Michael Holt (DC)
Michael Holt is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Michael Holt was a male human who was born in the modern age. He had an older brother by the name of Jeffrey who was born severely retarded and disabled forcing him to live in a wheelchair. Michael only showed love to his sibling with Jeffrey dying by the time he was 15 years old. From a young age, Michael was a child prodigy with an astronomical I.Q. along with a natural athleticism. (52 v1 #39) When he was 6 years old, he had read and assimilated the works of Bohr, Einstein, Planck, Feynman and the pantheon of theoretical physicists. (JSA v1 #13) He grew up to be an Olympic decathlete and a scholar whoa accumulated a number of doctorates and degrees as well as amassed a personal fortune. (JSA v1 #39) Whilst at grad school, he came to meet a woman named Paula who studied foreign criminal policy at Harvard law where he came to fall in love with her after the first test. (JSA v1 #60) Despite his achievements, he never found a purpose in his life until he met and married Paula. (52 v1 #39) At some point, he established his own company called Cyberwear and operated in the corporate world for a time. (JSA v1 #28)
Unknown to him at the time, she was pregnant with their son who died as a result of the accident. (JSA v1 #62) After his wife Paula died in a car accident, Holt despaired and felt that the world was not worth living leading to him contemplating suicide when he was beset upon by thugs. He was saved by the Spectre who was drawn by Michael's thoughts of self-murder and was urged to stop him. Corrigan convinced Holt to not kill himself and told him the story of Terry Sloane who had become the superhero called Mister Terrific. (Spectre v3 #54) At an unknown point, he was noted to had sold Cyberwear and retired from the corporate world. (JSA v1 #28)
He began to operate as a spokesperson for TylerCo and a consultant for them on industrial espionage security measures where in turn they helped fund a youth centre Holt had started. During this time, he encountered Sandy Hawkins whose body had been transformed into living sand with TylerCo looking to find a cure for his condition. Sand was happy that his friend Terry Sloane's legacy was being continued by Michael and invited Holt to the Justice Society headquarters to meet the other heroes there. (JSA v1 #5) Mr. Terrific joined the Justice Society during their mission to fight Kobra. At the time, the team had to split their forces in two with one being sent to deal with Extant and the other the Kobra Cult. Holt joined the team as they infiltrated Blackhawk Island in order to shut down the machine that the cult was using to hijack any technology on the planet by using the captive Airwave. (JSA v1 #11)
Mister Terrific
During the Imperiex War, Terrific along with the JSA and the JSA reserves were given a mission by President Luthor to disrupt Imperiex’s link to his ship’s power supply. The JSA not only cut off Imperiex from his power, but they managed to blow up his ship as well. (JSA: Our Worlds at War v1 #1)
Mr. Terrific and Dr. Mid-Nite II examined a woman under a sleeping spell that their JSA teammate Dr. Fate believed to be his wife Lyta. They had no idea how to treat her, so Fate screamed at them and made an exit to search for his own solution. Mid-Nite and Terrific did a physical on Sentinel and discovered his body was now composed entirely of green flame. (JSA v1 #26) Holt got caught up in a battle between Atom-Smasher and probationary JSA member Black Adam. Captain Marvel arrived at JSA headquarters and physically restrained Black Adam and calmed him down. After a disagreement between Sands and Hawkman, leadership of the Justice Society was put to a vote with Michael Holt being chosen as the teams new leader. At that point, a retrofitted T-Sphere arrived where it abducted the entire team on the behalf of Roulette. (JSA v1 #27) He was forced to participate in the life and death games between the kidnapped heroes with him being in a chess match against his comrade Dr. Mid-Nite. (JSA v1 #28)
Terrific and the JSA investigated the death of supervillain Shakedown. Batman joined them, letting them know Shakedown and his partner New Wave had kidnapped Jessica Weintraub, the infant daughter of a recently bankrupt Gotham computer whiz. When the villains realized they weren’t going to get paid their ransom they turned on each other. Batman and the JSA saved Jessica and captured New Wave. Terrific got Batman to drop his gruff attitude and got a handshake out of him. He told Batman it took more effort to be rude than to be polite. (JSA v1 #31) Terrific and the JSA welcomed Johnny Thunder to JSA hq, he claimed to have had a miraculous recovery from Alzheimer’s. In truth it was the Ultra-Humanite in possession of Thunder’s body. (JSA v1 #32)
