| Character Name: | Michael Holt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: | DC Comics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debut: | Spectre (vol. 3) #54 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Creators: | John Ostrander Tom Mandrake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alter Ego: | Dr. Michael Curtis Holt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Species: | Human | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alliances: | Justice Society of America Checkmate Terrifics Justice League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Powers: |
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| Sortkey: | Mister Terrific | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cat: | super | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hero: | y | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Module: |
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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.
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).
Michael Holt was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake and first appeared in Spectre (vol. 3) #54 (June 1997).[1]
Michael Holt showed remarkable intelligence at a very young age, reading comprehension and ability to assimilate the works of Aage Bohr, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, and Richard Feynman, the pantheon of theoretical physics.[2] Michael grows up with his mentally challenged older brother, Jeffrey, whom he loved dearly. When Jeffrey dies 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 14 Ph.Ds (two in engineering and physics—including doctorates and master's degrees in law, psychology, chemistry, political science, computer science, rocket science, and mathematics[4] [5])—is a self-made multi-millionaire[2] with a high tech firm called Cyberwear (subsequently sold to Waynetech[6]), and is a gold medal-winning Olympic decathlete.
The accidental deaths of his wife and unborn child were a devastating blow to Holt. He considers himself responsible for the accident, as he made his wife late for church by arguing with her about the value of religion. While contemplating suicide, the Spectre (Jim Corrigan) tells him about Terry Sloane, the Golden Age superhero known as Mister Terrific. Inspired by Sloane's life story, Holt takes the name Mister Terrific[7] and later joins the current Justice 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 electronic nanites, 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 for Hourman's Tylerco and consulted with the company on industrial espionage and security matters, in exchange for it helping fund a youth center Terrific has started.[8]
Holt has a friendly rivalry with Batman, his opposite number in the Justice League of America (in his identity as Bruce Wayne, Batman owns Holt's business). Holt has encountered Sloane twice through time 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 is also known as the third-smartest person in the world,[9] and this notion now appears to be widespread within the DC Universe.[10]
During a conflict over leadership of the Justice Society between former chairman Hawkman and then-current chairman Sand, Terrific is elected as the JSA's new chairman by his teammates, despite not actively seeking the office.[11] He serves in this capacity until the team disbands following the Infinite Crisis.
Mr. Terrific currently remains a member of the reformed Justice Society of America. He resumed his chairmanship from the last incarnation of the team,[12] but his leadership responsibilities in Checkmate eventually prompt him to relinquish the position to Power Girl.[13]
See main article: Infinite Crisis. Mr. Terrific is part of the team assembled by Batman for an attack on the Brother Eye satellite 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.
See 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 the United 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 with Sasha Bordeaux, Checkmate's Black Queen. He has also given up his chairman position, which has been taken over by Power Girl. Mr. Terrific has also established an ill-defined mentorship with Firestorm over the missing year.
Holt is forced to face his issues with faith once again when the JSA confront Gog, 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.
See main article: Final Crisis. During the Final Crisis of Humanity, the war between Darkseid and the human world, Mister Terrific, along with Cheetah and Snapper Carr, are left trapped in the ruins of Checkmate headquarters, unable to get past the brainwashed metahuman, and caring for Sasha, who prefers using her OMAC programming to shut down her bodily functions rather than falling prey to the Anti-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.
In Justice Society of America vol. 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 and King Chimera must 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.[14] Justice Society members arrive back at headquarters to discover Mr. Terrific has been attacked, and Doctor Mid-Nite tends to his wounds.[15] In the end, Mister Terrific succumbs to his injuries and Alan Scott reports that he has died.[16] 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.[17] Michael is restored to life by the magic of the new Doctor Fate, and attacks All-American Kid, revealing that he is actually the teenage psychopath known as Kid Karnevil, and subdues him.[18] For a short time during his recovery, Michael is forced to use a wheelchair, although he still finds time to upgrade Mister America's whip.[19]
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Mister Terrific received a self-titled ongoing series written by Eric Wallace and drawn by Roger Robinson.[20] Holt begins sporting a new costume designed by Cully Hamner.[21] 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.[22] Mister Terrific was cancelled with issue #8 in April 2012.[23] The series ends with Mister Terrific being displaced to a parallel universe, leading to his appearances in Earth-2.[24]
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.[25]
In The New Golden Age, Mister Terrific adopts Terry Sloane's former sidekick Quiz Kid after he is transported to the present.[26] [27] [28]
While being held captive by Onimar Synn on an adventure with the Justice Society on Thanagar, Holt first expresses his disbelief in souls and that he is uncomfortable with the notion of reincarnation after witnessing the return of teammate Hawkman. 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".[29] 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 the Spirit King, but he still maintains his skepticism about faith and religion.
After a near-death experience where 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 teammate Doctor Mid-Nite.[30]
However, this attempt to find religion apparently is not satisfying as Holt is also seen getting into a theological discussion with Ragman during the Infinite Crisis. When asked if he has faith in anything, Terrific answered, "Sure I do. I've got faith in my team."[9]
During Thy 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.
Michael Holt is among the smartest people on Earth, being skilled in multiple fields of medicine, engineering, science, and martial arts. Holt's mask doubles as a communication system and enables him to detect various forms of energy. He wields "T-Spheres", floating robotic spheres with multiple functions that include holographic projection, hacking into other machines, and generating energy bursts.
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.[43]