms; disjointed dialogue and narration threads, severe and cheeky tones clashing, numerous interleaved timelines, rocky romance forward plotting, frequent internal soliloquizing, and cynical (potentially "character assassinating") re-imaginings of peripheral DC universe characters. For better or worse, it's a King book through and through and if his schtick hasn't worked for you in the past I can't imagine it working for you here. As someone who quite likes his storytelling style but finds the individual applications rather hit or miss, I was happy to discover this instance very much aligned with my tastes. Despite taking a few issues to fully grab me and having some occasional clunky line delivery, I found this revenge narrative turned dramedy-of-errors thoroughly entertaining and creatively told. Nearly every issue utilizes a distinct narrative structure while integrating new characters and emergent events, satisfying both as self contained yarns and as a progression of the overarching plot. My favorite example of this being the issue where Chase infers Martian Manhunter's involvement in the poisoning within the time it takes to pick up a salt shaker.
September 3, 2026
An amazing war book that was penciled brilliantly by the two people that did it. The human target is a story about a man who is dying and has to find out who poisoned him before he dies. It’s a very familiar story, but this one is using the DC comics superheroes, such as ice fire, Green Lantern, booster, gold, and others. I really was impressed with the story and was really impressed by the colors of the drawings, this Deluxe Edition also has some extra tails at the end of the story.
July 26, 2026
Tom King has a habit of writing open ended books, lots of head scratchers for sure. This book is much more conclusive but no less fantastic and full of feeling. If you've read Justice League International, the Human Target will be even more fun. Greg Smallwood's art is so wonderful to look at and perfectly fits the noir feel of this book. This is a must read!!!
September 8, 2026
An awesome murder mystery romance starring the members of Justice League International as suspects. The art is gorgeous and the story is complex but super easy to follow. The structure is super cool! The writing feels like poetry.
Although I do wish it was cleaner—but it is a Black Label comic so I guess I’m getting what’s advertised 🤷♀️ honestly it could have been worse
Although I do wish it was cleaner—but it is a Black Label comic so I guess I’m getting what’s advertised 🤷♀️ honestly it could have been worse
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