Michael came to be worried about the JSA security system being compromised in the past by the Thinker and Roulette, so he had Power Girl overhaul the system and oversaw the creation of a JSA satellite com system. (JSA v1 #38)
Afterwards, Terrific attended the first annual JLA and JSA Thanksgiving celebration when the teams were called to Arusha, Tanzania to stop Doctor Bedlam from disrupting the Pan-African Conference on World Hunger. The JLA and JSA defeated Bedlam, but the attack was a ruse on the part of Johnny Sorrow to give him the opportunity to have Despero possess President Luthor, who was at the conference, and to have the Seven Deadly Sins possess members of the JLA and JSA. Terrific was possessed by Pride, and when the Seven Deadly Sins took complete control over the heroes they possessed they destroyed JSA headquarters and incapacitated the unpossessed JLA and JSA members. Under Pride’s control Terrific allowed Pride to spread his influence on the citizens of Manhattan. The other Sins also spread their influence across the globe. The JLA and JSA freed Terrific and the other possessed heroes from the Sins’ influence, and returned the Sins to captivity in the Rock of Eternity. Fate and the others defeated Johnny Sorrow and freed Luthor from Despero. At Terrific’s request, Luthor came to build the JSA a new headquarters. (JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice v1 #1)
He participated in the battle against the Spirit King who had taken possession of the body of Jay Garrick. With his powers, the villain severely injured Holt though Romaine was ultimately defeated when Hal Jordan regained control of the Spectre. Whilst in the hospital, Holt was clinically dead where he came to meet the soul of his wife Paula who urged Michael to remember their good times together and that it was not his time to die yet. She also revealed that she was pregnant with a son with Michael intending to name the boy Terry whereupon Mister Terrific was revived in the hospital. The experience changed Michael's outlook as he no longer was haunted by the memory of his wife's death and he attended church alongside Doctor Mid-Nite. (JSA v1 #62)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
A rising star, he came to draw the attention of noted scientist Silas Stone who offered an internship to work with him but Holt refused as he wanted to pursue his endeavours by himself. The refusal was not handled well by Silas who had a tense relationship with Holt afterwards. (The Terrifics v1 #27)
Michael Holt was a brilliant man who had numerous gold medals and degrees who established himself his own company called Holt Industries with all this done before he was even 30 years old. At some point, he married his best friend Paula who was a brilliant A.I. engineer. One day, he finished work and went to meet his wife at a restaurant only to find her car overturned with her being mortally wounded. She died before him and in her final moments she revealed that she was pregnant with his son. Before she died, Paula asked Michael to educate the world as he had done her but her death had deeply affected him. He withdrew from society and devoted himself entirely to science but found no comfort there. After a failure in an experiment, he decided to kill himself by using his quantum experiment to punch a hole through dimensions. It was then that he met a adult reminding him of the words of Paula to educate the world with the person stating that they were Michael's son before disappearing. The experience caused Michael Holt to re-examine himself and he decided to become a superhero where he took the name Mister Terrific. (Mister Terrific v1 #1)
Mr. Terrific’s wormhole landed him on Earth 2, where he was immediately confronted by Terry Sloan. Terry Sloan predicted his arrival and said that with his genius and the technology from his own world Terrific could oppose his long-term plans, and Terry could not allow that. Mr. Terrific said he was delusional because he had never met him or been to his world before, but Terry assured him that if Terrific knew what he was planning he had tried to stop him. Terrific used his T-Spheres against Terry, who countered with an airborne nano-virus that took control of the T-Spheres, which shocked Terrific unconscious. (Earth 2 v1 #2)
