Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)

Michael Holt
Michael Holt as Mister Terrific as he appeared on a splash page of The Terrifics #4 (May 2018).
Art by Evan "Doc" Shaner.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSpectre (vol. 3) #54 (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 dateSeptember 2011 – April 2012
No. of issues8
Creative team
Written byEric Wallace
Artist(s)Gianluca Gugliotta, Scott Clark, James Taylor

Michael Holt is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the second character to take up the Mister Terrific mantle, after the Golden Age character Terry Sloane.

Holt has been substantially adapted into media outside comics. Michael Beach, Hannibal Buress, and Kevin Michael Richardson, among others, have voiced the character in animated television series and films. Echo Kellum portrayed a version of the character renamed Curtis Holt in the CW Arrowverse series Arrow. Edi Gathegi will play the character in the 2025 film Superman, set in the DC Universe (DCU).

Publication history

Michael Holt was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake and first appeared in Spectre (vol. 3) #54 (June 1997).[1]

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.[2] Holt begins sporting a new costume designed by Cully Hamner.[3]

On January 12, 2012, the Mister Terrific series was cancelled alongside five other titles with low sales.[4][5] The series ends with Terrific being displaced to a parallel universe, leading to his appearances in Earth-2.[6]

Fictional character biography

Michael Holt was a child prodigy who demonstrated advanced intelligence at a young age, comprehending the works of physicists Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, and Richard Feynman.[7] Before becoming a superhero, Holt possessed 14 Ph.Ds and was a self-made multi-millionaire and Olympic decathlete.[7][8][9] Holt has been noted as the most intelligent member of the JSA and the third-smartest person in the world.[10][11]

Holt contemplates suicide after the death of his wife Paula and unborn child in a car crash.[12] His previous atheism is exacerbated by trauma and he comes to not believe in souls or reincarnation.[13] However, the Spectre (Jim Corrigan) inspires him to become the superhero Mister Terrific, inspired by Terry Sloane. Holt joins the current Justice Society of America (JSA), eventually serving as its chairman.[14][15]

One Year Later

Main article: One Year Later

In the "One Year Later" storyline, Holt joins the intelligence agency Checkmate, causing him to relinquish his position of JSA chairman to Power Girl.[16]

Death and return

In Justice Society of America (vol. 3), the low-level villain Tapeworm takes several hostages and demands that Wildcat show himself. Mister Terrific retreats to his lab and the rest of the team leaves to help Wildcat. All-American Kid stabs Mister Terrific in the back, pretending to have been mind controlled. Holt is gravely wounded, but is healed by Doctor Fate and attacks All-American Kid, who is revealed to be a disguised Kid Karnevil.[17]

DC Rebirth

In The Terrifics, Mister Terrific joins the eponymous team alongside Metamorpho and Plastic Man after they are exposed to Dark Multiverse energy that bonds them to one another.[18]

In The New Golden Age, Mister Terrific adopts Terry Sloane's former sidekick Quiz Kid after he is transported to the present.[19]

Powers, abilities, and equipment

Michael Holt is among the smartest people on Earth, being skilled in multiple fields of medicine, engineering, science, and martial arts.[8][10][20][21][22][23] Holt's uniform and equipment were designed by Grey Williamson with a mask that doubles as a communication system and enables him to detect various forms of energy,[24][25][26] and "T-Spheres", remote controlled floating robotic spheres with multiple functions that include holographic projection, hacking into other machines, and generating energy bursts.[27][28][29][30][31][32]

Other versions

  • An alternate universe variant of Michael Holt from Earth-2 appears in Justice 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 "Flashpoint".[35]
  • An alternate universe variant of Michael Holt appears in DCeased: A Good Day to Die. He attempts to find a cure for the Anti-Life Equation virus before being killed by an infected Big Barda.

In other media

Television

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

  • Michael Holt appears in Smallville Season 11: Chaos #3. This version is a billionaire, the CEO of HoltCorp, and an associate of Bruce Wayne and Ted Kord.[45]
  • Michael Holt / Mister Terrific appears as a supporting character in the crossover miniseries DC X Sonic the Hedgehog.[46]

Merchandise

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

References

  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. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ Hyde, David (June 1, 2011). "The New Justice | DC Comics". Dcu.blog.dccomics.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  3. ^ DCE Editorial (June 9, 2011). "Project: Up Up and Runway | DC Comics". Dcu.blog.dccomics.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Ching, Albert (January 12, 2012). "Six Titles In, Six Out in 'Second Wave' of DC's NEW 52" (Press release). Newsarama. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  5. ^ DC Comics. "On Sale April '12" (Press release). DC Comics. Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  6. ^ "DC Comics' FULL June 2012 Solicitations". Newsarama. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  7. ^ a b JSA #13 (August 2000)
  8. ^ a b JSA #28 (November 2001)
  9. ^ JSA #53 (December 2003)
  10. ^ a b Infinite Crisis #5 (April 2006)
  11. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #2 (March 2007)
  12. ^ Spectre (vol. 3) #54 (June 1997)
  13. ^ JSA #26 (September 2001)
  14. ^ JSA #27 (October 2001)
  15. ^ Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. 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.
  16. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #4 (May 2007)
  17. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #29 - 33 (September 2009 - January 2010)
  18. ^ The Terrifics #1 - 3 (April - June 2018)
  19. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 4) #9 (May 2024)
  20. ^ Hawkman (vol. 3) #24 (September 1995)
  21. ^ JSA #12 (July 2000)
  22. ^ JSA #17 (December 2000)
  23. ^ JSA #67 (January 2005)
  24. ^ JSA #49 (August 2003)
  25. ^ JSA #84 (June 2006)
  26. ^ JSA All-Stars #7 (August 2010)
  27. ^ JSA #31 (February 2002)
  28. ^ JSA #41 (December 2002)
  29. ^ JSA #61 (July 2004)
  30. ^ JSA #71 (May 2005)
  31. ^ JSA #78 (December 2005)
  32. ^ JSA Classified #29 (October 2007)
  33. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #19 (November 2008)
  34. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #20 (December 2008)
  35. ^ Flashpoint: The Outsider #1 (June 2011)
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h "Mr. Terrific Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 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). "Arrow casts Mr. Terrific for season 4". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  38. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (April 4, 2016). "Arrow Season 5: Echo Kellum Promoted to Series Regular as Curtis". tvline.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  39. ^ Siegel, Lucas (June 5, 2016). "New Justice League Action Characters Officially Revealed". ComicBook.com. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  40. ^ Couch, Aaron (January 7, 2019). "Justice League vs. The Fatal Five Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  41. ^ Couch, Aaron (July 21, 2021). "DC's Injustice Sets Cast for Animated Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  42. ^ Harvey, James (December 5, 2023). "Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part One Arrives January 2024, Press Details". The World's Finest. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  43. ^ Breznican, Anthony (July 21, 2023). "Superman Legacy Cast Adds Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi and Nathan Fillion: EXCLUSIVE". Vanity Fair.
  44. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  45. ^ Smallville Season 11: Chaos #3 (December 2014)
  46. ^ Scullion, Chris (March 13, 2025). "DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Here's the first art and plot details from Sega and DC's crossover comic". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
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