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frasersimons 's review for:
The Human Target Vol. 1
by Tom King
2024 re read: yep, still fantastic. Re reading because I got the second volume for Christmas!!
Well, the hype is real. The only character I know from the first issue is Lex Luther, and by the time the third issue is over, I’m taking a break between issues to make it last longer. This guy, The Human Target, apparently puts himself in the way of a target to, I guess, fake other peoples’ death? Only, this particular time he also ingests a poison, possibly meant for Lex, who he was subbing in for, and suddenly this turns into a slow burn detective story with a romantic subplot.
And here’s the thing: it just works. There’s a backstory issue at exactly the right spot for people, like me, who ask themselves, what the heck kind of guy wants this job. What does he get out of it? He also seems to exist in a grey space that is very conducive to the slightly melodramatic, but also too-endearing new-noir detective beats. Where men have about 8 sentences that form a chord that are continually plucked, connected to a secret, dark room. Every time a string in that chord gets twigged, they’re cats chasing string. And they think they know why that is, but not really.
So it is with our main man, who, in connecting with a member of the justice league International, helping to find his poisoner in the twelve days he’s got left to live, seems like he’s being played. Falling, inevitably, for a woman with control of ice, forcing him to confront his own mortality at an in opportune time. King makes this emotional with every panel. The Smallwood makes it excruciating to see the connection between them, as well as the contrast between the inevitability of the human target being actually killed, with a bright and shining world that is stunning and gorgeous. The decision to go for this tone and really nail the human interactions vs a dark noir palette is brilliant.
Everything about this is far more interesting than the typical build up to a physical conflict in most super hero stories. This puts DC on the map for me in a way it hasn’t done, maybe ever—since Vertigo. That’s how good this is. The only people who wouldn’t want it is people wanting, well, a super hero story, I guess. Hope this is getting the love it deserves. I tell you what: if this and this forthcoming second volume gets collected, preferably into an oversized edition, I’m there in a heartbeat.
Well, the hype is real. The only character I know from the first issue is Lex Luther, and by the time the third issue is over, I’m taking a break between issues to make it last longer. This guy, The Human Target, apparently puts himself in the way of a target to, I guess, fake other peoples’ death? Only, this particular time he also ingests a poison, possibly meant for Lex, who he was subbing in for, and suddenly this turns into a slow burn detective story with a romantic subplot.
And here’s the thing: it just works. There’s a backstory issue at exactly the right spot for people, like me, who ask themselves, what the heck kind of guy wants this job. What does he get out of it? He also seems to exist in a grey space that is very conducive to the slightly melodramatic, but also too-endearing new-noir detective beats. Where men have about 8 sentences that form a chord that are continually plucked, connected to a secret, dark room. Every time a string in that chord gets twigged, they’re cats chasing string. And they think they know why that is, but not really.
So it is with our main man, who, in connecting with a member of the justice league International, helping to find his poisoner in the twelve days he’s got left to live, seems like he’s being played. Falling, inevitably, for a woman with control of ice, forcing him to confront his own mortality at an in opportune time. King makes this emotional with every panel. The Smallwood makes it excruciating to see the connection between them, as well as the contrast between the inevitability of the human target being actually killed, with a bright and shining world that is stunning and gorgeous. The decision to go for this tone and really nail the human interactions vs a dark noir palette is brilliant.
Everything about this is far more interesting than the typical build up to a physical conflict in most super hero stories. This puts DC on the map for me in a way it hasn’t done, maybe ever—since Vertigo. That’s how good this is. The only people who wouldn’t want it is people wanting, well, a super hero story, I guess. Hope this is getting the love it deserves. I tell you what: if this and this forthcoming second volume gets collected, preferably into an oversized edition, I’m there in a heartbeat.