One series I completely missed out on in 197? was the Human Target, a strip which started out as a back-up in Action Comics #423 and has run under the radar of most fans for the past fifty years, as the character has only intermittently appeared in comics and on TV.
I was not a collector of Superman or Action Comics in the 1970s, and so a particular gem of a story in Action #425 drawn by Neal Adams completely passed me by when it turned up on UK spinner racks at the end of June 1973. I had never read the story about the Human Target until last Sunday when I found a copy in a back-issue box for $6.
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| © DC. Action #425 |
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| © DC. |
The story in Action #425 is actually a Part One of …”The Short-Walk-To-Disaster Contract”… , packed into 6 pages. I do wonder why Adams took up the challenge of drawing the story, interleaved between his partial completion of Amazing Adventures #18 and the legendary Batman #251 (The Joker’s Five Way Revenge), but the story is a visual Masterclass in getting the full narrative into as few panels as possible. Take a look at page 2 where Adams manages to compress three pages worth of story into one page by having images and dialogue flow as the reader's eye tracks the action.
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| © DC. |
Reader response in the lettercol of #429 was very positive. Debbie Hetherington of Wallaceburg, Ontario was typical in her fullsome praise.
Unfortunately, the readers' enthusiasm for awaiting Adams to draw the concluding part of the story was not rewarded. Dick Giordano pencilled and inked the conclusion to the story solo in Action #426. No explanation was given for Adams’ absence in the lettercol of #430.
This was the only time Adams drew The Human Target. For Adams fans this is an issue worth seeking out.
For Human Target fans, I also very highly recommend the recent 12-part Human Target series by Tom King and Greg Smallwood, which contains stellar art on a stellar story published under the DC Black Label imprint.
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| © DC Black Label |
I like the look of the cover on AC #425 and recall seeing it in an interior ad back in the day. One to look out for, though I imagine it probably costs an arm and a leg nowadays. I'll start saving now. McS is a big Adams fan so likely has this ish, but if not, I bet he's now wanting to add it to his collection.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's an interesting cover by Nick Cardy on Action #425, harking back to an earlier era. Good luck with finding a decent copy and no-one price gouging!
DeleteThanks for showing this Ian as I had all but forgotten about this Adams / Giordano gem. I seem to recall being a bit disappointed when I first saw the art as I felt that Dick Giordano may also have done some of the pencils or Adams pencils were very basic required Giordano having to fill in the blanks - regardless the art is excellent. I do indeed have this issue Kid.
ReplyDeleteThat Cardy cover is an iconic classic from the 1970’s.
I bought a couple of issue of the new "Human Target" comic, but despite some very nice art (Greg Smallwood is great artist) overall the strip is pretty much a “talking heads” type comic.
Yes Paul, I agree that Dick Giordano may have worked over some of Adams' layouts on some pages. Particularly the picture I featured in the blog of the judo opponent tumbling towards the reader has the look of Giordano pencils about it. Yet other pages are definitely all Adams pencils. This was produced in the same period that Adams produced half of the first Killraven story before bowing out. Was it due to illness? I know you featured it on your blog, I think?
DeleteI did enjoy the full run of the recent King/Smallwood version, but agree that it is a "talking heads" book. I just loved the different genre styles of the covers. I waited until I had all 12 issues before diving in.
I read that Adams dropped out of "War of the Worlds " halfway through as Gerry Conway took over the strips writing chores, not because he didn't like Conway, but because he felt that passing it to a new writer ( from Roy Thomas) so quickly after it started he felt the story losing traction.
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know, B, that the Steranko F.O.O.M. envelope is dated 21st March 1973 on the other side of the Hulk pic shown on my blog. The guy I later acquired it from would've been pretty quick off the mark in ordering it, so if you were the same, then yours would've been posted around the same time, I'd guess.
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