As the closing chapter of an introductory arc, The Terrifics #3 fails to deliver on the promise which the preceding chapters established. What started as a genuinely interesting riff on the Fantastic Four has by this issue squandered most of its narrative momtemum.
Much of this is due to the fact that nothing meaningful actually binds the team together yet, and what Lemire uses in place of genuine bonding feels contrived. Unfortunately, it is this contrivance which drives the plot forward. Lemire does give the embryonic Terrifics a chance to do stuff, and in those brief moments we get a feel for the potential this book has.
Seeing these hitherto unrelated characters struggle as a team is genuinely fun experience that Lemire mines for all its worth. What’s disappointing is the lack of plot and character development that bookend the action. A writer with the capabilities of Lemire could have found a more imaginative origin for this offbeat answer to Marvel’s First Family. What we’re left with is something less terrific than the sum of its parts.
The Terrifics #3 maintains the book’s standout visuals.
Joe Bennet’s pencils may not be as sharply detailed as the work done previously by Ivan Reis, but it’s enough to establish a seamless sense of continuity with the preceding chapters. This book thrives on weird visuals, and Bennet is no slouch in adding crazy new forms for Plastic Man to contort into. He keeps the book’s distinctively strange action scenes flowing while never on the script’s quieter moments.
Rating: 7.5
-Andrew Fontana
The Terrifics #3 is available at comic book retailers everywhere.
