>Writer Jeff Lemire began formulating the characters who would make up DC's new team book The Terrifics, he thought he was uniting an unusual band of heroes.
>Partway into the process, however, he and the editorial team at DC realized the team resembles a classic line-up, with a few similarities to the Marvel's Fantastic Four. But they decided to embrace the idea.
>After all, classic FF was just the type of book the formerly Marvel-exclusive writer Lemire was interested in creating - a fast-paced, fun, sci-fi-inspired book - although the writer wanted to use that platform to also more deeply explore the team's characters.
>The team is made up of four characters: the super-intelligent businessman Mr. Terrific; the chemically-shifting Metamorpho; the stretchy, wisecracking Plastic Man; and the phasing-powered Phantom Girl, a new version of the character who is related to DC's Legion of Super-Heroes.
>The team will also be interacting with Tom Strong, another character who has a classic sci-fi, adventurous feel, as the story spins out of DC's current Dark Nights: Metal event and sends the team on unusual adventures through the Multiverse.
>Newsarama talked to Lemire about the title, how the team was put together, and what readers can expect from the tension inherent in joining such a diverse set of characters.
>Newsarama: Jeff, I assume some of these characters were given to you by DC, but did you get to pick the team?
>Jeff Lemire: I actually picked the team. It was weird, because the whole project came about in a very informal way. It wasn't something that I sat down and wrote a pitch and submitted or anything.
>It was like, Dan [DiDio, DDc co-publisher] and I were just texting back and forth - I don't know how long ago; this was probably about a year ago - about different ideas, because I had been speaking to him about coming back and doing some work at DC.