POBB October 5, 2022

Pick of the Brown Bag

October 5, 2022

by 

Ray Tate

Welcome to another Pick of the Brown Bag.  Things have been rather hectic for me, so I'm instituting a new protocol to freshen the blog and keep a foot in the reviewing pool.  I will be critiquing single issues of comic books that I've just read.  For future posts, I'll also be looking at graphic novels that will be ideal for Halloween spooking.  Anyway, that's the plan.  Let's see how well I stick to it.  You can find me on Twitter as well, just in case you need a quick thumbs up or thumbs down decision: #PickoftheBrownBag.

Christopher Chance is a private investigator/body guard nicknamed The Human Target.  A Bronze Age creation, Christopher disguises himself as an intended victim and takes the intended's place until he deals with the threat.  

In this new series by Tom King and artist Greg Smallwood, Christopher substituted for Lex Luthor.

Though he survived the shooting, he wound up poisoned for his troubles.  

A walking dead man, that cannot be helped even through science fiction or magical means,,,

...Christopher now seeks to find out which of the Justice League attempted to murder Lex Luthor and inadvertently nailed his coffin shut.

Tom King bases the story on a very obscure pair of Justice League books that occurred outside of the bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha era but still used the bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha line up.  

You may vaguely remember the time Lex Luthor teamed up with a dude named Overlord...

...er...Overmaster to kill Superman.

He wound up killing Ice instead.

She got better.

Way better.

Anyway, the history places the League on Christopher's suspect list.  Some Leaguer wanted to off Luthor to avenge Ice.  Each issue, Christopher questions members of the Justice League.

I purposely did not review the last chapter of The Human Target because I couldn't think of a way to talk about it without spoiling the entirety.  

The spoilers had nothing to do with the mystery.  They instead presented a monumental event that could only happen in a DC book set outside of continuity proper.  Black Label fits the bill; after Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner redeemed the line from the stench of Batman Damned.

Originally, DC intended Black Label to present classy HBO styled mature material that nevertheless featured DC characters.  Think of Westworld only with capes and cowls.  DC dropped the whole idea of explicit intentions after the depiction of Batman's shadowy penis sent shockwaves through the internet.  

If you're imagining a bat-cowled penis shouting, "I'm the god damned Batman's penis!" you're welcome.

The Human Target though not shying away from sexuality, isn't explicit.  In fact there's nothing in this title that would disturb a teenager, regardless of gender.

See?  The most disturbing thing that occurred in Human Target had nothing to do with sex, and it's the kind of perturbation to the mind that makes you think.  

Issue seven of The Human Target presents Christopher's interrogation of the prime suspect: Beatriz da Costa alias Fire.  Ice in fact joined Christopher on his hunt to convince him of Fire's innocence.  She also wants to persuade him that none of the Justice League could have done the deed either, but primarily her concern is for Fire.

That gorgeous illustration by Greg Smallwood that should be turned into tee-shirts and posters sums up the entirety of the chapter.  Fire is a dangerously sexy woman, the classic film noir bad girl, but the question is: did she do it?

The answer she gives may surprise some readers who thought the worst of the first half of the team Fire and Ice.  

My money is still on G'nort unwittingly radiating the water used in the coffee pot that poisoned Christopher Chance.

Since returning my attention back to Pick of the Brown Bag, I also read The Human Target special Tales of the Human Target. 

 

While these short stories are fine in themselves and fun, they bear little connection to the series.  Nor, does the series mention anything in the anthology.

In fact I think some if not all the shorts contradict the series.  It seems to me that Christopher Chance throughout The Human Target is meeting the Justice League roster for the first time.  

I also find it implausible that Chance meets each member of the League who also are his best suspects in separate episodes in his life before he's poisoned.  Just too many coincidences.

If this special is collected in the trade paperback, fine.  You're not out anything.  However, if you're reading The Human Target as it's being produced, then you really don't need the special, nor should you go out of your way to get it.

On the other hand if you're ga-ga over artists Kevin Maguire, Mikel Janin and/or Rafael Albuquerque, you may want to add this book to your brown bag.  Greg Smallwood provides the wraparound narrative that grasps straws when trying to knit the prequel to the series.