Great Caesar’s Ghost, new photos from the set of James Gunn’s Superman film hit the internet yesterday! Coming courtesy of Cleveland.com, they gave us our first look at Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific. We love the costume, he looks like he stepped straight out of the pages of JSA. But if you found yourself wondering who the heck Mr. Terrific is these last few days, let us tell you all about him!
Key Issues
- The Spectre #54 (1997, 1st Appearance)
- JSA #5 (1999, 1st full appearance of iconic costume)
- JSA #11 (2000, joins Justice Society of America and 1st appearance of T-Spheres)
- Mr. Terrific #1 (2011, 1st solo series)
- The Terrifics #1 (2018, 1st team-up with Metamorpho)
Golden Age Origins
The original Mr. Terrific was created in 1941, where he was one of several characters in the Wonder Woman-led anthology Sensation Comics. He didn’t have any superpowers, instead being a child prodigy and Olympic athlete, and his motto was “Fair Play”. His feature was popular enough to win him a spot in The Justice Society of America. That earned him a spot in the Silver Age when the JLA & JSA began their annual crossovers. In fact, the original Mr. Terrific died in the 1979 crossover. Most of his teammates would follow within the next 15 or so years.
The Spectre, due to being undead, is one of the few to make it to the late 90s. He even had his own series, and The Spectre #54 (1997) introduced a new Mr. Terrific. This version was Michael Holt, a black child prodigy and Olympic athlete. Michael is contemplating suicide after a personal tragedy. The Spectre gives him a new lease on life by sharing the story of Mr. Terrific. DC Comics officially had a new superhero, albeit one who wouldn’t appear again for two years.
Mr. Terrific Joins The JSA
In 1999, DC Comics relaunched the Justice Society with a new generation of members. The series kicked off with JSA Secret Files & Origins #1. It served as a lead-in to JSA #1, a primer on Justice Society history, and a teaser of upcoming stories. Mr. Terrific is the final character profiled and the final teaser. He receives a formal superhero costume and is described as using “Information gathering drones of his own design that can project holograms.” Neither element was present when he appeared in The Spectre.
Mr. Terrific’s new look appeared in JSA #5, with him joining the team in #11. That issue also featured the debut of the aforementioned drones, spherical mini-computers named “T-Spheres”. The character quickly became a fan-favorite, being elected to leadership of the team in JSA #26. Mr. Terrific would remain a core Justice Society member throughout the team’s legendary 00s comeback, take a starring role in super-spy series Checkmate, and earn his own solo title in 2011’s New 52 reboot.
Terrific TV Appearances
Non-comic audiences first saw Mr. Terrific on Justice League Unlimited. Starting off as one of the show’s many background characters, he stepped into a more prominent role in the 2005 episode “To Another Shore”. There, he took over for the Martian Manhunter as the team’s coordinator, a role he would hold throughout the final season. He kept his JL membership in the 2019 spin-off movie Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five.
The character was also adapted into the live-action Arrowverse. Reimagined as Curtis Holt, Mr. Terrific was a key player in four seasons of Arrow. The CW’s budget unfortunately didn’t allow for a full embrace of his full super-science super-spy nature. He was, however, the only member of Team Arrow able to both run mission control and beat up bad guys in the field. Most recently, the character has had prominent roles in direct-to-video animated films based on the Injustice video games and the Crisis on Infinite Earths mega-crossover.
A Terrific Future in Film
Which brings us to today, where Mr. Terrific is one of several heroes slated to be a supporting character in next year’s blockbuster Superman film. That film will kick of James Gunn’s DC Universe, a brand-new cinematic universe based on DC Comics. After that? Who knows! But Mr. Terrific will no doubt pick up a lot of new fans next years.
As younger creatives enter the world of TV and movies, comic book adaptations will start including newer characters like Mr. Terrific. That means longtime dollar bin books can become solid, if not exceptionally valuable, Key Issues. Ergo, there could be some good money in that comic collection gathering dust in your closet! The best way to find out is by letting your friends at Back to the Past help you sell them. Drop us a line about your collection today to get the process started, or follow us on social media @b2pcollect to see all the cool stuff you can add to it.