Action 419 – Superman on dangerous ground, and the Human Target debuts

I don’t usually care for covers that blend photos and drawings, they rarely work.  But Action 419 (Dec. 72) is one of the rare exceptions, and one of my favourite blends of the two.

Bates, Swan and Anderson tell this story, which deals with a hobo who finds glowing shoes, which endow him with superhuman energy.

While Superman finds that when he touches the ground he causes explosive bubbles to appear.  The two are related, both effects of a satellite compromised by “cosmic dust”.

Superman spends the issue in the air, which is more problematic as Clark than as Superman.

Christopher Chance, the Human Target, makes his debut in this story by Len Wein, Carmine Infantino and Dick Giordano.

Chance is called the Human Target because,for a price, he will take on the identity of someone who is in danger of being murdered, to smoke out and capture the killer.  He has a helper, Luigi, although the man just cameos briefly in this story.  This tale also spends very little time on Chance’s transformation into the chemical tycoon whose place he takes.

This first story has a train setting, which is always fun for tight adventure, and Giodrano makes Infantino’s art work well.

The Human Target would be the sole back-up series for a couple of months, and then join a rotation with a couple of other features.