Christopher Chance
Created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino

CHRISTOPHER CHANCE, better known as The Human Target, made his debut in the back pages of the December 1972 issue of Action Comics, and went on to appear , usually as a back-up, in several other DC Comics. He was a bodyguard and master of disguise who offered a unique service: for a fee, he would impersonate people who feel their lives are threatened, as a way of drawing out the killer. In his very first case, he assumed the identity of a businessman aboard a train in order to intercept a murder attempt.

He also made an appearance, along with a slew of other DC gumshoes, including Slam Bradley and Roy Raymond, in a special story, "The 'Too Many Crooks...' Caper", in the 500th issue of Detective Comics.

A TV pilot, starring former pop star Rick Springfield as Christopher Chance, now a Vietnam vet and P.I/bodyguard, was produced in 1990, but it, and seven subsequent episodes were only aired in 1992 as a TV summer replacement series, In this version, for ten percent of a client's annual income ("whether you're a busboy or the king of England"), he would take the client's place and protect his or her life. Philo Marsden was an eccentric computer genius who helped Chance by designing high-tech masks, and Jeff Carlyle was the chauffeur, cook and pilot for Chance's mobile base of operations, the Blackwing (designed by Mike "The Shadow" Kaluta). Lilly Page was an ex-CIA agent who helped coordinate Chance's missions.

Unfortunately, the show was put up against the Olympics! Andy Mangels, in his Hollywood Heroes column, which ran in Wizard and Amazing Heroes, wrote ""Fans are urged to watch the enjoyable espionage show now, because it will likely never be back on the air!"

Back in 1991, around the time the TV show was "supposed" to have aired, DC released a very good Human Target one-shot tie-in, written by Mark Verheiden, and drawn by (PI fan and NOIR contributor) Rick Burchett, with inks by Dick Giordano, the artist of many of Chance's original adventures. The story incorporated the supporting cast and elements from the TV show (including the plane) but Chance still looked like Chance -- grey temples and all -- rather than like Rick Springfield ("Thank God!" according to contributor Chris Mills).

Evidently, fellow DC Comics eye Jonny Double also created by Wein, was originally conceived as the "Disguise Expert/Bodyguard," but that fell through, and Jonny became a pretty standard-issue tough PI. The concept was later dusted off, though, and The Human Target made his debut in theearly seventies in the back pages of Action Comicst. Both Chance and Double occasionally appeared in back-up stories in other character's magazines, as well as an occasional guest stars in their stories. And, like Double, a newer, darker Chance was later brought back under the Vertigo imprint, in a sly 1999 miniseries, scripted by Peter Milligan (of Johnny Nemo fame). It asked the obvious question: if you've spent you're life being other people, how much claim do you have on your own identity? One of the nice touches in the mini-series was that Chance -- whoever he was -- had an office in The Bradbury Building in Los Angeles, a long-running favorite of private eye films and TV shows.

The mini-series proved successfull enough that it spawned an original graphic novel, Human Target: Final Cut (2002) and a new monthly series, both written by Milligan. The series ran for a couple of years, and garnered a fair share of acclaim, with each successive story arc having Chance burrow a little deeper into the darkness as the cost of always being someone else continues to take its emotional and psychological toll. Until the final, head-spinning three-part arc, "The Stealer," which features the return of a former protegée, Tom McFadden, a washed-up cop and second rate private eye he took under his wing for a time, who has decided only one identity will keep him sane -- that of Christopher Chance. The only problem is that the real Chance is in the way...

COMICS

• The Human Target first appeared sometimes in the early 70's as a back up in Action Comics, and also appeared as a back-up feature in The Brave and the Bold or Detective Comics.
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• ACTION COMICS
  (DC Comics)
  Writer: Len Wein
  Artists: Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano
  

• "The Assassin-Express Contract" (December 1972, #419)
• "The King of the Jungle Contract" (January 1973, #420)
• "The Shadows-of-Yesterday Contract" (March 1973, #422)
• "The Deadly Dancer Contract" (April 1973, #423)
• "The Short-Walk-to-Disaster Contract -- Clause 1: I Have a Cousin in the Business" (July 1973, #425)
• "The Short-Walk-to-Disaster Contract -- Clause 2: The Shortest Distance Between Two Points" (August 1973, #426)
• "The Rodeo Riddle Contract" (November 1972, #429)
• "The Million Dollar Methuselah Contract" (February 1973, #432) 
  

• DETECTIVE COMICS
  (DC Comics)
  Writer: Len Wein
  Artists: Howard Chaykin, Dick Giordano, Steve Mitchell

• "The Lights!  Camera!  Murder! Contract" (April-May 1979, #483)
• "The Who Is Floyd Fenderman Anyway? Contract" (June-July 1979, #484)
• "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Contract" (October-November 1979, #486)
• "The 18-Wheel War Contract" (August 1980, #493)
• "The 'Too Many Crooks...' Caper" (March 1981, Detective Comics #500)
• (#515, poses as Bruce Wayne, in a cross-over arc that includes Batman issues #349 and 351, Detective Comics #518, Batman #352 and Crisis on Infinite Earths #11.)
  

