Storytellers: José Luís, Jeff Lemire / Artists: Jordi Tarragona (Inks), Michael Atiyeh (Colors) / DC Comics
The ridiculousness that is The Terrifics continues to escalate in the latest entry of the story. Luís and Lemire have cast the different members of the team to different universes where they each meet their own member of Tom Strong’s family and a dastardly villain for them to fight. It is bonkers, off the wall, and it’s honestly a lot, but it’s also exceedingly fun while touching on some fairly dark villains.
The Terrifics serves as an homage to pulp science fiction and the inherent camp of a multiverse that allows for literally anything to happen, including having anthropomorphic rabbit fight an anthropomorphic duck with a gorilla in a suit, a robot in a top hat, and Plastic Man as Plastic Man and that’s just the opening pages. Luís and Lemire are very intentional in the balance of page time each character gets, with a perhaps a slight bias towards Mr. Terrific since he’s sharing screen time with Tom Strong, the titular character of this particular arc. The dialog is wild and enjoyable and has a unique cadence to it that makes it easy to progress each segment at a brisk pace. The artwork shows a wide diversity of styles, and Tarragona’s inks in conjunction with Atiyeh’s colors make the panels pop right off the page.
This is a very different type of story than the first arc of The Terrifics, but the heart of the story continues to be the oddball chemistry of the dysfunctional found family. Nine issues in, we see the affection that has grown between the characters and continue to get glimpses into the past that haunts them, all while having a very Dr. Doom-esque villain as the marque of the entire event.
Luís and Lemire know how to have fun with this particular cast. It’s definitely a particular niche when it comes to science driven heroes, but it’s one that I continue to have a good time with.
8.4 “Strong Family Members and Associates” out of 10
Read The Terrifics? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.
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