Warning! Spoilers ahead for Justice League #62!

When the Justice League need intellectual help, they don’t turn to Batman, but to Michael Holt, aka Mr. Terrific. While there’s no denying that Bruce Wayne is incredibly smart, it seems that another hero dwarfs his intellect: Mr. Terrific, who is regularly acknowledged as the go-to super-genius for DC’s heroes. Mr. Terrific is to DC Comics what Mr. Fantastic is to Marvel, as he’s the one who is approached for help with impossible problems.

Most recently, Mr. Terrific has been assisting Barry Allen to try and get Wally West home in The Flash. Along with Barry and Oliver Queen, Terrific has been a major aid in guiding Wally through time as he jumps from body to body. This is just one of the many instances where his intellect is called on. In Strange Adventures, the Justice League trusts Mr. Terrific’s intellect enough to assign him to investigate Adam Strange. There are many points in Mr. Terrific’s comic history that outright suggest that his smarts outweigh even the World’s Greatest Detective.

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In Justice League #62 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez, Mr. Terrific is called on by the Flash for much-needed assistance. This happens as Hippolyta arrives at the Hall of Justice, where she’s greeted by Barry Allen. When she suggests the team is in trouble due to Barry’s miscalculations, he instinctively calls Mr. Terrific. This gesture is just another step to further emphasize Terrific’s genius as Barry is pretty intelligent in his own right. Although Batman is generally regarded as smarter, Superman – in Strange Adventures – acknowledged that he thinks Mr. Terrific is beyond Bruce’s intellectual capabilities.

Mr. Terrific is known as the third smartest person in DC Comics, behind Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne. Now, with all the evidence that’s recently surfaced, it’s clear that Michael bests Bruce and it’s about time DC gave him some respect. Clearly, he’s of major importance to the Justice League and deserves to be among their ranks when considering the number of times the team’s heroes have called on him for help.

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Some respect and acknowledgment for Mr. Terrific would go a long way. However, at the end of the day,  Mr. Terrific’s inventions and knowledge will always be impressive, whether he gets the “world’s smartest hero” title or not. Beyond Barry turning to him for help, Mr. Terrific just featured in Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #4. He is a member of DC’s newest team, the Totality, and works alongside Lex Luthor. In this issue, Lex reveals that the only reason he joined the team was to prove that he’s smarter than Mr. Terrific.

Getting Lex this riled up is impressive, showing that even Luthor has severe doubts about his smarts compared to Michael’s. This just goes to further the need for Mr. Terrific to be acknowledged as DC’s smartest hero.

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About The Author


Ben Rolph
(344 Articles Published)

Ben Rolph is a Comics features writer for Screen Rant. Based out of London, United Kingdom, Ben owns and runs an Arrowverse YouTube channel called ‘TheDCTVshow’, as well as being a film critic at DiscussingFilm. He is also a Tomatometer-approved critic and studies film at the University of Westminster.

Ben has a passion for the Arrowverse shows, especially The Flash and Supergirl, which he has watched and analysed for years.

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