Wikipedia

Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)

Michael Holtis asuperheroappearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byDC Comics.He is the second character to take up theMister Terrificmantle.

Michael Holt
Michael Holt as Mister Terrific as he appeared on a splash page ofThe Terrifics#4 (May 2018).
Art by Evan "Doc" Shaner.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSpectre(vol. 3) #54 (cover dated June 1997)
Created byJohn Ostrander
Tom Mandrake
In-story information
Alter egoDr. Michael Curtis Holt
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsJustice Society of America
Checkmate
Terrifics
Justice League
Abilities
  • Genius-level intellect
  • Proficient scientist, engineer, and physician
  • Use of T-Spheres
  • Invisibility to technology
  • Skilled athlete and martial artist
Mister Terrific
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing
GenreSuperhero
Publication dateSeptember2011 – April2012
No.of issues8
Creative team
Written byEric Wallace
Artist(s)Gianluca Gugliotta, Scott Clark, James Taylor

Holt has been substantially adapted into media outside comics.Michael Beach,Hannibal Buress,andKevin Michael Richardson,among others, have voiced the character in animated television series and films.Echo Kellumportrayed a version of the character renamedCurtis Holtinthe CWArrowverseseriesArrow.Edi Gathegiwill play the character in the 2025 filmSuperman,set in theDC Universe(DCU).

Publication history

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Michael Holt was created byJohn OstranderandTom Mandrakeand first appeared inSpectre(vol. 3) #54 (June 1997).[1]

Fictional character biography

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Michael Holt showed remarkable intelligence at a very young age, reading comprehension and ability to assimilate the works ofNiels Bohr,Albert Einstein,Max Planck,andRichard Feynman,a pantheon of theoretical physicists.[2]Michael grew up with his mentally challenged older brother, Jeffrey, whom he loved dearly. When Jeffrey died at the age of 12, Michael was devastated.[3]

Holt displayed "a natural aptitude for having natural aptitudes" (as he calls it), easily picking up and retaining complex skills and abilities that others spend their entire lives perfecting. Before he began his career as a superhero, he already possessed 14Ph.Ds(two inengineeringandphysics—including doctorates and master's degrees inlaw,psychology,chemistry,political science,computer science,rocket science,andmathematics[4][5])—is a self-made multi-millionaire[2]with a high tech firm called Cyberwear (subsequently sold toWaynetech[4]), and is agold medal-winningOlympicdecathlete.

The accidental deaths of his wife and unborn child were a devastating blow to Holt. He considered himself responsible for the accident, as he made his wife late for church by arguing with her about the value of religion. While contemplatingsuicide,theSpectre(Jim Corrigan) told him aboutTerry Sloane,the Golden Age superhero known as Mister Terrific. Inspired by Sloane's life story, Holt took the name Mister Terrific[6]and later joins the currentJustice Society of America(JSA), eventually serving as its chairman.

Initially, he wore ordinary clothes and a leather jacket with Sloane's "Fair Play" emblem on the back. Later, he switched to a T-shaped mask composed of electronicnanites,a black and white costume with red trim, and a collarless jacket in the same colors (the black sections of tunic and jacket forming a "T" ) with "Fair Play" written on the sleeves and "Terrific" across the back.

For a time, he acted as spokesperson forHourman's Tylerco and consulted with the company onindustrial espionageand security matters, in exchange for it helping fund a youth center Terrific has started.[7]

Holt as he appears onAlex Ross' cover ofJSA#76, during the "Infinite Crisis"storyline

Holt had a friendly rivalry withBatman,his opposite number in theJustice League of America(in his identity as Bruce Wayne, Batman owned Holt's business). Holt encountered Sloane twice throughtime travel,with Sloane expressing pride in having so worthy a successor. Holt has been noted as the most intelligent member of the JSA in its history, surpassing his predecessor. He was also known as the third-smartest person in the world,[8]and this notion now appears to be widespread within the DC Universe.[9]

Justice Society of America chairmanship

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During a conflict over leadership of the Justice Society between former chairmanHawkmanand then-current chairmanSand,Terrific was elected as the JSA's new chairman by his teammates, despite not actively seeking the office.[10]He serves in this capacity until the team disbands following the 2005–2006 "Infinite Crisis"storyline.

