It’s not unusual for a superhero to find out that they have an unknown child, and one Justice League member just discovered that they were a father in a surprising manner. Rather than a confrontation with an old girlfriend, this child came about through a retcon.
The foundations of the superhero genre are based just as much on soap operas as science-fiction. Given that, surprise children are the result of cosmic shenanigans more often than a tryst in the hero’s past. Such is the case with one Justice League member, who just discovered the son he thought he’d lost along with his wife had survived.
Who is the latest Justice League member to become a dad?
This stunning turn of events was revealed in Mr. Terrific: Year One #6 by Al Letson, Valentine De Landro, and Edwin Galmon. The miniseries told two stories. One retold the origins of how Michael Holt became a superhero The other centered on him in the present as he explores a strange energy signature tied to Darkseid.
Both stories came together with the revelation that Netherlight, the first supervillain Mr. Terrific ever fought, got her powers from the New Gods of Apokolips. What’s more, Michael Holt discovered that his pregnant wife did not die in a random car accident. Instead, she had been killed by Granny Goodness, who took his unborn son.
This was a callback to a story from 2023’s The Flash #799. In it, Mister Terrific was part of a group of Justice League members battling Granny Goodness. The story ended with them rescuing several children Granny had abducted and trained as warriors of Darkseid.
To the astonishment of Mr. Terrific, one of the children was his son, Jeffrey. However, he couldn’t believe the truth of what his T-Spheres sensors indicated at the time. While Jeffrey went on to cameo in the Jay Garrick: The Flash miniseries, it was never revealed how he survived his mother’s death until now.
Now using the codename Fairplay, Jeffrey Holt rescues his father following his latest battle with Netherlight in the climax of Mr. Terrific: Year One. The comic concludes with the revelation that Michael Holt had been recounting his origins to his son. It also shows him taking Jeffrey to visit his mother’s grave for the first time.
Mister Terrific: Year One #6 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
