The Stop Button

I’m confused… when Eric Wallace has a black woman (who, incidentally, penciller Gianluca Gugliotta draws identical to blonde Karen Starr—the colorist adds the… ahem… race) go off on Karen Starr about being black, is it reverse racist?

I might be giving Wallace and his totally not terrific Mister Terrific too much though. Wallace doesn’t talk about race much, which is good. Gugliotta occasionally forgets Mr. Terrific doesn’t have wavy Peter Brady hair. Terrific’s son, from an alternate timeline, shows up at one point and switches race a couple times between panels.

If Mister Terrific is DC’s idea of a strong black character, they’re failing miserably.

It doesn’t help Wallace isn’t smart enough to write the character. When Terrific talks about “differential equations” like they’re impossible for anyone to understand, it’s clear Wallace shouldn’t be doing first person narration. Mr. Terrific sounds dopey.

It’s an icky comic and politically limp.

CREDITS

Software Update; writer, Eric Wallace; penciller, Gianluca Gugliotta; inker, Wayne Faucher; colorist, Mike Atiyeh; letterer, Dave Sharpe; editors, Kate Stewart and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.