The Terrifics: The Complete Collection

by Jeff Lemire, Ivan Reis (illustrator)

760 pages, Paperback

Published July 29, 2025

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot if fun a first, dreadful when Bizarro shows up, better-but-super-disturbing at the end. There are images from the last two issues that might never leave my brain.

[Jakkus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. T: we've come a long way since the dark multiverse
Metamorpho: gotta say it's terrific
Mr. T: Say that again

overall, it was pretty average. there were some really good issues and some very mediocre ones. It was at its best when it wasn't just a f4 parody

[Julio Valentin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half is great (5 stars), but then you get a six (6!) issues arc with Bizarro, and it all goes down. And because it lost all steam. you dont really get to enjoy or even care about the final issues.

[Bailey Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good stuff! Love this team dynamic and the zany silver age inspired adventures. The Lemire issues are stronger than the Yang ones, but both writers have a good grasp on these characters’ voices and Yang does a good job of continuing the dynamics Lemire established while adding their own stuff. All the artists involved do great work. I love Mr. Terrific! So much!
The book also does a good job of giving Plastic Man and Metamorpho different things to do despite their similar powers. Phantom Girl is a good time too. Would’ve liked to see more Earth culture shock with her though.
Sometimes things veer a little far into cheesiness for my tastes, but it mostly does a great job of modern takes on silver age storytelling.
The Bizarro arc is very funny. Really fun read!

[Billy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

First half of book with Jeff Lemire was well written. It dropped in quality with second half as the second writer didn't have the same dynamic and dragged on his stories that could have been complete in 2 issues rather than 5 or 6. You could tell he was new, and DC just placed him on an ongoing book without assistance.

Art was a great throughout the book.

[Mike Mumm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 15 or so issues of this series had me locked in, but the series lost me a bit with the bizzaro storyline and didn't stick the ending too well. I still loved this team and the overrall journey that they went on throughout the whole series, but I really hate to say that it was at its best when they were really leaning into the Fantastic 4 parody more.

[Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was this just a DC riff on the Fantastic Four. Yes. Does that detract from the story or entertainment of it. No. Fun story good characterisation

[Jack Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pitch for this series must have been an interesting one. “Let’s make a team with a brilliant reboot of a little known golden age hero, an actual golden age hero, best known for his comic antics, a silver age hero who had great powers, but never was more than an occasional lead, and not a particularly memorable castoff from the LSH and one with powers that probably hundreds of other heroes have and make a superteam out of them. “ Somehow that got approved and ran for 30 issues and an annual and this wildly entertaining collection is the result. Starting with the basic personality types of each hero, Lemire reinvents them and allows them to grow without changing the essence of what the character was, Mr. Terrific learns to care again, Plastic Man grows up (a little) Metamorpho takes ownership of how he wants his life to change and becomes active in making those changes, and Phantom Girl becomes the hero she wants to be. The stories move wildly from multi-dimensional adventures to quieter character studies with new nemeses and wild interpretations of well-known villains, like Bizarro, things never get boring, if occasionally uneven. The art is generally energetic and visually interesting with the occasional jarring guest artist interrupting the flow, but the overall vibe is a lot fun with some emotional heft. Not a bad legacy for a book that I doubt many people ever imagined happening.