Black Superheroes: Mister Terrific II

See? Look at that jacket. Cool as ice!

Name: Michel Holt

First Appearance: Spectre #54 (1997)

History: Michael Holt was brilliant at everything he’s ever done. A genius with a mind bogglingly aptitude for damn near everything Michael had a working understanding of such concepts as theoretical physics before the age of ten. He breezed through school earning no less than 14 Ph.Ds. He became a self-made millionaire through this company Cyberware. He earned a Gold Medal in the Olympics. He was also lucky in love, at least until the day that his wife Paula and their unborn child were killed in an accident. Devastated Holt decided to end his own life but was stopped by The Spectre (Of all people) who informed him of the story of Terry Sloane, the Golden Age hero Mister Terrific. Sloane’s background was remarkably similarly to Holt’s (Though Sloan was going to kill himself because he was bored rather than because he lost someone). Inspired by the tale Michael decided to use his own near perfect skills to help the world as the new Mister Terrific. With his scientific genius at his disposal he created the T-Mask, which makes him invisible to technology, and the T-Sphere’s, which had an assortment of uses. Also his badass leather jacket. Mister Terrific would go on to become a members of the revived Justice Society of America, where he eventually became chairman, and Checkmate as the White King.

Beta Says: Okay, so the reason I’m doing this one on Mister Terrific despite the fact that I’ve written on him just a few months ago is two-fold: I love the character and it gives me a chance to talk about the now failed new series.

More after the jump.

Review: Mister Terrific #1

Today we have another example of DC Comics attempting to increase the diversity in their books by taking a well known black character, who has never starred in his own book, and finally giving him a solo title.  Mister Terrific, aka Michael Holt, was created in 1997 by John Ostrander and Tim Mandrake and based on the original Mister Terrific from the Golden Age of Comics.  Though not possessing super powers he possesses a brilliant mind and an aptitude for science which he uses to create the T-Mask, which renders him invisible to technology, the T-Spheres, which have a large verity of functions including holographic projection, generating electric charges and granting limited flight.   For most of the character’s existence he has been associated with the Justice Society of America.  He is super badass, succeeds in everything he does and is informally known as the world’s third smartest man…a title that is repeated every goddamn chance anyone at DC gets.

Mister Terrific #1 is written by Eric Wallace with art by Gianluca Gugliotta (Pencils) and Wayne Faucher (Inks) and is titled “Software Update”.  Without a doubt, after Batwoman #1, this has been my most anticipated comic of the reboot. I  truly believed that Mister Terrific is one of the coolest characters DC has to offer and I often wondered why he wasn’t in the spotlight more.  So I was hoping that this book would be one of the best titles released this month and be one of the few bright spots of this whole DCnU mess.  I mean...he’s black.  He’s a black superhero and I can’t help but be partial to that fact since I’m black as well.  I like seeing myself in superhero comics and it’s nice to pick up an issue of something that’s not one of a thousand white dudes.  But after all this time does the character stand well on his own or fall flat?

Full review below.