Human Target

Last updated
The Human Target
Human Target (Christopher Chance).png
Christopher Chance, as he appeared on the cover of Human Target #6 (November 2021). Art by Greg Smallwood.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance (Fred Venable)
Detective Comics #201 (November 1953)
(Christopher Chance)
Action Comics #419 (December 1972)
Created by(Fred Venable)
Edmond Hamilton
Sheldon Moldoff
(Christopher Chance)
Len Wein
Carmine Infantino
In-story information
Alter egoFred Venable
Christopher Chance
Notable aliasesNumerous identities
Impersonates his clients to protect them
Abilities
  • Master impersonator
  • Exceptional athlete
  • Skilled detective, marksman, and martial artist

The Human Target is the name of two fictional characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, while the second is private investigator and bodyguard Christopher Chance who assumes the identities of clients targeted by assassins and other dangerous criminals. [1] The character has appeared in numerous books published throughout the decades and has appeared in television adaptations.

Contents

Human Target made his first live appearance in the 1992 television series Human Target played by Rick Springfield and then in the 2010 television series Human Target played by Mark Valley. In the fifth and sixth seasons of the Arrowverse series Arrow , Human Target was played by Wil Traval.

Publication history

The first character to use the "Human Target" title (Fred Venable) appeared in Detective Comics #201 (November 1953), and was created by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff. [2]

The second character to use the "Human Target" title (Christopher Chance) first appeared in Action Comics #419 (December 1972) and was created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino. [3] His early appearances came in back-up stories in Action Comics, a title better known for featuring Superman tales published by DC Comics. He first appeared in "The Assassin-Express Contract", a backup story written by Wein and illustrated by Infantino. Later, the feature appeared in Batman titles such as The Brave and the Bold and Detective Comics. [4] He starred in a limited series, a one-shot, and then an ongoing Human Target series written by Peter Milligan and published under DC's Vertigo imprint. In 2021, Tom King and Greg Smallwood began a 12-issue limited series for DC's Black Label imprint.