The World Army council made Terry Sloan their head of the World Army Science Directive over Commander Amar Khan’s objections. Amar disliked the degree of autonomy the council decided to give Sloan, who he viewed as a genocidal sociopath, and warned Terry he’d be keeping an eye on him. As part of his working agreement with the world Army Sloan revealed his various hidden bases and hideouts, but Khan suspected he was holding out on the World Army, and with the help of Sandman Wesley Dodds he located Sloan’s base in Paris. Wesley and his Sandman raided the base, which was protected by Mr. Terrific, who was now under Sloan’s control. The Sandman subdued him, copied the scientific work Sloan was working on, and then blew up the labs and scientific equipment in the base. (Earth 2 v1 #7)
Ultimately, Holt decided to cross universes and return back to his original home where he began working with Batman over a mystery about the Multiverse. He met with Batman in private at his Lunar Batcave. There, Batman unveiled an egg-shaped containment unit bearing the emblem of super hero Plastic Man, implying that he was contained in it and now was the time to release him. (Dark Days: The Forge v1 #1)
He later discovered a tear into the Dark Multiverse that was being made by Stagg Enterprises using technology taken from Terrifitech after Simon Stagg had acquired Holt's old company. Michael arrived on the scene to discover that the source of the tear was Metamorpho who was being used by Stagg for the experiment but had lost control over the portal. In an effort to stop it, Holt freed Metamorpho but was dragged into the Dark Multiverse with him where he had Plastic Man form a protective barrier for them as they tried to get their bearings. (The Terrifics v1 #1) Whilst there, they discovered a gargantuan corpse where Linnya Wazzo resided when she became stranded in the Dark Multiverse. Holt and his comrades then discovered a recording from Tom Strong warning of a great danger to existence. The four then discovered a cosmic antennae which engulfed them in its energy and reanimated the corpse. Holt and his comrades managed to escape back through the portal to Earth where they shut down the doorway before the danger passed through it. Mr. Terrific then removed all the data on the Dark Multiverse from Stagg Enterprises and though he promised to help Linnya with her condition he decided to depart to investigate the mystery behind Tom Strong and had no interest in being part of a superhero team. However, the energy from the antennae caused the four to be in intense pain when separated from one another thus forcing them to stay close and work together. (The Terrifics v1 #2) Due to the effects of the Dark Multiverse energy, Mister Terrific concludes that they can't go their separate ways due to this bond. Mister Terrific was able to come up with a compromise with Simon Stagg by investigating the bond at his facility. This leads to Mister Terrific to find the Tom Strong that sent left the message and find out how to get untethered by the dark energy. (The Terrifics v1 #3)
Upon returning back, they discovered that their foe Doc Dread was actually a guise taken by Java who had been masquerading as a supervillain in order to eliminate Rex Mason so he could claim Sapphire Stagg for himself. The Terrifics and Strong family united but Dread escaped where he unleashed the dark elder celestial titan from the Dark Multiverse. Holt alongside Strong reassembled a transmitter that was plunged into the titanic creature thus shunting it back into its realm. Afterwards, Mason decided to leave the team and live with Sapphire with Holt deciding to disband the Terrifics as he felt that he was no leader and that they were not a superhero team as they had been forced together by circumstances. (The Terrifics v1 #10)
Overview
Personality and attributes
After his encounter with the Spectre, he came to learn of the superhero career of Terry Sloane and how he made a difference in the world with Holt deciding to adopt his costumed identity by taking the name of Mr. Terrific. (Spectre v3 #54) His true identity was not a secret from the public with him not worried about its exposure. (JSA: All Stars v1 #7)