Mr. Terrific currently remains a member of the reformed Justice Society of America. He resumed his chairmanship from the last incarnation of the team,[11]but his leadership responsibilities in Checkmate eventually prompt him to relinquish the position toPower Girl.[12]

Infinite Crisis

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Main article:Infinite Crisis

Mr. Terrific is part of the team assembled by Batman for an attack on theBrother Eyesatellite responsible for controlling the OMACs. He plays a critical role as his invisibility to technology allows him to reach the satellite's propulsion system, sending it crashing to Earth. During this time, he meets and befriends another African American superhero—Black Lightning.

One Year Later

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Main article:One Year Later

In the "One Year Later"storyline, Holt is still a member of the JSA, and he has also become part of theUnited Nations Security Council's intelligence agency,Checkmate.He holds the position of White King's Bishop initially, but when the previous White King (Alan Scott) is forced to resign, he becomes Checkmate's new White King, complicating his relationship withSasha Bordeaux,Checkmate's Black Queen. He has also given up his chairman position, which has been taken over byPower Girl.Mr. Terrific has also established an ill-defined mentorship withFirestormover the missing year.[citation needed]

Holt is forced to face his issues with faith once again when the JSA confrontGog,a God of the Second World. Not only is Gog incapable of hearing Terrific due to his lack of faith, but during a trip to the Earth-Two of the new multiverse, Holt encounters his Earth-Two counterpart, who is now a devout believer after having a religious experience on the day his wife survived her accident.[citation needed]

Final Crisis

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Main article:Final Crisis

During the 2008 "Final Crisis"storyline, the war betweenDarkseidand the human world leaves Mister Terrific,CheetahandSnapper Carrtrapped in the ruins of Checkmate headquarters. Unable to get past the brainwashedmetahuman,and caring for Sasha, who prefers using herOMACprogramming to shut down her bodily functions rather than falling prey to theAnti-Life Equation.Forcefully waking up Sasha, thus condemning her, Michael Holt has no choice but to activate a new OMAC population, programmed to obey him rather than Brother Eye, and to protect the last few humans against the new Justifiers.[citation needed]

Death and return

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InJustice Society of Americavol. 3 series, Mr. Terrific takes over the research, just as the low-level villain Tapeworm appears on the news, taking hostages and demanding that Wildcat show himself. All-American Kid andKing Chimeramust remain in the brownstone, Mister Terrific retreats to his lab, and the rest of the team leaves to help Wildcat. All-American Kid goes into the lab and stabs Mister Terrific in the back, pretending to have been mind controlled.[13]Justice Society members arrive back at headquarters to discover Mr. Terrific has been attacked, andDoctor Mid-Nitetends to his wounds.[14]In the end, Mister Terrific succumbs to his injuries and Alan Scott reports that he has died.[15]However, Scott is able to use the power of the Green Flame to slow down time around Mister Terrific's body in the hopes that he can be healed before brain death occurs.[16]Michael is restored to life by the magic of the newDoctor Fate,and attacks All-American Kid, revealing that he is actually the teenage psychopath known asKid Karnevil,and subdues him.[17]For a short time during his recovery, Michael is forced to use a wheelchair, although he still finds time to upgradeMister America's whip.[18]

The New 52

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As part of DC's 2011 reboot of its continuity,The New 52,Mister Terrific received a self-titled ongoing series written by Eric Wallace and drawn by Roger Robinson.[19]Holt begins sporting a new costume designed byCully Hamner.[20]He is also in a relationship with Karen Starr.

