Mr. Terrific Year One #1: You Can’t Outsmart Grief

Mr. Terrific Year One #1: Michael Holt is one of the world’s smartest men to have ever lived using his genius to progress the world forward. However, when his wife Paula and unborn son tragically passed away all of that came to a screeching halt. Having sold Holt Industries to Athena Prescott, Michael may be forced to reconcile his grief and once again step into the world as Mr. Terrific.

Creative Team:

Al Letson (WRITER) Valentine De Landro (ART and COVER) Marissa Louise (ART PG 4-20 and COVER) Edwin Galmon (ART and COLORS PG 1-3) Lucas Gattoni (LETTERS)

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The Story:

Kicking off this new run, I love that Al goes into the events of the All In crossover to take us into Mr. Terrific’s mind and remind us that the crossover has had a greater impact on this new universe. For new readers it is a reminder that his powers mainly lie in his genius abilities and bring you up to speed.

Diving into the depth of this story it is a tragic one as Al takes us into the grief and how even the world’s smartest (or third smartest depending on who you ask) are not immune to the crushing weight of real emotion. Having Michael do what he thought at the time was right and then the shocking cliff-hanger at the end pulling him into action sets this story up in a gripping manner.

The Art and Letters:

I loved the art in the opening pages from Edwin. The usage of space to fill us in artistically in a short period was done excellently. There is a lot of detail and characters he was able to fit in and everything looks so beautiful in these pages. When it comes to the main story the stark contrast in art with Valentine and Marissa pops out at you in a good way as well. Valentine captures what Michael is feeling and has been going through with the little background details. There are clothes everywhere and his room is a mess and the look on his face captures what depression can be like.

Marissa’s color shading is what stood out to me in this issue as the use of softer shades on the clothing with darker outlines work for me in this issue. There is subtle shading depicting the character’s emotions such as Michael visiting the grave and his face is largely shaded out except for the tears coming down his face. Lucas’s lettering brings that out a bit more as the words feel heavier with each passing panel.

Overall Grade: 9/10

Admittedly I have never been overly familiar with Mr. Terrific as I have only read him in Justice League issues. The team on this run has me interested in the opening issue of this new run in the All-In series as Michael’s story is heavy and important. If you’re looking for a great diving-in point for Mr. Terrific, especially before his debut in the new DC Universe with Superman, then this is the issue for you!

Be sure to check out more reviews and articles from Matt as well as his weekly pop-culture podcast at http://linktr.ee/hopsgeeknews

What did you think of this issue? Let us know!