Holt was known to had met Paula at grad school who studied foreign criminal policy at Harvard law. She was said to had been both strong and sure of herself though was not afraid to admit when she was wrong. Paula was said to had been open-minded and honest with her willing to listen to anyone. Such was his attraction to her that he often became mesmerised upon seeing her that he would be distracted in classes. In one case, he missed a question in a test and it was then that he fell in love with her. (JSA v1 #60) Paula was said to had been raised Protestant and took her faith seriously with this being a point that her along with Michael disagreed with in their time together. She had tried on many occasions to get Michael to come to church on a Sunday but he always refused her requests. (JSA v1 #62) Michael wished he could see her smile one last time but instead his memory always recalled her dead on the sidewalk and being lifeless. (JSA v1 #60) He felt that he was nothing without his wife in his life. (Spectre v3 #54) Following a near-death experience, his outlook on life somewhat changed and he said that he no longer saw his wife's grave but rather her smile as she urged him to live on. (JSA v1 #62)
Michael said that he had a brother who was named Aaron. (Mister Terrific v1 #1)
His lack of faith stemmed largely from the death of his wife Paula and said that he would likely not believe in God unless he saw her smile again. (JSA v1 #60)
Though his wife died, he was to have a son that was named Jeffrey Holt. (Jay Garrick: The Flash v1 #3) It was believed the child had died with his mother in reality he was teleported from her womb by Granny Goodness. She told the child he was an orphan and raised to be part of the Furious that were a private army under her control which would be separate from Darkseid's forces. (The Flash v1 #799) The child was eventually reunited with his father though he had a hard time expressing emotions that only increased due to the trauma's he suffered under Granny Goodness. Working with his father, he came to take the name Fairplay and used box-shaped constructs similar to his father though these were of Apokolipitian origin. (Jay Garrick: The Flash v1 #3)
Powers and abilities
It was said that he was one of the brightest human beings on Earth. (JSA: All Stars v1 #7) Such was his intellect that he was regarded as the third smartest man in the world. (52 v1 #39) He was said to had mastered nearly every athletic and academic skill known to man. (JSA: All Stars v1 #7)
On his face, he wore a T-shaped mask that could not be taken off as it was composed of microscopic nanites that attached it to his skin. (JSA v1 #28) With a command phrase, he could have the mask form around his eyes where it could protect him from an attack designed to blind him. (JSA: All Stars v1 #7) An aspect of this was that it made him invisible to technological means of detection. (JSA v1 #31) He was said to be invisible to electronic, video and audio recorders and even laser-guided security systems. (JSA: All Stars v1 #7)
The mask he wore also functioned as an encephalic broadcaster and etheric interface which picked up his aggregate thought-wave thus allowing him to control his T-Spheres. (JSA v1 #49) He claimed that his T-Spheres had a tendency to be curious and often went close to examine other people. (JSA v1 #11) They could generate electrical shocks allowing them to be used as part of an attack an enemy. (JSA v1 #31) If incapacitated but conscious, he could operate through his T-Spheres and generate holographic versions of himself whilst his actual body was recovering. (JSA v1 #49) In a battle, he would use a projection of himself to trick an attacker whilst he struck them from behind. (JSA: All Stars v1 #7) They could also project CO2 lasers where multiple T-Spheres could link them to create a grid-like field to contain an enemy. (JSA v1 #61)
He created a prototype T-Infinity sphere that could engage its Possibilities Protocol went through a number of scenarios and simulated the outcome of certain action. This was achieved by splitting reality into multiple possibility branches. (The Terrifics v1 #25) Holt had built larger versions of the T-Spheres that could serve as a flying vehicles for him and fit multiple occupants along with being able to achieve faster-than-light travel. (The Terrifics v1 #4)
Holt created a body consisting of the greatest scientific minds on Earth that even included people from other worlds in the Multiverse. He came to label this group as the T-Council who were to come together in times of great need. (The Terrifics v1 #27)
On Earth, he had his own private residence known as Holt Mansion that was located in Los Angeles. Mister Terrific once maintained his own private sanctum known as the T-Sanctuary that was located in fixed coordinates in the Ninth Dimension that was accessible through dimensional portals. (Mister Terrific v1 #1)
Notes
- The Michael Holt Mr. Terrific was created by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake where he made his first appearance in Spectre v3 #54 (June, 1997).
