Even though Mister Terrific has a goofy name, he was always fun to follow in the pages of “The Justice Society of America”. I was pretty excited when hearing he was getting his own ongoing title as part of DC’s New 52 relaunch. Sadly, by page four of “Mister Terrific” #1 I began to see my excitement wane.

When it comes down to it this is a pretty bad issue and it all starts with writer Eric Wallace. He uses a lot of this issue to introduce us to Michael Holt but it’s done in an almost amateurish way. He gives us a completely random flashback sequence and several bits of stiff expository dialogue, all in an effort to give Michael Holt some weight. But it even gets worse. Wallace injects race into the book through some of the most contrived and artificial dialogue I have ever seen. Instead of carrying on a thought-provoking conversation, Wallace’s characters feel petty and hollow. We do get a little information about who Michael is as a person but that’s drowned out by the left-wing, atheistic, black man portrayal that is stressed throughout the issue. There’s also no supporting character that is even remotely interesting and the biggest villain in this issue seems to be an evil Republican senator (OK, I’m being a little facetious with the Republican senator bit but you get my point). Mister Terrific deserves a lot better than this.

Gianluca Gugliotta’s art really doesn’t help things. Most notably, his character depictions are wildly inconsistent. Sometimes it’s with body proportions but it’s mostly with facial features. Michael looks completely different throughout the book and sometimes on side by side panels. Mike Atiyeh helps things a little with his sharp colors but Gugliotta’s pencils present to many problems for colors to cover up.

“Mister Terrific” #1 doesn’t do this character justice. Eric Wallace’s version of Michael Holt is not a character I want to invest in or even like for that matter. So much in the story falls apart due to it’s cheap construction and it’s poorly written dialogue. The art falls flat and never delivers the extra “umph” that the story desperately needed. I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately there’s almost nothing here that will bring me back for another issue.