I’ve always been a fan of crazy, leftfield comic book crossovers. Comic books feel like the only place you can really get these utterly bizarre pairings of inter-company, multi-franchise characters – though we’ve seen some reach the big screen (Aliens vs Predator, for example) and the small screen (Batman vs TMNT, anyone?) – as well as video games (Robocop vs Terminator springs to mind).

So naturally, when I heard about my favourite Robots in Disguise featuring in a crossover with The Terminator, I couldn’t wait to check it out.

Plus, there’s that beautifully minimalist, gorgeous cover art. I couldn’t resist.

Kicking off in the post-Judgment Day world of 2029, it’s almost immediately familiar in terms of the setting, albeit with very slight changes – in the form of Transformers dotted throughout the wasteland.

Our protagonist – whose identity soon becomes clear – doesn’t seem to have a clear motive; nor does Skynet, at least not immediately.

Despite the Transformers taking top billing, this first issue is very Terminator-centric, with settings, characters and references that will be very recognisable to readers who’ve seen the first Terminator movie as many times as I have. There’s a bit of oddness with the character likenesses used and I’m not a huge fan of the artwork overall, but it’s reasonably well written and has an intriguing premise at least.

There’s a brief scene featuring some familiar Transformers – and the likenesses here are more immediately apparent than those of the more human characters (I only realised who one character was supposed to be when he was described as having a ‘German’ accent, for example).

What Transformers/The Terminator #1 does at least do is set up an interesting twist on a status quo that we’re familiar with; not only that, but adding the Transformers into the equation leads to a surprising revelation about what or who Skynet considers to be the enemy in the post apocalyptic future.

I’m certainly intrigued to see where it goes next. It doesn’t seem to be a lazy excuse for two sets of robots to engage in a massive metal smackdown – at least not yet – which is a good start.

Not entirely successful then, but far from a disaster – and I’m looking forward to seeing where we’re headed next.