''Human Target'' is an espionage-related comic series written by

Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', '' Revo ...

and published by the

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties ...

imprint of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

. The series was based on the

Human Target 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 tar ...

character created in 1972 by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men ...

and

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are ...

. The original Vertigo miniseries yielded an original graphic novel and later, an ongoing series.

Publication history

Mini-series

Christopher Chance, alias the

, was a back-up feature created for Superman's title ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/ magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publication ...

'' comics in the 1970s. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, writer

and artist

Edvin Biuković Edvin Biuković (22 June 1969 – 5 December 1999) was a Croatian comics artist. Biography Biuković made his debut in 1987 with the strip ''Dokaz'' published in the third issue of Croatian magazine ''Patak''. He spent several more years wo ...

revived the character for the

imprint with a four-issue limited series. ''Human Target'' #1–4 saw Chance assaulted by an assassin, the end product of which was the loss of his face. While dealing with painful and lengthy reconstructive surgery, Chance uses his assistant, Tom McFadden, to impersonate him and draw out the assassin while protecting a Los Angeles reverend, which leaves all involved tormented both physically and mentally.

Final Cut

With the success of the

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered * Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number ...

, Milligan returned to Christopher Chance in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

with the publication of an original

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, ''Human Target: Final Cut'', for which Milligan was joined by artist

Javier Pulido Javier Pulido is a Spanish comic book artist working primarily for the American market. His notable works include ''Human Target'', '' Robin: Year One'', ''She-Hulk'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man''. Early life Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ...

. Chance, still reeling mentally from the aftermath of the previous limited series, works with a Hollywood family to save their missing celebrity son. Ultimately Chance fails in his mission, but adopts the guise of the boy's father, going so far as to have permanent reconstructive surgery to take on this, his final role. By doing so, Chance finds something he's never had before, a quiet life with a woman who loves him.

2003-2005 series

Chance returned in an ongoing series later in

, also published under the Vertigo imprint. The series was again written by Peter Milligan, and illustrated by Javier Pulido and

Cliff Chiang Cliff Chiang is an American comic book artist. Formerly an assistant editor at DC Comics, he is now an illustrator, known for his work on '' Human Target'', ''Beware the Creeper'' and ''Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre'', ''Green Arrow/Black Canar ...

. With his deceptions following ''Final Cut'' discovered, Chance leaves behind Los Angeles to move to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, taking on a variety of jobs that test him physically and mentally, as he explores the psychological cost of becoming someone else. The series, which lasted 21 issues, closed with the three-part arc, "The Stealer", which features the return of Tom McFadden, who has decided only one identity will keep him sane—that of Christopher Chance. The only problem is that the real Chance is in the way.

Collected editions

Several

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...

of the series were released: * (collects the 1999 miniseries) * (an original graphic novel) * (collects ongoing series #1–5) * (collects ongoing series #6–10) * (collects the miniseries and graphic novel) * (collects ongoing series #1–10)

Notes

References

''Human Target'' (limited series)
at the

Big Comic Book DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

* (limited series) * (limited series) {{Vertigo Comics Ongoing Series 1999 comics debuts 2005 comics endings Comics by Peter Milligan Vertigo Comics graphic novels Human Target