Publication History
The first character to use the title "Human Target", was Fred Venable, who appeared in Detective Comics #201 (November 1953), by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff.
Christopher Chance's early appearances came in back-up stories in Action Comics, a title better known for featuring Superman tales published by DC Comics. He first appeared in "The Assassin-Express Contract", a backup story written by Len Wein and illustrated Carmine Infantino that ran in Action Comics #419 (December 1972). Later, the feature appeared in Batman titles such as The Brave and the Bold and Detective Comics. Christopher Chance starred in a limited series, a one-shot, and then an ongoing Human Target series written by Peter Milligan and published under DC's Vertigo imprint. The Human Target has twice been adapted as a television series: once briefly on ABC in 1992, starring Rick Springfield, and again on Fox, starring Mark Valley, for two seasons in 2010–2011.
| Date | Issue | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 November | Detective Comics #201 | "The Human Target" |
| 1958 January | Gangbusters #61 | "The Human Target" |
| 1972 December | Action Comics #419 | "The Assassin-Express Contract" |
| 1973 January | Action Comics #420 | "The King of the Jungle Contract" |
| 1973 March | Action Comics #422 | "The Shadows-of-Yesterday Contract" |
| 1973 April | Action Comics #423 | "The Deadly Dancer Contract" |
| 1973 July | Action Comics #425 | "The Short-Walk-to-Disaster Contract -- Clause 1: I Have a Cousin in the Business" |
| 1973 August | Action Comics #426 | "The Short-Walk-to-Disaster Contract -- Clause 2: The Shortest Distance Between Two Points" |
| 1973 November | Action Comics #429 | "The Rodeo Riddle Contract" |
| 1974 February | Action Comics #432 | "The Million Dollar Methuselah Contract" |
| 1978 September-October | DC The Brave and the Bold #143 | "The Cat and the Canary Contract" |
| 1979 April-May | Detective Comics #483 | "The Lights! Camera! Murder! Contract" |
| 1979 June-July | Detective Comics #484 | "The Who Is Floyd Fenderman Anyway? Contract" |
| 1979 October-November | Detective Comics #486 | "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Contract" |
| 1979 October-November | DC The Brave and the Bold #144 | "The Symphony For The Devil Contract" |
| 1980 August | Detective Comics #493 | "The 18-Wheel War Contract" |
| 1981 March | Detective Comics #500 | "The 'Too Many Crooks...' Caper" |
| 1982 June | Detective Comics #515 | "College for Killers" |
| 1982 July | Batman #349 | "Blood Sport" |
| 1982 September | Batman #351 | "What Stalks the Gotham Night?" |
| 1982 September | Detective Comics #518 | "The Millionaire Contract" |
| 1982 October | Batman #352 | "The Killer Sky" |
| 1982 November | DC The Best of Blue Ribbon Digest #30 | "The Assassin-Express Contract" (reprint) |
| 1989 March | Action Comics #641 | "The Pow! Wap! Zam! Contract" |
| 1991 November | DC special (TV tie-in) | "The Human Target: The Mack Attack Contract" |
| 1999 April | Vertigo Human Target (1999) #1 | "Human Target, Part 1" |
| 1999 May | Vertigo Human Target (1999) #2 | "Human Target, Part 2" |
| 1999 June | Vertigo Human Target (1999) #3 | "Human Target, Part 3" |
| 1999 July | Vertigo Human Target (1999) #4 | "Human Target, Part 4" |
| 2003 October | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #1 | '"To Be Frank" |
| 2003 November | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #2 | "The Unshredded Man, Part 1: Ground Zero" |
| 2003 December | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #3 | "The Unshredded Man, Part 2: Ready to Die" |
| 2004 January | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #4 | "Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Part One: The Set-Up Man" |
| 2004 February | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #5 | "Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Part Two: The Strike Zone" |
| 2004 March | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #6 | "For I Have Sinned" |
| 2004 April | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #7 | "Which Way The Wind Blows, Part One: Living In Amerika" |
| 2004 May | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #8 | "Which Way The Wind Blows, Part Two: American Terrorists" |
| 2004 June | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #9 | "Which Way The Wind Blows, Part Three: Bringing It All Back Home" |
| 2004 July | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #10 | "Five Days Grace" |
| 2004 August | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #11 | "Games of Chance" |
| 2004 September | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #12 | "Suffer the Children" |
| 2004 October | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #13 | "Hey, Jude" |
| 2004 November | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #14 | "The Second Coming, Part One: In the Name of the Father" |
| 2004 December | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #15 | "The Second Coming, Part Two: The Temptation of Christopher Chance" |
| 2005 January | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #16 | "The Second Coming, Conclusion: Pieces of Lead" |
| 2005 February | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #17 | "You Made Me Love You" |
| 2005 March | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #18 | "Letters From the Front Line" |
| 2005 April | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #19 | "The Stealer, Part One" |
| 2005 May | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #20 | "The Stealer, Part Two" |
| 2005 June | Vertigo Human Target (2003) #21 | "The Stealer, Part Three" |
| 2010 June | Vertigo Human Target Special Edition #1 | "Human Target, Part 1" (1999/reprint) |
| 2010 April | DC Human Target (2010) #1 (TV tie-in) | "Human Target #1" |
| 2010 May | DC Human Target (2010) #2 (TV tie-in) | "Human Target #2" |
| 2010 June | DC Human Target (2010) #3 (TV tie-in) | "Human Target #3" |
| 2010 July | DC Human Target (2010) #4 (TV tie-in) | "Human Target #4" |
| 2010 August | DC Human Target (2010) #5 (TV tie-in) | "Human Target #5" |
| 2010 September | DC Human Target (2010) #6 (TV tie-in) | "Human Target #6" |
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