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One Punch is a comic book meme that originated from a scene in Justice League International by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire. when Batman punched Guy Gardner in the face and knocked him out. With one punch.
Something that Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, immediately began celebrating. And kept referring to. It turned up in the Batman: The Brave And The Bold cartoon, though it would be G’Nort who exclaimed “One punch! One punch!” It reoccurred in a battle between Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan to be the Earth’s Green Lantern, and again, Guy was knocked out, with Blue Beetle on hand to celebrate the moment.
However, during Green Lantern: Rebirth, it would be Hal Jordan who would deliver a one-punch knockout blow to Batman, instantly gaining him far more respect from Gardner. Only for Batman to return the favour later in the story. In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Batman would do it to John Constantine…
A future Guy Gardner would see him master the one-punch manoeuvre in Green Lantern #50.
In Red Lanterns #10, Batman stand-in Midnighter faced Red Lantern feline, Dex-Starr. With exactly the same result.
The writer of that scene Keith Giffen would write, back in 2008, “I never thought I’d say this, but enough with the “one punch” already. It was a throwaway bit. Move on. Please.”
Well, The Human Target from Tom King and Greg Smallwood published by DC Comics is very much not about moving on. It has taken so much that was loved about that Justice League run and has recontextualised it into a crime noir setting. Reinterpreting the characters into a murder mystery where the victim is solving his own case.
With our Human Target allying with Ice against Guy Gardner, The Green Lantern, seeing Guy frozen solid and then…
… one punch. It still works…
HUMAN TARGET #6 (OF 12) CVR A GREG SMALLWOOD (MR)
(W) Tom King (A/CA) Greg Smallwood
The most acclaimed book of the year continues! After a tragic confrontation leaves a Justice Leaguer dead, Christopher Chance, the Human Target, is one step closer to solving his own murder…but also one step closer to his own grave. With only six days left, can he find the truth through webs of lies?
Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 03/22/2022
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