MISTER TERRIFIC
Written by Eric Wallace
Drawn by Roger Robinson
Review by Brad Jones
I finished the first issue of Mister Terrific and felt like it was a retread of a variety of different characters and storylines. Ironman, Green Arrow, Batman, Dr. Strange, Fantastic Four: Mister Terrific pulls from each of these superhero archetypes (and more, to be sure), but Issue #1 felt stale and tired, which was a disappointment, in that I knew so little about this character before I began his New 52 journey.
Issue #2 didn’t sway me away from this opinion. In fact, I felt that this book was even more standard, predictable, and ultimately disposable than its predecessor.
The book hits beats in storytelling as if the writer composed the script with a “Comics 101” handbook in front of him. Clean up the cliff-hanging ending of the previous edition in a couple of pages? Check. Try to force an inorganic love triangle in the following pages? Check. Cast doubt upon our hero’s capabilities? Check. Re-assert confidence in hero’s genius? Insert ridiculous exclamations from said hero as he teleports into action? Introduce uninteresting super-villain with the tritest dialogue possible? Check, check, check.
I’ve been fortunate enough to read Issue #2’s that have changed begun to change my mind after a first misstep (Legion Lost) and unfortunate enough to be turned away after a great first-impression (Green Arrow), but this book lives in the same place of my mind that Mister Terrific Issue #1 does – the part that will forget in the morning that this book even exists.
VERDICT
While there’s nothing particularly offensive about Mister Terrific, the book does not in any way live up to its namesake. I’m giving him one more go, but Terrific has one more strike, or he’s out altogether. Skip it.
