There are very few sci-fi franchises I’ve gotten burnt out on, but The Terminator is one of them. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was trying way too hard to one-up the first two films, and the less that’s said about Terminator Genisys, the better. But hope came in the form of Declan Shalvey’s Terminator comics at Dynamite. Shalvey is one of the few creators who was actually willing to push the elements of the Terminator mythos to new limits, and he’s done it again in The Terminator: Metal #1.
The Terminator: Metal #1 takes place in the thick of humanity’s war against Skynet, and follows a scientist named Percy Dalton who’s trapped behind enemy lines. Percy has an ace in the hole: a reprogrammed T-800 he re-named “Tex”, who serves as his protector. Unease starts to swirl around Percy’s fellow freedom fighters, as they don’t know whether Tex has been truly reprogrammed or is waiting for the right moment to stab them all in the back.
The concept of a “good” Terminator has been a staple of the franchise ever since Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but it’s always been utilized to diminishing returns and also raises the question: if Terminators are this easy to reprogram, why isn’t Skynet? Thankfully, The Terminator: Metal #1 showcases the downsides of reprogramming a Terminator as Tex often goes for cold logic – meaning that he’ll leave the wounded to die. It’s that kind of emotional nuance that adds to the story, and it means that Metal isn’t just another rehash of Judgement Day.
Dynamite
Shalvey isn’t alone on The Terminator: Metal, as Rory McConville joins him on co-writing duties. McConville’s no stranger to writing for genre icons, thanks to his work on Judge Dredd and Spawn, or even time travel stories as he helped craft Time Before Time with Shalvey for Image Comics. Shalvey and McConville, much like Percy and Tex, work in sync; their dialogue builds to a fever pitch as tensions between Percy and his fellow freedom fighters reaches a boiling point, and plenty of firefights pepper the arguments.
This chaos comes to life courtesy of Lorenzo Re. Re previously illustrated issues of Shalvey’s first Terminator series, and he brings the future war to horrifying life. Masses of T-800s stride through flaming debris, their glowing red eyes serving as a harbinger of doom. While the human soldiers vary in sizes and shapes, they all carry the same blue body armor that John Connor once wore.
Tex is the standout figure in all of this, thanks to the ragged cloak covering his body and the red stripe crossing his right eye, giving off the appearance of a scar. Colin Cracker plays with a wide range of colors to bring the hellish landscape of the future to life, lighting up a violet night sky with massive reddish orange explosions. Finally, Jeff Eckleberry brings a touch of humanity to Tex’s mechanical speech.
The Terminator: Metal #1 continues Dynamite’s bold take on the Terminator mythos, with the creative team putting its own spin on the longest-lasting Terminator trope. Declan Shalvey might have been the best thing not named James Cameron to happen to this franchise, and I hope he and the rest of the creative team stick around for a long while.
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