- The character was based off the the original Mr. Terrific created by Charles Reizenstein and Hal Sharp.
Alternate Versions
- In Justice Society of America v3 #18 (2008), an alternate version of Michael Holt appeared in the reborn Earth-2 in the Multiverse. This version is a college professor, who has a religious experience after his wife is nearly killed in an accident. This version of Paula Holt is merely left in a coma rather than dying immediately. While contemplating suicide after spending three months trying unsuccessfully to find a cure, he saves another man who is preparing to jump off the same bridge, takes him to a church that was the nearest illuminated building, and the man he saves prays for him. After his wife regains consciousness the following day, this Michael Holt went on to become a devout Christian. He helps the Power Girl of New Earth to return home. When the Justice Society arrives on Earth-2, Professor Holt confronts his counterpart Michael Holt from New-Earth. Professor Holt introduces the Justice Society to his wife, Paula, although New-Earth Michael just introduces himself as Mister Terrific rather than reveal his true name.
- In Flashpoint: The Outsider v1 #1 (2011), an alternate version of Mr. Terrific appeared in the altered timeline of the Flashpoint. Mister Terrific and his wife Missus Terrific were costumed-vigilantes before the infamous Outsider framed them and got them arrested. Breaking out of prison, they teamed up with the Rising Sun in an attempt to assassinate the Outsider. However, this plan failed, and Mister Terrific was the first member killed by one of the Outsider's statue bodyguards.
- In Smallville Season 11: Chaos v1 #1 (2014), an alternate version of Michael Holt appeared in the comic tie-in set in the Smallville reality in the Multiverse. This version was a billionaire and the CEO of HoltCorp who was an associate of Bruce Wayne and Ted Kord. Together with Bruce Wayne and Ted Kord, Michael set up a supercollider project in Antarctica. Their intent was to create clean, renewable energy. However, Lex Luthor got involved with the project and hijacked it for his own purpose. Luthor's men took Michael and Kord hostage, but they managed to break free and fought back against Luthor's men, alongside Booster Gold.
- In The New 52: Futures End v1 #2 (2014), an alternate version of Michael Holt appeared in the possible future timeline referred to as The Future's End set 5 years in the future. Michael Holt abandoned the life of a superhero where he revealed his identity to the public after following Oliver Queen's example and established global brand in a company called Terrifitech that was poised to change the world. Terrifitech unveiled its next generation of hardware to the public where Michael Holt explained that he had developed a device that will unite the people of both Earths since the war with this being the uSphere. The device acted as a backup for the human brain, and it would allow average people to bring out their potential.
- In Nightwing: The New Order v1 #2 (2017), an alternate version known as Dr. Michael Holt appeared in The New World Order Elseworld set in the Multiverse. He was the head of Holt Industries in a world that had been overrun with people with superpowers that led to Dick Grayson forming a program called the Crusaders that sought to control them. Superpowered beings were given inhibitor meds to suppress their abilities whilst others were put into stasis and a number had their powers removed with the remaining being registered in an official program. Dr. Holt helped examine Dick's son Jake Grayson who had developed powers similar to his mother Starfire and told Richard that the inhibitors would not work on the boy as he had grown immune making him a threat to the Crusaders.
- In The Terrifics v1 #11 (2019), an alternate version of Mr. Terrific appeared in the reality designated as Earth 23 in the Multiverse. On this world, Michael Holt had died in the car accident instead whilst his wife Paula Holt had survived. After her husband's death, she used her genius intellect to fight for good as Ms. Terrific where she used T-Cubes.
- In The Terrifics v1 #19 (2019), an alternate version of the character appeared as an inhabitant of Bizarro World set in the Multiverse. This version was Mister Terrible who had a T-shaped head where he used T-Globs and came to be a member of the Terribles.
