Tuesday, November 22, 2022

The Human Target #9 Review

   

   

Written by: Tom King
Art by: Greg Smallwood
Colors by: Greg Smallwood
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Greg Smallwood
Cover price $4.99
Release date: November 22, 2022

The Human Target #9 takes Christopher Chance and Ice for a ride in the desert. That's it.

Is It Good?

The Human Target #9 is a bizarre comic to critique because it's all fluff and style with barely a drop of substance to grasp. Yet, the fluff and style are so engaging, you almost don't mind the lack of story. Almost.

When I say there's almost no story here, that's not an exaggeration. Chance doesn't wake up one morning, so Ice frantically gets him medical attention to slow the poison that's killing him. After a brief rest, Chance takes Ice for a drive into the desert, where he experiences an increasing sense of paranoia that Batman has figured out their cover-up of Guy's death.

The end.




In fairness, King peppers in strong character moments between Chance and Ice to further cement their growing love for each other, and Smallwood's art is just short of glorious. But that's it, and that's all. As I noted in the review for the last issue, it appears King has run out of a story to tell since we know Guy was behind the assassination attempt on Luthor. All that's left to do is wait for Chance to die, so King tries to make the waiting as enjoyable as possible.

The waiting is interesting, but it's still just waiting, giving further credence to the idea that the unexpected hiatus between issues #6 and #7 was due to a complete rewrite for the second half of the arc. This series has been treading water for the last three issues, so whatever King hoped to accomplish by taking a few months off to do rewrites, it isn't working.

 


About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.


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Bits and Pieces:

The Human Target #9 appears to be waiting. Chance is waiting to die, and this series isn't doing much else besides waiting along with him. In fairness, the character moments are strong, and Smallwood's art is next level, but unless King comes up with a bait-and-switch revelation, this series has turned into a very lovely waiting room.

6.5/10

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