The Human Target is the name of two fictional

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

s in American comic books published by

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 thei ...

. 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. The character has appeared in numerous books published throughout the decades and has appeared in television adaptations. Human Target made his first live appearance in the 1992 television series ''

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 ...

'' played by

Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...

and then in the 2010 television series ''

'' played by Mark Valley. In the fifth and sixth seasons of the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW See ...

series '' Arrow'', Human Target was played by

Wil Traval William Traval is an Australian actor, known for his work as Dr. Jack Quade on the Australian hospital drama '' All Saints'' (2004–2008), and as Will Simpson on the Netflix superhero drama series ''Jessica Jones'' (2015–2018). Early life ...

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 Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...

and

Sheldon Moldoff Sheldon Moldoff (; April 14, 1920 – February 29, 2012) was an American comics artist best known for his early work on the DC Comics characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and as one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists" (uncredited collaborator ...

. The second character to use the "Human Target" title (Christopher Chance) first appeared in ''

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 Publications ...

'' #419 (December 1972) and was created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino. His early appearances came in back-up stories in ''Action Comics'', a title better known for featuring Superman tales published by

. 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 ''The Brave and the Bold'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983. It was followed by two mini-series in 1991 and 1999, and was revived as an ongoing title in 2007. The focus of the series has varied ...

'' and ''Detective Comics''. He starred in a limited series, a one-shot, and then an ongoing ''Human Target'' 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 under DC's

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 w ...

imprint. In 2022, Tom King and Greg Smallwood began a 12-issue limited series for DC's Black Label imprint.

Comic listing

Vertigo

Writer

and Edvin Biukovic revived Christopher Chance 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 shoot ...

, moving the character to DC Comics'

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 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

in American popular culture.

In other media

Television

* A

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distr ...

, starring

, was produced in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

. Springfield starred as Chance, who was now a Vietnam vet as well as a private investigator/bodyguard. In this version, for ten percent of a client's annual income ("whether you're a busboy or the king of England"), Chance would take the client's place and protect his or her life. Philo Marsden (

Kirk Baltz William Kirk Baltz (born September 14, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the police officer Marvin Nash in Quentin Tarantino's film ''Reservoir Dogs''. Life and career Baltz was born in New York City, New York. He playe ...

) was an eccentric computer genius who helped Chance by designing high-tech masks, and Jeff Carlyle (Sami Chester) was the chauffeur, cook and pilot for Chance's mobile base of operations, the Blackwing (designed by

Mike Kaluta Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer Den ...

). Lilly Page (

Signy Coleman Signy Coleman (born July 4, 1960), sometimes credited as Signey Coleman, is an American actress. Background Coleman was born in Ross, California, on July 4, 1960. She grew up in Bolinas, California, and attended Tamalpais High School in Mill V ...

) was an ex-CIA agent who helped coordinate Chance's missions. The show was created by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and Pet Fly Productions (producers of '' The Flash'', ''

Viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

'' and '' The Sentinel''), and aired on ABC. Though produced in 1990, the show aired only briefly in 1992 (7 episodes aired in the summer of 1992 although the pilot itself was never aired). The version of the show which aired in 1992 had a slightly different cast from that of the unaired pilot episode. Guest stars included

David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series '' Kung Fu'', playi ...

in the episode entitled "Second Chance". In November 1991, prior to the show's debut, Chance appeared in his own book, a 48-page one-shot titled ''The Human Target Special'' #1, an ostensible tie-in to the television show (the cover advertised that it was "Coming soon to ABC-TV!"), in which Chance and his cohorts protected a DEA agent from harm. It was written by Mark Verheiden, with pencils by Rick Burchett and inks by

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early ...

. * A FOX television series was in broadcast from 2010 to 2011 starring Mark Valley,

Jackie Earle Haley Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor and director. His earliest roles included Moocher in '' Breaking Away'' (1979) and Kelly Leak in '' The Bad News Bears'' (1976), ''The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' (1977) and ''T ...

, and

Chi McBride Kenneth "Chi" McBride ( ; born September 23, 1961) is an American actor. He has appeared in films, where he is known primarily as a character actor, and in television, where he has had numerous starring roles. In film, he has played prominent ro ...

. The series deviates from the comics version in that the character assumes nondescript cover identities that keep him close to the "target", rather than taking on the target's identity himself. The first season debuted on CTV and FOX in January 2010. The show was officially canceled on May 10, 2011 after two seasons. Portrayed as a former assassin who decided to turn his life around and become the opposite of what he was - saving lives rather than taking them - after failing to protect a woman he loved, he inherited his name from a guardian called Christopher Chance (

Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. Majors portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley in the American television Western series ''The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin in the American televisio ...

), who obtained it the same way from the man before him, making the current one a fifth generation bodyguard with the given name. The current Christopher Chance initially employs the help of a former police officer, Winston (McBride), and an independent contractor known as Guerrero (Haley), later expanding his team with a financier who pokes an interest in his firm, Ilsa Pucci (

Indira Varma Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British actress and narrator. Her film debut and first major role was in '' Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love''. She has gone on to appear in the television series ''The Canterbury Tales'', ''Rome'', ''L ...

), and a retired cat burglar called Ames (

Janet Montgomery Janet Ruth Montgomery (born 29 October 1985) is an English film and TV actress. She first gained attention for her role as Ames in the second season of the television series ''Human Target'' (2010–11), and also for her appearance in the 2009 ...

). DC published a six-issue tie-in mini-series written by Len Wein with art by Bruno Redondo. * Christopher Chance / Human Target appears in the live-action television series '' Arrow'', portrayed by

. An old friend of

John Diggle John William Diggle (2 March 1847 – 24 March 1920) was an English Anglican bishop. He was Archdeacon of Westmorland from 1896 to 1901, Archdeacon of Birmingham from 1903 to 1904, and Bishop of Carlisle from 1905 to his death in 1920. Early ...

, Chance first appears in the fifth-season episode "

" as a body decoy disguised as

Oliver Queen Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

(

Stephen Amell Stephen Adam Amell (born May 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He came to prominence for playing the lead role of Oliver Queen on The CW superhero series ''Arrow'' (2012–2020). Amell also appeared in subsequent Arrowverse franchise media, along wi ...

). In a flashback in the same episode, he is seen being hired by Anatoly Knyazev to protect Knyazev from Bratva member Viktor and the man's thugs. Chance reappears in the sixth-season episode " Docket No. 11-19-41-73" masquerading as Tommy Merlyn (

Colin Donnell Colin Donnell (born October 9, 1982) is an American actor and singer best known for his performances as Billy Crocker in ''Anything Goes'', Tommy Merlyn in The CW television series '' Arrow'', Scotty Lockhart on the Showtime drama '' The Affai ...

) who appears dressed as Green Arrow during Oliver's trial. With help from Diggle and Wild Dog, Chance poses as Judge C. McGarvey when rendering the verdict. After the jury finds Oliver guilty, Chance as the Judge has Queen seek probation, and then Oliver is free to go. After the trial is over, Chance insists that Oliver's allies do not seek his help for another year.

References

External links

* * (1992 television adaptation) * {{IMDb title, 1439741 (2010 television adaptation)
Chance's publication history at "Thrilling Detective"

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on February 5, 2016. Characters created by Carmine Infantino Characters created by Edmond Hamilton Characters created by Len Wein Characters created by Sheldon Moldoff Comics characters introduced in 1953 Comics characters introduced in 1972 Crime comics DC Comics martial artists DC Comics male characters Fictional bodyguards Fictional private investigators Comics adapted into television series