Comic listing

Comic book appearances [5]
DateIssueTitle
1953 NovemberDetective Comics #201"The Human Target"
1958 JanuaryGangbusters #61"The Human Target"
1972 DecemberAction Comics #419"The Assassin-Express Contract"
1973 JanuaryAction Comics #420"The King of the Jungle Contract"
1973 MarchAction Comics #422"The Shadows-of-Yesterday Contract"
1973 AprilAction Comics #423"The Deadly Dancer Contract"
1973 JulyAction Comics #425"The Short-Walk-to-Disaster Contract -- Clause 1: I Have a Cousin in the Business"
1973 AugustAction Comics #426"The Short-Walk-to-Disaster Contract -- Clause 2: The Shortest Distance Between Two Points"
1973 NovemberAction Comics #429"The Rodeo Riddle Contract"
1974 FebruaryAction Comics #432"The Million Dollar Methuselah Contract"
1978 September–OctoberDC The Brave and the Bold #143"The Cat and the Canary Contract"
1978 October–NovemberDC The Brave and the Bold #144"The Symphony For The Devil Contract"
1979 April–MayDetective Comics #483"The Lights! Camera! Murder! Contract"
1979 June–JulyDetective Comics #484"The Who Is Floyd Fenderman Anyway? Contract"
1979 October–NovemberDetective Comics #486"The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Contract"
1980 AugustDetective Comics #493"The 18-Wheel War Contract"
1981 MarchDetective Comics #500"The 'Too Many Crooks...' Caper"
1982 JuneDetective Comics #515"College for Killers"
1982 JulyBatman #349"Blood Sport"
1982 SeptemberBatman #351"What Stalks the Gotham Night?"
1982 SeptemberDetective Comics #518"The Millionaire Contract"
1982 OctoberBatman #352"The Killer Sky"
1982 NovemberDC The Best of Blue Ribbon Digest #30"The Assassin-Express Contract" (reprint)
1989 MarchAction Comics #641"The Pow! Wap! Zam! Contract"
1991 NovemberDC special (TV tie-in)"The Human Target: The Mack Attack Contract"
1999 AprilVertigo Human Target (1999) #1"Human Target, Part 1"
1999 MayVertigo Human Target (1999) #2"Human Target, Part 2"
1999 JuneVertigo Human Target (1999) #3"Human Target, Part 3"
1999 JulyVertigo Human Target (1999) #4"Human Target, Part 4"
2002 MayVertigo Human Target (2002) OGN"Final Cut"
2003 OctoberVertigo Human Target (2003) #1'"To Be Frank"
2003 NovemberVertigo Human Target (2003) #2"The Unshredded Man, Part 1: Ground Zero"
2003 DecemberVertigo Human Target (2003) #3"The Unshredded Man, Part 2: Ready to Die"
2004 JanuaryVertigo Human Target (2003) #4"Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Part One: The Set-Up Man"
2004 FebruaryVertigo Human Target (2003) #5"Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Part Two: The Strike Zone"
2004 MarchVertigo Human Target (2003) #6"For I Have Sinned"
2004 AprilVertigo Human Target (2003) #7"Which Way The Wind Blows, Part One: Living In Amerika"
2004 MayVertigo Human Target (2003) #8"Which Way The Wind Blows, Part Two: American Terrorists"
2004 JuneVertigo Human Target (2003) #9"Which Way The Wind Blows, Part Three: Bringing It All Back Home"
2004 JulyVertigo Human Target (2003) #10"Five Days Grace"
2004 AugustVertigo Human Target (2003) #11"Games of Chance"
2004 SeptemberVertigo Human Target (2003) #12"Crossing The Border, Part One: Suffer the Children"
2004 OctoberVertigo Human Target (2003) #13"Crossing The Border, Part Two: Hey, Jude"
2004 NovemberVertigo Human Target (2003) #14"The Second Coming, Part One: In the Name of the Father"
2004 DecemberVertigo Human Target (2003) #15"The Second Coming, Part Two: The Temptation of Christopher Chance"
2005 JanuaryVertigo Human Target (2003) #16"The Second Coming, Conclusion: Pieces of Lead"
2005 FebruaryVertigo Human Target (2003) #17"You Made Me Love You"
2005 MarchVertigo Human Target (2003) #18"Letters From the Front Line"
2005 AprilVertigo Human Target (2003) #19"The Stealer, Part One"
2005 MayVertigo Human Target (2003) #20"The Stealer, Part Two"
2005 JuneVertigo Human Target (2003) #21"The Stealer, Part Three"
2010 JuneVertigo Human Target Special Edition #1"Human Target, Part 1" (1999/reprint)
2010 AprilDC Human Target (2010) #1 (TV tie-in)"Human Target #1"
2010 MayDC Human Target (2010) #2 (TV tie-in)"Human Target #2"
2010 JuneDC Human Target (2010) #3 (TV tie-in)"Human Target #3"
2010 JulyDC Human Target (2010) #4 (TV tie-in)"Human Target #4"
2010 AugustDC Human Target (2010) #5 (TV tie-in)"Human Target #5"
2010 SeptemberDC Human Target (2010) #6 (TV tie-in)"Human Target #6"
2021 NovemberBlack Label Human Target (2021) #1"When We Are Born"
2021 NovemberBlack Label Human Target (2021) #2"We Cry"
2021 DecemberBlack Label Human Target (2021) #3"That We Are Come"
2022 JanuaryBlack Label Human Target (2021) #4"To This Great Stage of Fools!"
2022 FebruaryBlack Label Human Target (2021) #5"This is a Good Block"
2022 MarchBlack Label Human Target (2021) #6"It Were a Delicate Stratagem"
2022 AugustTales of the Human Target #1"Oh, Here He Is"
2022 SeptemberBlack Label Human Target (2021) #7"To Shoe a Troop of Horse with Felt"
2022 OctoberBlack Label Human Target (2021) #8
2022 NovemberBlack Label Human Target (2021) #9"And When I Have Stol'n Upon These Sons-In-Law"
2023 JanuaryBlack Label Human Target (2021) #10"Then Kill"
2023 JanuaryBlack Label Human Target (2021) #11"Kill Kill Kill Kill"
2023 FebruaryBlack Label Human Target (2021) #12"Kill"

Vertigo

Writer Peter Milligan and Edvin Biukovic revived Christopher Chance in 1999, moving the character to DC Comics' Vertigo imprint for a four-issue limited series. The mini-series was followed by the graphic novel Human Target: Final Cut, as well as a series lasting 21 issues until its cancellation in 2005.

Reception

The Human Target story "The Unshredded Man" was analyzed as an example of depictions of the September 11 attacks in American popular culture. [6]

In other media

Television



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References

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