The Human Target Turns 70

One of DC lesser known heroes just turn 70 this year and it’s the Human Target.

The character was first introduced back in Detective Comics #201 back in November of 1953 and again in 1985 in Gangbusters #61. This version of The Human Target was named Fred Venable and he would impersonate the target that was on a hit list to protect them from being murdered. His look was not the best that DC had to offer at the time and after his second appearance, the world would never see him again until 19 years later in 1972.

In December of 1972 DC reintroduce The Human Target in Action Comics #419, but it was not Fred Venable. Christopher Chance became the new Human Target and from 1972 till now he became the only one that readers have ever known. From 1972 to 1989 he was mostly in either Detective Comics or Batman issues and didn’t reappear again until 1999. Vertigo Human Target ran from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 21 issues and a mini-series in DC Black Lable ran from 2022 to 2023 with a total of 10 issues.

While both Fred and Christopher may not be well known in comics, they did bring something to the table and a concept that still to this day is being used in and out of the comic pages.