‘The Terrifics Annual #1’ (review)

Written by James Asmus,
Mark Russell, Gene Luen Yang
Illustrated by Evan “Doc” Shaner,
Joe Bennett, Viktor Bogdanovic
Published by DC Comics

This issue has three different tales by three different creative teams. All of them have a great quality to them. It’s nice to see this. It’s a testament to the characters themself, and how well this series was developed.

The first story is by Gene Luen Yang and Illustrated by Joe Bennett. It starts off with Dr. Zhang being yelled at by Mr. Stagg.

Apparently, Mr. Stagg is upset that Zhang hasn’t quite figured out what to do with a giant vat. The giant vat is full of an unknown pink texture.

Suddenly, that pink texture turns into an army of creatures who get loose. They start going around the Terrifics compound. They then start possessing and cocooning people. The Terrifics then have to fight against these creatures and try to survive. Yang does a great job here and it’s a nice fun story to read.

My favorite story in this is actually the second one. Mark Russell is the writer and he is great. The story is basically an origin story of the Mr. Stagg’s number one Henchman named Java. It shows him as basically being a caveman and it follows him up until present day.

Russell does a great job identifying with   Java and he makes him relatable. He is in love with a woman named Tecla. At the end, he makes the ultimate sacrifice trying to save her. It also shows how they unfroze him in the modern age and made him smart. It may end up being a deadly move. It’s a cool story with decent and fluid art by Evan “Doc” Shaner.

The last story is a story about Tom Strong. I’m not a big fan of having Tom Strong in the DC Universe. Still, writer James Asmus has concocted a pretty decent story. It’s a lost story of Tom in the Dark Multiverse.

Artist Jose Luis does a great job drawing this. Tom fights a big creature in it. At the end of their battle, Tom disappears down a portal. But it looks like it might be the start of something new. Maybe more Tom Strong adventures? It’s a short but effective story.

This is a quality annual for a book that is very good. The stories are strong and the art on each of them is decent. And you can’t ask for more than that.

RATING: A-