The Terrifics #25 – Gene Luen Yang, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Terrifics #25 is a hard comic to review, because it’s not so much a story as an experience. For their 25th issue, DC’s oddest team book has delivered DC’s first interactive comic in years – not counting the occasional thing where you vote to affect outcomes like in the recent Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year one-shot.
This is a choose-your-own-adventure story in the vein of the classic book series, and it works perfectly with the Terrifics’ mad science approach to fighting crime. The Terrifics’ beloved Gateway City is under assault by a Kaiju tree, and Mr. Terrific is ready to debut his newest invention, which allows the team to reset time and play out multiple scenarios to find the one that gives them the best chance of success. The choices begin early in this oversized issue, as you have to pick which of your four team members decides the plan of attack. Surprisingly, based on your choice some of them may end the scenario immediately – and it’s not who you expect.
From there, the story takes one strange twist after another. What looked like a killer tree turns out to be host to hundreds of crow-like mutant assassin. What looked like a monster turns out to hold a complete city inside it via a magic portal.
Every choice reveals a little more of the world, and the story doesn’t just test your planning skills but your ethics. Temptations to rush ahead to solve the bigger problem are met with a quick death and a reset, while taking the more heroic route will lead you to success. There aren’t as many options for success or failure as there are in the books – this is more of a puzzle to find the one right solution – but it’s an inventive concept that provides a lot more re-read value than your average comic and puts you into the shoes of your favorite heroes.
The guest art by the brilliant Dan Mora, usually found at Boom Comics, is just the icing on the cake of the best issue since Lemire left this title.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
