| The Target | |
|---|---|
 Cover forTarget Comics #10 (November 1940), art byJoe Simon. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Novelty Press |
| First appearance | Target Comics #10 (Nov. 1940) |
| Created by | Dick Hamilton |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Niles Reed |
| Partnerships | The Targeteers |
| Abilities | Bond with teammates (see below); espionage skills, scientific knowledge; wears a bulletproof costume. |
The Target and the Targeteers are fictional characters, a trio ofsuperheroes who first appeared in 1940, inTarget Comics (after which the characters were named) fromNovelty Press.[1]
Target Comics debuted with a premiere issuecover-dated February 1940, but it was not until issue #10 (Nov. 1940) that the Target first appeared; the two Targeteers were introduced the following issue.[2] The characters were created byDick Briefer, using thepseudonym Dick Hamilton.[3] The Targeteers appeared inTarget Comics through issue #95;Target itself ended with issue #105.[3]
The series was penciled byBob Wood, withJerry Robinson andGeorge Roussos providing inks, backgrounds, and letters during the early issues. Roussos recalled "Bob was just starving at the time trying to meet his deadlines, so I used to stay up all night for 2 or 3 days in a row while everyone fell asleep, helping out."[4]
In 1999, the Target appeared without his partners in issue #24 of theAC Comics titleMen of Mystery Comics.[citation needed] In 2008, the Target and the Targeteers were among the manypublic domain characters to appear inProject Superpowers, a miniseries fromDynamite Entertainment. The heroes were given new powers in this series. Also in 2008, issue #2 of the Age of Adventure comicLegendary Heroes featured reprints of Golden Age stories of Target and the Targeteers.[citation needed]
Metallurgist andU.S. spy Niles Reed created the identity of the Target, using a bulletproof costume with abullseye on the chest, to save the life of his brother Bill, who had been wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to be executed.[5] Bill was killed during the jailbreak, and Niles avenged himself on the gangsters responsible for Bill's conviction, after which he continued to fight evil as The Target.[3]
Later, Niles' associates Dave Foster and Tom Brown[6], who had both been orphaned by criminals, became his wisecracking sidekicks The Targeteers. The three of them wore indestructible costumes that were identical except for the colors; one was mostly yellow, one red, one blue (who wore which wasn't always consistent, although The Target usually wore yellow).[3]
The Target's foes include gang boss Hammerfist and the beautiful Princess Hohohue.[7]
The characters all enlisted in the military to fight inWorld War II inTarget Comics #29 (July 1942).[8]
A few years afterWorld War II, the Target and the Targeteers were trapped and imprisoned in theUrn of Pandora by the misguidedFighting Yank; decades later, the Urn was broken and they were freed. Imprisonment in the mystical Urn, however, had transformed them; they were now somehow bonded together and given superpowers, including super-speed.[9]