- In DCeased: A Good Day to Die v1 #1 (2019), an alternate version of Mister Terrific Michael Holt appeared in the DCeased reality set in the world in the Multiverse. Holt attempts to find a cure by analysing Apokolips and using magic. When neither of those options are viable, Holt reveals a final option; time travel. With the help of Booster Gold, Terrific and other heroes manage to find the location of Booster's time machine. He is stopped by Waverider and soon after is disemboweled by Big Barda while trying to save John Constantine.
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, Michael Holt as Mr. Terrific appeared in the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where he was voiced by actor Michael Beach. This version was a member of the Justice League who eventually becomes their mission coordinator after J'onn J'onzz resigned from active duty.
- In Smallville, Michael Holt was referenced in the live-action television series in the episode "Absolute Justice". He was described as being a Nobel-winning scientist and tech guru with Lois Lane skipping an interview with him.
- In Beware the Batman, Michael Holt appeared in the animated series where he appeared in the episode "Hunted" and was voiced by actor Anthony Williams. He was not shown adopting a superhero identity but was rather a business man that operated at Gotham City. He was kidnapped alongside Simon Stagg and Alfred Pennyworth by Professor Pyg and Mr. Toad but was later rescued by Batman.
- In Arrow, Curtis Holt appeared in the live-action television series as part of the Arrowverse with him being portrayed by actor Echo Kellum. He later adopted the identity of Mister Terrific when he began to operate as a vigilante on Team Arrow. Curtis was a bronze medal olympic athlete who began working with Felicity Smoak at Palmer Technologies, where he created a pair of automated drones called T-Spheres as part of the program "prototypes for the future". He later became a vigilante known as Mister Terrific and a member of Team Arrow and the Outsiders. During his time as a vigilante, Curtis and his partner Paul Holt divorced. After the defeat of Ricardo Diaz, Curtis also became the head of research and development at A.R.G.U.S. and married the police officer Nick Anastas.
- In Justice League Action, Michael Holt as Mr. Terrific appeared in the animated television series in the episode "The Cube Root" where he was voiced by actor Hannibal Buress. This version was the self-proclaimed third-smartest person in the world, a former child prodigy, and college roommate of Martin Stein.
Films
- In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, a character by the name of Mister Horrific was briefly seen in the animated film on the Earth-3's Joker's computer that detailed the members of the Crime Syndicate.
- In Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Michael Holt appeared in the alternate universe setting of the animated movie where he was voiced by actor Arif S. Kinchen. He was among the top scientists of the world and student of Professor Lex Luthor where he along with many of his comrades were selected for a United States government project. Their mission was developing countermeasures and weapons against the Justice League as they were deemed too dangerous for the world with Holt naming the initiative Project: Fair Play. By the time the project was completed, a number of scientists were being murdered with evidence pointing to the Justice League being the perpetrators. The survivors met at the residence of fellow project member Will Magnus where they along with Holt were all killed by mechanical Metal Men.
- In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, Michael Holt as Mr. Terrific appeared in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Kevin Michael Richardson.
- In Injustice, the Michael Holt Mr. Terrific appeared in the setting of the animated film adaptation where he was voiced by actor Edwin Hodge.
- In Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One, the Michael Holt Mr. Terrific appeared in the setting of the 2024 animated film set in the Tomorrowverse where he was voiced by actor Ato Essandoh. He was shown as being one of the many heroes gathered from across the Multiverse by the Monitor on-board his satellite that were brought together to help find a solution to the anti-matter wave that was destroying each Earth in the different realities. Mister Terrific was part of the science team where they looked to come up with a solution to save the various worlds from the anti-matter wave's effects.
Video games
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Michael Holt as Mr. Terrific appeared in the background of the setting of the fighting video game. He can be seen on the reactor level of the Watchtower stage where he was working on the computer in the centre that was keeping the reactor in check.
Appearances
- Spectre v3: (1997)
- JSA v1:
- JSA: All Stars v1:
- Justice Society of America v3:
- Mister Terrific v1:
- Earth-2 v1:
- Dark Days: The Forge v1:
- The Terrifics v1:
External Links
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