In his latest newsletter, Tom King revealed his personal opinion on where Human Target firs into the broader DC Universe continuity
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Human Target #6, on sale now from DC Comics.
In response to a number of fan queries after the shocking events of the most recent issue of his Black Label The Human Target series (with artist Greg Smallwood and letterer Clayton Cowles), writer Tom King posted on his Substack newsletter his personal opinion on where the series takes place in the DC Universe continuity, if it does at all. The answer is a bit tricky.
Instead of just dealing with the question of whether Guy Gardner was actually killed off (as it so appeared in The Human Target #6) or whether Batman and Catwoman might get married for “real” in King’s Black Label Batman/Catwoman series (with artist Clay Mann, colorist Tomeu Morey and letterer Clayton Cowles), King actually decided to tackle the broader subject of how Black Label books fit into continuity period.
King made it clear that his take here is only his personal opinion and not something that is DC’s official stance on this topic, but the way he sees it, Black Label books are split into three categories, in terms of continuity, and King thinks that each of the three categories is connected to a specific iconic DC comic book series/one-shot.
First off are the Black Label books that are, like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, not intended to be part of DC continuity at all. The characters might occasionally make appearances in the DCU, but the comics do not take the DC Universe into consideration at all. Something like Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher would belong in this category, a book that was clearly not intended to take place in the DC Universe.
Second are Black Label books that are like Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley’s Dark Knight Returns, comic books that clearly involve the DC Universe, but are not set directly in it. These are books that allow you to do things that you could never do in the actual DC Universe, like kill off Batman for good.
The final category are Black Label books that are like Alan Moore, Brian Bolland and John Higgins’ Batman: The Killing Joke, a book set nominally within the DC Universe that had a major moment that affected the DC Universe (Barbara Gordon being shot by the Joker and paralyzed) but until it was specifically addressed by other DC Universe books, it was unclear if it was officially part of the DC Universe. That is where King feels The Human Target lives (as well as most of his other Black Label books, like Mister Miracle, Strange Adventures and Rorschach). They are sort of “next” to continuity and it isn’t up to King whether they become part of official DC Universe continuity, but whether other writers adopt his stories as such (which often ties into fandom asking that the stories are adopted into continuity).
Source: Everlasting Productions
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