• THE HUMAN TARGET: THE MACK ATTACK CONTRACT
  (November 1991, DC)
  One-shot TV tie-in
  Written by Mark Verheiden
  Drawn by Rick Burchett
  Inks by Dick Giordano
  .
• HUMAN TARGET
  (1999, DC/Vertigo)
  4 issue mini-series
  Written by Peter Milligan
  Art by Edvin Biukovic
  

• "Human Target, Part 1" (April 1999)
• "Human Target, Part 2" (May 1999)
• "Human Target, Part 3" (June 1999)
• "Human Target, Part 4" (July 1999)
  

• HUMAN TARGET
  (2003-05, DC Comics)
  Monthly
  32 pages, mature readers
  Writers: Peter Milligan
  Artists: Cliff Chiang, Javier Pulido
  

• "To Be Frank" (October 2003, #1)
• "The Unshredded Man, Part One: Ground Zero" (November 2003, #2)
• "The Unshredded Man, Part Two: Ready to Die" (December 2003, #3)
• "Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Part One: The Set-Up Man"(January 2004, #4)
• "Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Part Two: The Strike Zone"(February 2004, #5)
• "For I Have Sinned" (March 2004, #6)
• "Which Way the Wind Blows, Part One: Living In Amerika" (April 2004, #7)
• "Which Way the Wind Blows, Part Two: American Terrorists" (May 2004, #8)
• "Which Way the Wind Blows, Part Three: Bringing It All Back Home" (June 2004, #9)
• "Crossing the Border, Part One: Suffer the Children" (November 2004, #12)
• "Crossing the Border, Part Two: Hey, Jude" (October 2004, #13)
• "The Second Coming, Part One: In the Name of the Father" (November 2004, #14)
• "The Second Coming, Part Two: The Temptation of Christopher Chance" (December 2004, #15)
• "The Second Coming, Part Three: Pieces of Lead" (January 2005, #16)
• "You Made Me Love You" (February 2005, #17)
• "Letters from the Front Line" (March 2005, #18)
• "The Stealer, Part One" (April 2005, #19)
• "The Stealer, Part One" (May 2005, #20)
• "The Stealer, Part One" (June 2005, #21)

GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMIC COLLECTIONS

• Human Target (Vertigo, 2000) ...Buy this book
  Trade paperback collects mini-series issues 1-4
• Human Target: Final Cut (Vertigo, 2002) ...Buy this book
  Original graphic novel
• Human Target: Liars and Ghosts (Vertigo, 2004) ...Buy this book
  Trade paperback collecting issues #1-5
• Human Target: Strike Zones (Vertigo, 2004) ...Buy this book
• Human Target: Living in Amerika (Vertigo, 2004) ...Buy this book
  

TELEVISION

• THE HUMAN TARGET
  (1992, ABC)
  Premiered July 20, 1992
  7 60-minute episodes
  Developed for television by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo
  Writers: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo
  Directors: Mario Azzopardi, Bruce Bilson, Danny Bilson, Bill Corcoran, Max Tash
  Executive producers: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo
  A Warner Bros. Production
  Starring Rick Springfield as CHRISTOPHER CHANCE
  Also starring Kirk Balt7z as Philo Marsden
  Sami Chester as Jeff Carlyle
  Signy Coleman as Libby Page
  Guest starring James T. Morris, Richard Belzer, Scott Paulin
  

• "Human Target" (pilot)
• "Second Chance"
• "Designed by Chance"
• "Mirror Image"
• "Going Home"
• "Cool Hand Chance"
• "Chances Are"

RELATED LINKS

• The Earth-One Index: The Human Target
  Extenisve Human Target info can be found here.
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• The Thrilling Detective Web Site: Detective Comics
  A listing of all the private eyes who have shown up in DC Comics.

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to John McDonagh , Chris Mills and Kit Chance (no, really!) for their valuable help on this one.