Terminator: Salvation, the last installment of the Terminator film franchise gets a sequel in the form of a comic from J. Michael Straczynski and Pete Woods! Will they deliver a fitting ending to the long-running story of John Connor? Read on to find out!
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Illustrated by Pete WoodsA-listers J. Michael Straczynski and Pete Woods unite for the biggest Terminator story ever! Hopping between the future and the past, this sweeping, twelve-issue epic counts down the end of the Machine War—but not the one fans expect! Everything’s at stake, and the fates of Skynet and John Connor will be told!
* The story Terminator fans have been waiting for!
* From the mind of superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski (Ten Grand, Amazing Spider-Man, Thor)!
* Fan-favorite artist Pete Woods (Superman, Deadpool)!
You know, for a lead character, I don’t think anyone really likes John Connor. I’m not too familiar with the Terminator franchise, my adoration for The Ahnald extends pretty much solely to Total Recall and Kindergarten Cop, but I can still recognize that Connor’s the main protagonist, not the T-800. Even in Terminator Salvation, which I didn’t see but read the Wikipedia page for research, most of the focus seems to go to Sam Witwer’s character and I remember Sarah Connor Chronicles being about, well, Sarah Connor. And that weird poster of Summer Glau poster where she was a naked robot torso. So, essentially, John Connor’s gotten the short end of the stick in terms of anyone wanting to actually write about him and this trend continues in Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle where Straczynski decides to take his focus to his own original characters. And Helena Bonham Carter’s character from Salvation. Did you know she was in that movie? Ha! Me neither!
By focusing on these newer characters, Straczynski tells his own story in the Terminator universe. Three T-800s, who Dark Horse couldn’t get the Schwarzenegger likeness for, travel from the future to 2003 so they can grab Helena Bonham Carter who’s dying from cancer in the past despite working for Skynet in the future, where John Connor is making googly eyes at his wife while talking about how he’s totes gonna raid Skynet and steal their time machine. That’s not his only function in the comic, but it’s pretty close. He also explains why Skynet doesn’t just not make the machine, which is predestined to send Kyle Reese/Cuddly Ahnald back in time for the events of Terminator 1 & 2. Because they have no continuity of memory from before they were created so they can’t know anything that happened before Judgement Day in 2004. Wow, for someone who spent their entire life under siege from skull-faced robots who are responsible for the extinction of humanity, Connor seems pretty cocky. He even says Skynet’s definitely heard rumors and I find it crazy that they wouldn’t take the existence of Connor into consideration, or even just Google it. Hell, at this point Google’s going to end up becoming Skynet.
Still, that sort of makes sense. Skynet’s just a bunch of machines so they can’t take some things into acco- oh they have a human on their side? Who’s from the past? Yes, Helena Bonham Carter’s character works for Skynet and shares the majority of this issue with Simon, a resistance soldier who goes back in time to search for one of those cocky murderers Straczynski loves writing. Why? I’m not entirely sure. I’m not entirely sure why anything happens in this issue. I can appreciate it not being a retread of past Terminator stories but even that goes to a certain extent. There are still people going back in time to find people from the past, but instead of The Terminator we get three robots with personalities to match and just some other dude. None of the characters are immediately engaging and, if I were a Terminator fan, I’d be a little upset that this comic didn’t have anything that made the franchise what it is (whatever that may be.) There is one character I did like, though. The mall cop who found a breaking and entering and called in for back up, as he was entering the room the criminal was in. You don’t get cops like that anymore. Because they’re unqualified.
This comic isn’t all seemingly pointless characters, however. Pete Wood’s does a great job when it comes to illustrating the story, although there aren’t many moments for him to really show off his work. The beginning fight is neat, and the 2-panel sequence with the female Terminator is funny. Wood’s depiction of the Skynet robots are great too, though the flying eye-drones, while menacing, aren’t as recognizable as the titular animatronic. They’re still drawn really well, and Wood is definitely the highlight of this book, but there’s nothing here that’s immediately recognizable as Terminator.
And really that’s the major flaw for Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle. The only demographic I can really see enjoying a book like this is a hardcore Terminator fan who… I don’t think really exists? Because take away the Terminator license and all you really have is a vague sci-fi plot that hinges on your knowledge of movies that aren’t T2 as well as some really plain characters.
Final Verdict: 5.5 – Browse with a leaning towards Skip.
