- November 3, 2021
The Human Target #1 Review
Written by: Tom King
Art by: Greg Smallwood
Lettering by: Clayton Cowles
Tom King is one of my favorite writers, but every time he starts a new series, I go back and forth on whether I should read it month to month, or in trade. That’s how I came to love The Omega Men and Superman: Up In The Sky. Reading month to month though is how I fell in love with Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. But that’s also how I came to dislike, and at times, hate Rorshach and Batman/Catwoman. This makes my decision on how to read The Human Target difficult.
After reading the first issue, this may be a better series binged. I’ve never read The Human Target before. The basic concept is that Christopher Chance, investigative genius and impersonator, dresses up as other people to take risky moves they’d rather not take themselves. He takes the bullets they’d rather not take to be precise. In this story, Lex Luthor was the one he took a bullet for, but he took some poison for him too. Spoilers, and major spoilers here, a member of Justice League International tried to poison Luthor and got the Human Target instead.
To Binge, Or Not to Binge?
The creative team sets up an intriguing murder mystery that’s sure to rile fans of the classic team. This opening issue does what Tom King books do best. They tease the future by jumping around in time, and draw you in with suspense while you’re not paying attention. But, because this is a murder mystery, and because I’ve been burned by my favorite comic book writer before, I think this will read better binged.
This story is going to twist with some favorite classic characters, no doubt. This means people are going to react the same they always do, with anger and without context. That’ll warp predictions and some people’s interpretations of the series, especially since it’s a murder mystery. Because of this, I’m going to wait for the trade to read the rest because this feels like the perfect series to be binged all at once.