This Week: The World’s Thirdest Man Gets the updated Origin Story in Mr. Triffy: #1 Year 1.
Note: The review below contains spoilers. If you need quick spoiler purchase/pass recommendations for the manga in question, please see the bottom of the article for the final verdict.
Mr. Triffy: 1st year #1
Author: Al Letson
Artists: Valentine’s Day Delandro (p. 4-20) & Edwingalmon (p. 1-3)
Colorists: Marissa Louise (p. 4-20) & Edwingalmon (p. 1-3)
Letter: Lucas Gattoni
Cover Artists: Valentine’s Day Delandro & Marissa Louise
Since the start of DC All in Initiative, Terific has earned a lot of screen time. Michael Holt, an unlimited central figure in the Justice League, took on the leadership role in the DC Universe, even appeared as an antagonist of the challenger in the recently wrapped unknown series. There is probably no good time for a series exploring the character’s origins, as the character is set to make his big screen debut in the July Superman film. Enter Mr. Therific: A new miniseries from Year One, Al Letson, Valentine de Landro, Edwin Galmon, Marissa Louise and Lucas Gattoni. This week’s first issue will be the setting for Michael Holt to take on the heroic mantle of his future, establishing previously unseen foils for his past self.
The issue begins with a teaser of the current connection between Darkseid’s recent death and his recent death before Michael Holt puts a T on his face for the first time, before he spends his time in the past. As a hero who has no superpowers beyond the natural talented mind, there is no spider biting or lightning strike that kicks off Michael Holt’s journey to become Mr. Triffy. That driving force must come from within, and writer Al Letson does a great job based on this first problem story as a person of Michael. It has been two years since Michael’s wife and unborn baby died. He is clearly the man who sold his business to the first bidder, a woman named Athena Prescott who has become a clearly unethical activity, and who has not paid much attention to helping his friend Dre. There is a fair amount of exposition in this issue, and Letson delivers it smoothly and organically, and is well established that Michael has a long way to turn his life around.
After the opening of the current three-page sequence drawn and colored by Edwin Garmont, artists Valentine de Landro and Marissa Louise provide visual lion stocks in sequences from past sets, capturing the chaos of Michael Holt’s life well. De Landro’s linework is stylish and well put together with a combination of heavy black people and detailed work. The visual storytelling is solid overall, and Marissa Louise’s colour goes a long way in leading the reader’s eyes, especially during the chaotic action sequences between multiple groups of masked characters that were broadcast as well. The book looks great with a very grounded feel and is exciting to imagine how the ultimate superhero would fit into the world created here.
Mr. Gertific: Year One #1 is a great start to a series of creative teams with a clear vision for the character and his world. It’s great to see Terrific get such a high quality spotlight treatment. It will be interesting to see elements of Michael Holt’s past life, established in this issue, have played a role in the larger modern DCU as the series progresses. With the hands of Letson, De Landro, Louise and the joint effort, it should be an interesting time.
Final Verdict: Purchase.
round up
Metamorpho is a big week for former members of The The The Trifics, where the miniseries wraps around the man #6 of the elements that run fantasically. Al Ewing, Steve Lieber, Lee Loughridge, and Ferran Delgado have put together six issues of the eccentric Silver Age superhero. This final issue pulls out all the stops, links different threads from the early issues, and adds new, absolutely crazy elements to the mix. Metamorpho has a million people really destroyed me. Meanwhile, in the absolute universe, Absolute Mars Manhunter #3 and Absolute Wonder Woman #8 feel that their respective books have settled down to their regular versions. These may be the two best absolute books. So it really feels like they’re ruining us because both come out in the same week. Also, at the other end of the quality spectrum, Batman #160 continues with “H2SH”. We are in the middle of what we know now to be “part 1” of this storyline, and that’s not great. Jim Lee’s art is incredibly stiff and it’s clear that Jeff Loeb treats this as a direct sequel to the original hash storyline, but between that and the present there was 20 years of story and character development. That’s rough.
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