Cape Canaveral, 1965: a shuttle goes dark on a mission to set up a satellite in orbit, and another shuttle is launched to finish the job. Except what’s waiting up there in space is not of this Earth – or at least, not of this Earth yet.

The endless cycle of sending Terminators back at different points in Sarah and John Connor’s timeline is a trap the movies fell into over and over again, with the noticeable exception of Terminator Salvation (which did, of course, still heavily feature John Connor).

So it feels incredibly refreshing to see how effortlessly Declan Shalvey is writing The Terminator in different time periods and situations than we’re used to. It gives the series an entirely fresh feel, while keeping the atmosphere of horror and techno-fear that James Cameron brought to the first movie in 1984.

Though the comic series is light on exposition, it’s arguably all the better for it; Skynet’s motivation in all of these different situations, attacking vital military and government missions throughout the 20th century, doesn’t need much explaining, and the fact that Terminators can seemingly show up anywhere, without any explanation, really brings back the horror aspect of the series.

This issue also opens with a very prescient quote by JFK, which is almost breathtakingly well timed.

The backup story is another confusing and far too brief mess, however; I do wish they’d just drop it, especially as it’s only a few pages in each issue anyway.

Still, the main story in each issue of The Terminator has been excellent so far. With most of them being single parters, you can generally just pick up any issue of The Terminator and be pretty much assured of a satisfying and complete story, which is rarer than you’d think these days.

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