Comic Info
Comic Name: Mister Terrific
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Eric Wallace
Artist: Gianluca Guliotta/Scott Clark/Oliver Nome
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2012
Mister Terrific #6
Reprints Mister Terrific #1-8 (November 2011-June 2012). Michael Holt is one of the smartest men in the world. The owner of Holt Industries is creating revolutionary technology to change how people live but he’s also living a double life as the adventurer Mister Terrific. As Mister Terrific, Michael is battling superhumans, traveling dimensions, and evading government agents. Michael’s greatest threats could come from the people he knows however.
Written by Eric Wallace, Mister Terrific Volume 1: Mind Games was part of the New 52 DC relaunch following the Flash series Flashpoint. The comic was met with so-so reviews among the other launch titles and only ran the eight issues which are collected here.
Mr. Terrific has a long history but this comic represents his first real self-titled solo series. The original Terry Sloane version of the character of Mr. Terrific first appeared in Sensation Comics #1 in January of 1942 and became an active member of the Justice Society of America until he was killed in Justice League of America (1) #171 (October 1979) by a possessed Jay Garrick. In the ’90s, DC revamped the character and replaced him with Michael Holt in The Spectre (3) #54 (June 1997). Holt took his place with the JSA but here in the New 52 universe, we get to see him acting on his own for the first time.
Mister Terrific #8
Mister Terrific had a very short life so calling this Volume 1 is a bit of a misnomer. This collection is the entire eight issues of the New 52 titles and it was one of the first titles that was announced for cancellation. It really is a bit too bad. The story isn’t awful, but does feel a bit choppy since it chose essentially to have three stories (Brainstorm/The Kryl/Digitus) and many of the New 52 titles went for a solid six issue story.
It feels like Mister Terrific also has a strong supporting cast that gets buried here. The mourning Michael’s women Aleeka and Karen Starr never get enough play in the eight issues, and I’m a big believer that the supporting cast of a comic really makes the comic by layering the stories. With little development of these players, it also doesn’t help that Mister Terrific fought rather generic villains…the series could have benefited from a heavy hitter from the Pre-New 52 world since Mister Terrific didn’t already have a following.
Mister Terrific Volume 1: Mind Games was a so-so first outing for the New 52 hero. I wish it had worked better since I like the techno-cyberpunk feel of the series (or if it could have pushed it further). Mister Terrific wasn’t over with the cancellation of this series. Karen Starr was revealed to be Power Girl of Earth-2 who went on to star with the Huntress in World’s Finest and Mister Terrific discovered himself on Earth-2 in Earth 2 Volume 1: The Gathering.
