Fri, 15 Jan '10

Another Chance

It's the comic book history of Christopher Chance, aka the Human Target

Fox’s new show Human Target is based on a comic book character dating back to Bronze Age Action Comics. So while you’re in no way required to actually watch the show’s premiere on Sunday, it is recommended that you at least know the character’s history so you can sound suitably geeky when discoursing on it with friends.

Here’s your Target practice:

Birth The character of Christopher Chance, the aforementioned Human Target, first appears in Action Comics in 1972, sharing pages with a certain Man of Steel. Chance is a master-of-disguise who catches killers by dressing up like their potential victims. His most notable appearance comes in 1982 in Detective Comics after Vicki Vale gets a hold of pictures proving Bruce Wayne is Batman. Cue Chance donning a Bruce Wayne mask.

Television In 1992, ABC put Mr. Chance on TV for the first time. The man who played him? Pop star Rick Springfield! Note: His first case had nothing to do with locating Jesse’s Girl.

Rebirth Writer Peter Milligan revives the character in 1999 for Vertigo. In an initial mini-series, Chance has his face blown off by an assassin. In a second mini-series, he gets plastic surgery to look like a man he’s saving. And then in a monthly series, Chance deals with all the psychological fallout of continually screwing with his face. Hey, nobody said being a human target was easy.

Click here for an exclusive GCD interview with Human Target executive producer Jon Steinberg.