I noticed in my last full review of Human Target that Milligan is using this book to explore various social structures and injustices within them, and this time out, he hits a subject near and dear to my heart: religion. I won't get into why it's near and dear other than to say that I'm pretty much an atheist, but I still find myself fascinated by the exploration of the notions of God and his earthbound followers in a fictional context. Milligan's take mixes in a bit of cult psychology as well, taking a longer look at a character like the one in Millar's Chosen, a pretty decent guy who legitimately believes himself to be the second coming and who finds himself beset on all sides by temptations and dangers. Into this pious but quite possibly deluded young man's life comes Christopher Chance, who has his own reasons for taking the gig and his own beliefs about religion which will affect (and no doubt be affected by) his job infiltrating the cult.
I've gotta admit, I don't generally have much sympathy for weak-minded cultists, and I've got nothing but scorn for those who would take advantage of the weak-minded, whether they're crazy cult leaders like Koresh or populist assholes like Oral Roberts. So it says something that Milligan makes Paul James, self-proclaimed savior, a very sympathetic character. Paul comes across as a reluctant savior, someone who believes the hype around himself but who also has doubt, and who holds himself to a moral code that few religious leaders seem to adhere to in this modern age. There are any number of threats to him, from an overly amorous young girl, her dangerous father, even Paul's own "elder council," but the biggest one is the crisis of faith which sets off this particular story.
Into the life of Paul James comes Christopher Chance, and Milligan does that in a clever way as well. Milligan has shown that Chance has unusual but close friends, and having one of Chance's friends under the sway of Paul James is an interesting way to bring him into the mix. He has a couple missions here, which sort of contradict each other in ways, as he attempts to help his friend by helping Paul James but maybe by doing a little digging at the same time. Not only is this an interesting little status quo, it gives way to some very fun moments, from little touches like Chance's "beard" crack about his friend to bigger things like the discussion between Chance and his friend about whose problems brought gunfire to the door of the restaurant they find themselves at.
I have great respect for Javier Pulido's work on this book, but he'll just never be able to touch the affection I have for Cliff Chiang's work. Chiang is one of those few artists I would follow to pretty much any project, and it's work like the stuff he's doing on Human Target that has earned that loyalty from me. Terrific expressions as Paul goes about his daily routine, great action shots when Chance leaps into action, amazingly real and detailed backdrops and terrific, distinctive character designs are all to be found in this issue of Human Target. Lee Loughridge also delivers some beautiful color work, dark and moody but with an unusual pastel quality that makes the book pop rather than sink into murky darkness.
This is another jumping-on point for the Human Target series, and another in what has been a pretty impressive string of spectacular issues. Milligan seems to have hit the balance between flat-out action and psychological examination that made his first Human Target miniseries a must-read, and he's successfully mixed in sociological elements at the same time. With a second trade on the way, it seems possible that Human Target has become one of the books that Vertigo intends to support in trade format despite the relatively low monthly sales, but when a book is this good, and this overlooked, why take chances? If you're a single-issue reader, and if you're reading anything Vertigo, you should really give Human Target a look. It's easily on par with Fables, Y: The Last Man and The Losers, their other "buzz" books.
