Mister Terrific (character)

Mister Terrific
Mister Terrific
	Michael Holt and Terry Sloane, both versions of Mr. Terrific.; Cover of JSA #70, art by Dave Gibbons
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Terry Sloane:; Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942); Michael Holt:; Spectre (vol. 3) #54 (June 1997)
Created by	Terry Sloane:; Charles Reizenstein; Hal Sharp; Michael Holt:; John Ostrander; Tom Mandrake
In-story information
Alter ego	Terry Sloane; Michael Holt
Team affiliations	Justice Society of America; Justice League; Checkmate; All-Star Squadron; Black Lantern Corps; Terrifics

Mister Terrific is the name of two superheroes in the DC Comics Universe.

The original Golden Age hero, Terry Sloane, was a millionaire with a photographic memory and athletic skills who became the superhero after rescuing a woman from suicide. He formed the "Fair Play Club" to combat juvenile delinquency and was a member of the Justice Society of America. He was killed in a 1979 story.

The second Mister Terrific debuted in 1997. Michael Holt was inspired by Sloane's story. Also highly skilled and intelligent, Holt invented the T-Sphere, a versatile device controlled by his mask and earpieces. He served in the Justice Society of America and had a short-lived standalone comic book series. The "Mister Terrific" concept was also adapted into other versions and storylines.

Edi Gathegi will play Michael Holt / Mister Terrific in the DC Universe (DCU) film Superman.

Versions

Terry Sloane

The Golden Age's Mister Terrific was Terry Sloane, a self-made millionaire whose photographic memory, Olympic-level athletic skills, and mastery of the martial arts made him a Renaissance man. The character first appeared in Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942).^[1]

After graduating college at age 13, he eventually became a renowned business leader in the community. Having accomplished all his goals, he felt there were no challenges left for him to pursue, leading him towards suicidal tendencies. However, upon seeing a young woman jump from a bridge, Sloane reacted quickly and saved the woman, Wanda Wilson. Sloane assisted Wanda's brother, who had been caught up in a gang, by adopting a superhero identity: the Mister Terrific persona. This provided him with what he had been missing; a sense of accomplishment. He then created the "Fair Play Club" to stymie growing juvenile delinquency.^[2] He also became an active member of the Justice Society of America until the team was dissolved when the House Un-American Activities Committee ordered them to reveal their secret identities or disband. In the end, they chose the latter to protect themselves and their families from potential retribution from those they had fought in the past if their identities became known. Following the dissolution of the JSA, Mr. Terrific retired along with many of the others.

Years later, Sloane came out of retirement and joined with the reformed Justice Society of America. While attending their annual meeting with the Justice League of America, he was killed by his old enemy the Spirit King, who had possessed the body of Jay Garrick to infiltrate the JLA's satellite headquarters.^[3]

Michael Holt

In 1997, the mantle of Mister Terrific was passed on to Michael Holt, an equally talented man who holds five black belts, has won the Olympic Decathlon and holds many degrees and doctorates in a wide spectrum of fields. While contemplating suicide after the accidental death of his wife and unborn child, he was met by the Spectre, who told him about Terry Sloane. Inspired by Sloane's life story, he took the name "Mister Terrific"^[4] and later joined the current Justice Society of America, eventually serving as its chairman. He is the inventor of the T-Sphere, an artificially intelligent miniature device that he controls with his mask and earpieces. The T-Sphere can fly, create holographic images, project beams of light, release electrical charges, hack into computers and GPS satellites, and constantly cloaks Holt against detection and the recording of his image by any and all technological, non-organic means making him virtually invisible to everything but human line of sight. In the past, he has used them for reconnaissance, infiltration, espionage and information retrieval and storage, often multi-tasking his T-Spheres to all go off on different tasks at once. He can also use his T-Spheres offensively as projectiles and has stated as a threat to an opponent that he can instantly accelerate them to 14 miles per second (50,400 miles per hour) so when it hits them, it would cause a tremendous release of energy, turning around 70% of their corporeal being into super-heated plasma and liquifying the rest. Whether this has ever been tested or was just a bluff is unknown, but considering that his opponent wasn't real, much less alive, Mr. Terrific would have had no moral difficulties in using this option if it came down to it. While in costume, Mr. Terrific has no fewer than three T-Spheres orbiting his body at all times and has had as many as ten. He is also considered the third-smartest man alive.

