It’s no secret that I’ve been enjoying Declan Shalvey’s current run on The Terminator. Not only has Shalvey managed to breathe life into a franchise that I was burnt out on, but he’s finally cracked the code that’s evaded most filmmakers. Namely: why would Skynet send Terminators after just one person? If you have a time machine, the locations you could go (and thus, the storytelling possibilities) should be theoretically limitless.
Shalvey has been making the most of those storytelling possibilities, thanks to teaming up with a rotating crew of talented artists. For The Terminator #4, he and Lorenzo Re travel to the early days of the Cold War, specifically a Whiskey-class submarine called S-353 (hence the comic’s title of “Whiskey Dark”). Captain Masha Alekseev and his crew have been tasked with transporting a man carrying a mysterious piece of cargo back to Russia.
Little does Alekseev or his crew know, that there is someone who’s not what they claim to be aboard the ship. But it’s no spy; this being is a killing machine wrapped in flesh, and sent back from the future. And if it succeeds in its mission, the Cold War will rocket up a few hundred degrees.
Dynamite Entertainment
Shalvey does a great job of writing a story that builds on tension, once again hearkening back to the first Terminator and its horror roots. At first, there’s a mysterious character who looks like he could be a Terminator…but turns out to be something else entirely. Shalvey is also smart for setting the action on a submarine. In a small space like that, the tension rises and the terror isn’t far behind.
Re manages to capture the feeling of claustrophobia with his art. Most of the panels are either close-ups on characters’ faces, or highlight the cramped interior of the S-353; this leads to a brief, but brutal scuffle when the Terminator fights Alekseev’s crew. Every so often, the action will pull out to the outside of the submarine, which Colin Craker renders in cool blues and blacks. It’s both a stark contrast to the blood-red interior of the sub, and a reminder of how majestic – and terrifying – the sea can be.
The Terminator #4 also contains the latest installment of “Buried Alive” by Sal Crivelli and Craker. It’s a fairly quiet two pager, punctuated only by Jeff Eckleberry’s sound effects – the BLAM of bullets or the KLANG of metal on metal as Terminators fight – and taking on the air of a Western-style shootout as two machines try to kill each other. I’m not sure where this story is going, but it sure does look good thanks to Craker.
The Terminator #4 slowly builds up suspense, waiting for the right moment to let all hell break loose. Shalvey has managed to put his own spin on the Terminator franchise, and it’s one that’s sorely needed if you ask me.
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