The Human Target #6 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

BWAHAHAHA! If you thought that Tom King portrayed Guy badly last time you haven't seen anything yet!

This issue is completely dedicated to the protagonist, Ice and... Guy. The build-up to the terrible parts are nicely done oddly-enough with Christopher and Tora showcasing a believable dynamic that makes their recent romance engaging which is something that I can appreciate from King's work most of the time, he knows how to portray couples (Unless we're talking about the whole "Bat/Cat" thing). So, what's the terrible parts I'm talking about?

Guy tries to hit Ice.

Yeah, if that isn't enough to want to tear the issue apart (Hopefully you're not reading digitally), Guy also starts spewing every stereotypical abusive boyfriend line in existence in the middle of the assault which makes things even worse if you can believe it. I know that King just forces characters into his themes no matter if they fit or not but this feels especially bad considering, again, that Guy has an history of abuse due to his father but besides that, this doesn't offer any compelling angle about the character whatsoever.

Oh yeah, and both Christopher and Tora kill Guy because if King assassinated the character already he might as well finish the job.

The plot? Very little progression here because King needed to make a point here, whatever awful point it was.

Greg Smallwood's artwork continues to be amazing despite of what he has to draw. Beautiful character models and creative storytelling style.

Aside from that, this is just a waste. Hate this Guy Gardner and I'm not really fond of what King did with Martian Manhunter either, I wonder what other JLI is he planning to destroy next?

[Johnny]

"Baby, honey. I'm a big boy. You don't want this."

"Bad baby, bad, bad, bad. You need to learn what's good for you."


Who the hell talks like this. King's notion of a toxic ex-boyfriend is so laughably superficial. Don't get me started on the predictable "one punch" thing. Obviously this nonsense isn't in continuity but it doesn't excuse this kind of writing.

[Frontier]

How much OOC characterizations can you take in one Elseworld?

[Robanker]

The only good thing is that killing Guy cements this book out of continuity, making it easier for future writers to ignore.


And the art, which is unassailable.

[Saithor]

I remembered thinking this was decently interesting the first couple of issues, reminded me a lot of D.O.A., but this has quickly kinda gone off the rails, in part because King once again seems to be trying to shove round characters in square holes, although at least this one is an elseworlds tale this time.

[Vordan]

Holy **** lmao, King of Controversy does it again . Least this is now totally ignorable for those worried it was in continuity.

[Johnny]

King has always been an edgelord but someone important at DC must REALLY like him. A classic Green Lantern hero acts like a toxic villainous ex boyfriend from a 1960s coming of age movie, then gets brutally killed by both his ex and her new lover who are supposed to be the actual heroes of the story, after which they proceed to have sex while his dead body is still in the room. Who tf greenlights this stuff.

[Frontier]

King has always been an edgelord but someone important at DC must REALLY like him. A classic Green Lantern hero acts like a toxic villainous ex boyfriend from a 1960s coming of age movie, then gets brutally killed by both his ex and her new lover who are supposed to be actual heroes of the story, after which they proceed to have sex while his dead boy is still in the room. Who tf greenlights this stuff.

Kind of sounds like something out of mid-2000's DC where they doubled down hard on as much grimdark as they could.

[Vordan]

King has always been an edgelord but someone important at DC must REALLY like him. A classic Green Lantern hero acts like a toxic villainous ex boyfriend from a 1960s coming of age movie, then gets brutally killed by both his ex and her new lover who are supposed to be the actual heroes of the story, after which they proceed to have sex while his dead body is still in the room. Who tf greenlights this stuff.

DC likes him because his minis typically sell very well, and that’s why they let him do what he wants with these minor characters.

[Frontier]

DC likes him because his minis typically sell very well, and that’s why they let him do what he wants with these minor characters.

I guess I wonder how much people take this work at face value, probably with no recollection or deep experience with these characters prior to Kings' writing of them, when it feels like it's just trying to write a certain kind of genre with characters pigeonholed into those roles.

[Robanker]

I remembered thinking this was decently interesting the first couple of issues, reminded me a lot of D.O.A., but this has quickly kinda gone off the rails, in part because King once again seems to be trying to shove round characters in square holes, although at least this one is an elseworlds tale this time.

That's because he basically steals his stories from movies. Supergirl was True Grit, this is DoA. He's just stealing whole cloth from them.

[HsssH]

I guess I wonder how much people take this work at face value, probably with no recollection or deep experience with these characters prior to Kings' writing of them, when it feels like it's just trying to write a certain kind of genre with characters pigeonholed into those roles.

Yeah, I think that most of the people who currently pick up his books don't really know much about characters like Guy or Adam Strange so to them it looks fine.

[Robanker]

Yeah, I think that most of the people who currently pick up his books don't really know much about characters like Guy or Adam Strange so to them it looks fine.

Yeah, and "who cares, it's an Elseworlds" doesn't really apply for characters like Ice where this is the most she's appeared in a book for a decade. If we remove the short N52 JLI run, that tract is even longer.

It's not like if this sucks, you can pick up a book with a normal characterization for Ice. It's this, and if you don't like it, well we will see you in 2030. Maybe.

Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman can take a shitty elseworlds book to the face and do just fine because their books come out each month and they show up elsewhere too. Fire? Ice? Not sure much. Guy is luckier here but does tend to disappear when the GL franchise isn't selling too well.


But that's King. He looks for characters that don't show up much so he won't step on too many toes by not having to care about characterization, history or motivation. He's admitted to as much on Word Balloon when discussing how he writes and why he regrets making the HiC killer Wally West.

[Yoda]

I'm really enjoying this book and liked Strange Adventures as well. It's not that I don't know Guy or Adam Strange, its just that I don't have any real investment in either character (or the JLI era) to really have any issue with them being set in these types of stories. The art being exceptional in both cases goes a long way. Smallwood is freaking amazing here. But I'm definitely enjoying the story also.

I'm a complete hypocrite with this too. Which I freely acknowledge, because the Lois issue of Up in the Sky still pisses me off and I don't really enjoy that entire book because of it.

[Robanker]

I'm really enjoying this book and liked Strange Adventures as well. It's not that I don't know Guy or Adam Strange, its just that I don't have any real investment in either character (or the JLI era) to really have any issue with them being set in these types of stories. The art being exceptional in both cases goes a long way. Smallwood is freaking amazing here. But I'm definitely enjoying the story also.

I'm a complete hypocrite with this too. Which I freely acknowledge, because the Lois issue of Up in the Sky still pisses me off and I don't really enjoy that entire book because of it.

I do like that book even if I hate that sequence, but I can get past it simply because they're hypothetical situations Clark is terrified of. I would argue we can just be told he's afraid of them instead of being shown, but it's not like that actually happens to Lois or she's turned into a war criminal or kills someone then has sex with their corpse in the room.

But make no mistake, that sequence with Lois was indulgent and gross. If it must be shown, one instance is enough. I'd argue it's still too much, but there it is.