Holt served as the White King in the restructured Checkmate but eventually returned to full-time duties with the JSA. However, Holt was apparently killed in Justice Society of America #30/31 (Aug/Sept 2009), but returned to the land of the living shortly afterwards.

In 2011, Holt became the title character in his own Mister Terrific comic book, as part of The New 52, but this was a short run, ending in 2012 after eight issues. He has since appeared in the DC book Earth 2 following his series's cancellation, along with the new incarnation of Terry Sloane.

Other

In Kingdom Come, Alex Ross portrayed a Mister Terrific with oversized guns, shoulder pads, and other military accoutrements. He sported the "Fair Play" logo, but displays little idea of its true and original meanings.
Another version was portrayed in JSA: The Liberty File and its sequel JSA: The Unholy Three. Here, Terry Sloane was portrayed as a World War II intelligence agent transferred to desk duty, until the untimely death of his fiance by the story's version of the Scarecrow. He was seen wearing a variation of the classic "Fair Play" costume and using a rapier.

Similar characters

In the JSA All-Stars mini-series chapter focusing on Mister Terrific, Terry's brother Ned appears at a costume ball dressed in an anti-Mister Terrific costume, calling himself Doctor Nil, in order to irritate his brother.
In Villains United #5, a new villain calling himself Mister Terrible appears as a part of Deathstroke's criminal army, wearing a variation of Holt's Mister Terrific costume.

In other media

Television

The Terry Sloane incarnation of Mister Terrific makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Smallville two-part episode "Absolute Justice".
The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific appears in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Michael Beach.
The Terry Sloane incarnation of Mister Terrific appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!".
Michael Holt appears in the Beware the Batman episode "Hunted", voiced by Gary Anthony Williams.
A character based on Michael Holt / Mister Terrific named Curtis Holt appears in Arrow, portrayed by Echo Kellum.^[5]^[6]
Michael Holt / Mister Terrific appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Hannibal Buress.^[7]

Film

An alternate reality incarnation of Michael Holt / Mister Terrific named Mister Horrific makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths as a minor member of the Crime Syndicate under Superwoman's command.
An alternate reality incarnation of Michael Holt appears in Justice League: Gods and Monsters, voiced by Arif S. Kinchen.
The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific appears in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.^[8]
The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific appears in Injustice, voiced by Edwin Hodge.^[9]
The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific appears in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One, voiced by Ato Essandoh.^[10]
The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific will appear in Superman, portrayed by Edi Gathegi.^[11]

Video games

The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific makes a cameo appearance in Injustice: Gods Among Us via the Watchtower stage.
The Curtis Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific appears as a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains via the "DC TV Super-Heroes" DLC pack.

Miscellaneous

Michael Holt appears in Smallville Season 11: Chaos #3.

Merchandise

The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific received a figure in the DC Universe Classics line.
The Michael Holt incarnation of Mister Terrific received a figure in the Target-exclusive Justice League Unlimited line.

References

^ Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 180. ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
^ Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-1605490892.
^ McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Writer Gerry Conway and artist Dick Dillin crafted a tale of foul play aboard the JLA satellite, during the team's annual get-together with Earth-2's JSA. Mr. Terrific...was murdered before he could expose a turncoat among the heroes.
^ Manning, Matthew K. "1990s" in Dolan, p. 279: "The Spectre ongoing series was nearing its end, but that didn't stop writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake from pooling their creative forces to create one of the DCU's newest shining stars...An inspired and reborn [Michael] Holt then picked up the mantle of Mr. Terrific."
^ Abrams, Natalie. "'Arrow' casts Mr. Terrific for season 4". EW.com. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
^ Mitovich, Matt (4 April 2016). "'Arrow Season 5: Echo Kellum Promoted to Series Regular as Curtis". tvline.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
^ Lucas Siegel (2016-06-05). "New Justice League Action Characters Officially Revealed". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
^ Couch, Aaron (January 7, 2019). "'Justice League vs. The Fatal Five' Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
^ Couch, Aaron (2021-07-21). "DC's 'Injustice' Sets Cast for Animated Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
^ Harvey, James (2023-12-05). ""Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part One" Release Date". The World's Finest. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
^ Breznican, Anthony (2023-07-11). "Superman Legacy Cast Adds Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi and Nathan Fillion: EXCLUSIVE". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2023-07-11.