Michael Holt (DC)

Revision as of 09:55, 13 February 2020

Michael Holt in Mister Terrific v1 #1.

Michael Holt is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

The legacy of Mister Terrific in JSA: All-Stars v1 #7.

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)

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)

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)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

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)

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. (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)

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

Mister Terrific in JSA v1 #76.

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)

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. 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)

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)

Powers and abilities

Such was his intellect that he was regarded as the third smartest man in the world. (52 v1 #39)

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) An aspect of this was that it made him invisible to technological means of detection. (JSA v1 #31)

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)

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)

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 Terry Sloane Mr. Terrific.

Alternate Versions

• In The New 52: Futures End v1 #2 (2014), an alternate 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.
• In Nightwing: The New Order v1 (2017), an alternate version appeared known as Dr. Michael Holt who headed 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 (2018), an alternate world in the Multiverse showed an Earth where Paula Holt became Miss Terrific.

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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.

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:
• JSA v1:
• Justice Society of America v3:
• Mister Terrific v1:
• Earth-2 v1:
• Dark Days: The Forge v1:
• The Terrifics v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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