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A review by billyjepma
The Human Target Vol. 2 by Tom King
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
"Falling for the disguise isn't about falling for the mask. It's about falling for the lie."
This is a decent end to a great series. King doesn't deviate from the trajectory he set in motion in the first half, which works for and against him here. I like how simple the ending is, how comfortably inevitable it is, and how easily it slides into classic noir tropes like a well-loved piece of clothing. But I also wanted more oomph, something that pricked my emotions more. The series is so good at letting scenes play out at a steady, thoughtful cadence that I expected it to lead to a crescendo that hit me harder, and that's not what this is, ultimately. It's still a satisfying conclusion, even if the plot itself more-or-less resolves itself around issue 9 or 10, with the final outings acting as an epilogue. King runs in place a little too long, narratively, I think, but he stills manages to tie up Christopher Chance's arc with a neat, dramatic bow that worked well enough for me. I don't mind that the story wasn't ultimately interested in being something more than it was, even if I wish it had deviated more from its inspirations.
I have zero issues with Smallwood's art, which continues to make this series the banger it is. If King's writing is familiar territory for him and the genre he's playing in, Smallwood's art is the iterative quality that makes the familiar into something novel. His coloring is especially striking, maybe even more so here than in the first half. Any emotions I didn't find in the script were very present in the art, which Smallwood uses to convey rich and intimate breadths of interiority in the characters. Facial expressions that house a lifetime of longing, shadows slicing across someone's face, a sunset so perfect it can only live in memory—Smallwood makes the book feel like a dream you feel more than remember. The series won't land on my all-time favorites list, but I will eagerly await the inevitable deluxe hardcover collection. This is absolutely a book I want within to have within reaching distance for the next time I'm in the mood for a nostalgic, dreamy book about loving and dying and the futile lies we tell ourselves to keep those things at arm's length.
This is a decent end to a great series. King doesn't deviate from the trajectory he set in motion in the first half, which works for and against him here. I like how simple the ending is, how comfortably inevitable it is, and how easily it slides into classic noir tropes like a well-loved piece of clothing. But I also wanted more oomph, something that pricked my emotions more. The series is so good at letting scenes play out at a steady, thoughtful cadence that I expected it to lead to a crescendo that hit me harder, and that's not what this is, ultimately. It's still a satisfying conclusion, even if the plot itself more-or-less resolves itself around issue 9 or 10, with the final outings acting as an epilogue. King runs in place a little too long, narratively, I think, but he stills manages to tie up Christopher Chance's arc with a neat, dramatic bow that worked well enough for me. I don't mind that the story wasn't ultimately interested in being something more than it was, even if I wish it had deviated more from its inspirations.
I have zero issues with Smallwood's art, which continues to make this series the banger it is. If King's writing is familiar territory for him and the genre he's playing in, Smallwood's art is the iterative quality that makes the familiar into something novel. His coloring is especially striking, maybe even more so here than in the first half. Any emotions I didn't find in the script were very present in the art, which Smallwood uses to convey rich and intimate breadths of interiority in the characters. Facial expressions that house a lifetime of longing, shadows slicing across someone's face, a sunset so perfect it can only live in memory—Smallwood makes the book feel like a dream you feel more than remember. The series won't land on my all-time favorites list, but I will eagerly await the inevitable deluxe hardcover collection. This is absolutely a book I want within to have within reaching distance for the next time I'm in the mood for a nostalgic, dreamy book about loving and dying and the futile lies we tell ourselves to keep those things at arm's length.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Alcohol, and Cursing
Minor: Death of parent, Torture, Vomit, and Stalking