On January 12, 2012, DC announced that it would be ending six of the lowest-selling New 52 titles in April, replacing them with six different titles in the revamp's second wave.[21]Mister Terrificwas cancelled with issue #8 in April 2012.[22]The series ends with Mister Terrific being displaced to a parallel universe, leading to his appearances inEarth-2.[23]

DC Rebirth

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InThe Terrifics,Mister Terrific joins the eponymous team alongsideMetamorphoandPlastic Manafter they are exposed to Dark Multiverse energy that bonds them to one another.[24]

InThe New Golden Age,Mister Terrific adopts Terry Sloane's former sidekickQuiz Kidafter he is transported to the present.[25][26][27]

Religious beliefs

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While being held captive byOnimar Synnon an adventure with the Justice Society onThanagar,Holt first expresses his disbelief in souls and that he is uncomfortable with the notion ofreincarnationafter witnessing the return of teammateHawkman.Holt states, "when my wife, Paula, was killed in a car accident... she was gone. I didn't feel her 'soul' around me. Didn't feel anything".[28]He later elaborates on this by explaining that his lack of faith extends back prior to his wife's death, and states that he blames himself for her death as he delayed her going to church because the two of them argued about the merits of faith. Holt believes that she would have avoided the accident if she had not been arguing with him. He acknowledges the irony of this given such factors as the Spectre's role in his origin, and his encounter with the likes of theSpirit King,but he still maintains his skepticism about faith and religion.

After anear-death experiencewhere he sees his wife and unborn child (whom he decides to name 'Terry' after the original Mister Terrific), Holt's atheism is shaken and he agrees to attend a church service with teammateDoctor Mid-Nite.[29]

However, this attempt to find religion apparently is not satisfying as Holt is also seen getting into a theological discussion withRagmanduring theInfinite Crisis.When asked if he has faith in anything, Terrific answered, "Sure I do. I've got faith in my team."[8]

DuringThy Kingdom Come,when Power Girl is transported to the Earth-2 pre-Crisis universe, she meets her world's Michael Holt, who is a priest. During the same storyline, the mainline Holt admits to Doctor Mid-Nite that he feels his issues with faith stem from his inability to understand it, confessing that he wants to believe but something inside him will not let him.

Powers, abilities, and equipment

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Michael Holt is among the smartest people on Earth, being skilled in multiple fields of medicine, engineering, science, and martial arts.[4][8][30]Holt's mask doubles as a communication system and enables him to detect various forms of energy.[31]He wields "T-Spheres", floating robotic spheres with multiple functions that includeholographicprojection, hacking into other machines, and generating energy bursts.[32]

Other versions

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  • An alternate universe variant of Michael Holt fromEarth-2appears inJustice Society of America(vol. 3). This version is a college professor who became a devout Christian after his wife was nearly killed in an accident.[33][34]
  • An alternate universe variant of Michael Holt appears in the 2011 storyline "Flashpoint".[35]
  • An alternate universe variant of Michael Holt appears in the miniseriesDCeased:A Good Day to Die.He attempts to find a cure for theAnti-Life Equationvirus before being killed by an infectedBig Barda.

In other media

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Television

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Mr. Terrific as he appears inJustice League Unlimited

Film

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Video games

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Miscellaneous

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Michael Holt appears inSmallville Season 11: Chaos#3. This version is a billionaire, the CEO of HoltCorp, and an associate of Bruce Wayne andTed Kord.[45]

Merchandise

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  • Michael Holt / Mister Terrific received a figure in theDC Universe Classicsline.
  • Michael Holt / Mister Terrific received a figure in the Target-exclusiveJustice League Unlimitedline.

References

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  1. ^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016).The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe.DK Publishing. p. 207.ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^abJSA#13, pg.1
  3. ^52#39, pg.22
  4. ^abcJSA#28, pg. 11
  5. ^JSA#53, pg. 8
  6. ^Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.).DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle.Dorling Kindersley.p. 279.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.The Spectreongoing 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.
  7. ^JSA#5, pg.6
  8. ^abcInfinite Crisis# 5, pg. 1
  9. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #2,DC Comics.,pg. 3
  10. ^JSA#27,DC Comics.pg.17-18
  11. ^52#39, pg. 22, Backup Origin
  12. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) # 4
  13. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #29 (July 2009)
  14. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #30 (August 2009)
  15. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #31 (September 2009)
  16. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #32 (October 2009)
  17. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #33 (November 2009)
  18. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #34 (December 2009)
  19. ^Hyde, David (2011-06-01)."The New Justice | DC Comics".Dcu.blog.dccomics.com.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  20. ^DCE Editorial (2011-06-09)."Project: Up Up and Runway | DC Comics".Dcu.blog.dccomics.com.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  21. ^Albert Ching (January 12, 2012)."Six Titles In, Six Out in 'Second Wave' of DC's NEW 52"(Press release). Newsarama.RetrievedJanuary 23,2012.
  22. ^DC Comics."On Sale April '12"(Press release). DC Comics.RetrievedJanuary 23,2012.
  23. ^"DC Comics' FULL June 2012 Solicitations".Newsarama.com.Retrieved2016-02-04.
  24. ^The Terrifics#1 - 3
  25. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 4) #5 - #9. DC Comics.
  26. ^Jay Garrick: The Flash#3. DC Comics.
  27. ^Jay Garrick: The Flash#6. DC Comics.
  28. ^JSA# 26, pg. 8-9
  29. ^JSA# 62, pg. 17-21
  30. ^
    • Hawkman(vol. 3) #24 (September 1995)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #12 (July 2000)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #17 (December 2000)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #67 (January 2005)
  31. ^
    • JSA(vol. 1) #49 (August 2003)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #84 (June 2006)
    • JSA All-Stars#7 (August 2010)
  32. ^
    • JSA(vol. 1) #31 (February 2002)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #41 (December 2002)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #61 (July 2004)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #71 (May 2005)
    • JSA(vol. 1) #78 (December 2005)
    • JSA Classified#29 (October 2007)
  33. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #19,DC Comics
  34. ^Justice Society of America(vol. 3) #20
  35. ^Flashpoint: The Outsider#1 (June 2011),DC Comics.
  36. ^abcdefgh"Mr. Terrific Voices (DC Universe)".Behind The Voice Actors.RetrievedApril 4,2024.A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  37. ^Abrams, Natalie (July 17, 2015)."Arrowcasts Mr. Terrific for season 4 ".Entertainment Weekly.Archived fromthe originalon July 17, 2015.RetrievedFebruary 4,2016.
  38. ^Mitovich, Matt (4 April 2016)."ArrowSeason 5: Echo Kellum Promoted to Series Regular as Curtis ".tvline.com. Archived fromthe originalon April 5, 2016.RetrievedApril 5,2016.
  39. ^Siegel, Lucas (June 5, 2016)."NewJustice League ActionCharacters Officially Revealed ".Comicbook.com.RetrievedSeptember 10,2016.
  40. ^Couch, Aaron (January 7, 2019)."Justice League vs. The Fatal FiveSets Voice Cast (Exclusive) ".The Hollywood Reporter.
  41. ^Couch, Aaron (July 21, 2021)."DC'sInjusticeSets Cast for Animated Movie (Exclusive) ".The Hollywood Reporter.RetrievedJuly 21,2021.
  42. ^Harvey, James (December 5, 2023)."Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part OneArrives January 2024, Press Details ".The World's Finest.RetrievedDecember 5,2023.
  43. ^Breznican, Anthony (July 21, 2023)."Superman LegacyCast Adds Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi and Nathan Fillion: EXCLUSIVE ".Vanity Fair.
  44. ^Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013)."DC Characters and Objects -Scribblenauts UnmaskedGuide ".IGN.RetrievedApril 4,2024.
  45. ^Smallville Season 11: Chaos#3
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