Since 1988, we’ve been graced with so many comics about T-800s and overly-confusing time travel plots.
Here’s a look back.
TheTerminatorfranchise is kind of an odd one.
The first two movies feel so perfectly contained as their own story that adding more doesnt feel right.
And these expansions dont end with sequel films.
For better or worse,Terminatorhas lent itself to so many comic books.
Not just a lot of books, but a lot of publishers.
Seriously, there is a LOT of obscured time travel nudity in these.
Thomas Tenney did most of the art, though Tony Akins and Robin Ator did an issue or two.
NOWsTerminatoris a complete trip to read because it came out beforeTerminator 2was even a thing.
See, back in the day, scientists colonized the moon a couple years before SkyNet caused the robopocalypse.
The moon people decided not to help the humans on Earth and instead kept doing science stuff.
Another ship wont be coming by for another year and who knows if theyll survive long enough.
A cool hook, even if its forgotten several issues in.
Eventually, the moon people/Sarahs Slammers are separated from Konrad and Tim and go in their different paths.
In a way, theyre like the prototype for the T-800 and John Connor.
The big-brother good robot protecting the young boy from other robots while the boy gradually loses his innocence.
And man, Tim sees some shit, you know?
John Connor shows up late to the series and brings Konrad and Tim into his ranks.
Tim, now a mute, writes a journal in one issue about his years working alongside John.
Still written by Ron Fortier, its the first major work by one Alex Ross.
Its extremely dark and lacks any of that cartoony feel.
For one, Konrad is completely forgotten about.
Despite being 25 years old at this point,Burning Earthstill holds up and is a must-read for anyTerminatorfan.
A nice-looking, albeit forgettable book that would come out right around NOWs bankruptcy in 1990.
The property immediately went over to Dark Horse, who releasedTerminator: Tempestby John Arcudi and Chris Warner.
This miniseries once again came out prior toTerminator 2, so its Arcudis idea of what aTerminatorsequel should be.
Honestly, its not the worst idea!
He mixes the good guy Terminator concept with switching the plot around and deciding, bigger is better.
Theyre stalked by a facially-scarred Terminator named 1825.M, who follows them with a trio of T-800s.
Rather than terminate, its up to them to protect.
Dudley is in fact very much like Marcus fromTerminator Salvation.
Adapted by Gregory White and Klaus Janson, its pretty much what youd expect.
The only thing of note here is how they add some comic flourishes to it.
Lots of thought bubbles and Claremont-esque dialogue that spells out everything going on.
You know that awesome scene where the T-1000 is frozen, the T-800 shoots him, and he reforms?
Yeah, we didnt need anything more than seeing it and having Arnold say his killer catchphrase.
Having him say, Look!
…The liquid nitrogen is freezing it!
doesnt feel all that necessary.
Back at Dark Horse, they spent the next couple years cranking out more minis.
Also, more resistance fighters from the future go back in time because why the hell not.
Endgame(James Robinson and Jackson Guice) is the finale to this series of stories.
We never do get a follow-up.
There are other Dark Horse books unrelated to all that that came out around the same time.
James Robinson and Matt Wagner put togetherTerminator: One-Shot, which is exceptional.
Its a dark, noir story about a second Terminator sent around the time of the first movie.
And he has a pet monkey for no reason whatsoever.
This would all be fine if the comic wasnt so overwhelming with exposition.
Up until the end, its all rather boring.
Then theres the masterpiece.RoboCop vs. Terminatorby Frank Miller and Walt Simonson.
Something inadvertently brilliant that gets better with every passingTerminatorcomic series.
Its the ending.Which Im about to spoil.
It feels like it happens nine out of ten times.
Frank Miller decided to toss in one of those scenes and then go…
…nah.
One isTerminator 2: Cybernetic Dawnby Dan Abnett and Rod Whigham, which takes place immediately after theTerminator 2movie.
Dannys plan ultimately leads to the reprogramming of the second T-800.
Another major thing is that inCybernetic Dawn, two T-800s and one T-1000 are sent back.
This made me realize something really, really weird about all these tie-in comics.
The T-1000 concept is very, very rarely used.
And thats counting the adaptation of the second movie.
Does SkyNet not realize how freaking powerful the nigh-unkillable liquid metal model is?
The one that can only be killed by being tossed into a vat of corroding liquid?
Anyway, the Malibu stuff is okay for what it is.
If they really stopped the future from happening, wouldnt the Terminators have simply vanished all together?
Wouldnt he vanish all together from never being able to send his father back to create him?
In the late-90s, Dark Horse went back to makingTerminatorcomics.
Alan Grant also wroteTerminator: Death Valleywith Guy Davis and Steve Pugh on art.
Its easily one of the bestTerminatorstories.
Things get complicated and we have all sorts of parties getting involved.
Theres a corrupt military businessman out testing weaponry in the desert.
And of course, theres the actual John and Sarah Connor.
After all…they could fail anddie.
Theres a lesser follow-up calledTerminator: The Dark Yearsby Alan Grant and Mel Rubi.
Its nothing special and Rubis art degrades over time and everything gets distorted.
I mean, look at John here.
Now its time for probably the strangest of all theTerminatorcomics.
God, where do I even start?
Okay, so John accidentally alerts SkyNets records where he is when he and his mother visit Metropolis.
A Terminator shows up and Superman fights it.
He wins, but more show up and theyre increasingly powerful.
Then they do theDragon Ball Zfusion dance and it gets weird.
Another oddball crossover was 2000sAlien vs.
Predator vs. Terminatorby Mark Schultz and Mel Rubi.
While the miniseries is a bit off, theTerminatoraspects are used strangely well.
Meanwhile, John Connor explains all of this to Call in the form of a computer virus.
You cant really blame them for all the death they cause.
At the end of the day, they both thrive because of the shortsightedness and constant greed of mankind.
They are our punishment given sentience.
But you know what grinds my gears about all of this?
Theres not asingleSchwarzenegger reference in there!
Then things moved over to Beckett Comics for theTerminator 3tie-ins.
Over the course of six issues, we have three stories told in two issues each.
The first story by Ivan Brandon and Goran Parlov is about the team put together to reprogram the T-800.
Just eight pages of naked brawling between robots.
SkyNet knows how to party, I guess.
Then another Terminator arrives and tries to steal John away, causing the original to give chase.
Off we go to Dynamite Entertainments set ofTerminatorstories in 2007.
Theyre all named afterTerminator 2, which Im not sure I understand.
Maybe its a rights thing.
Maybe they figured people werent too into the third movie and loved this one the most.
Regardless, they dont have much of anything to do with that particular film.
First up wasTerminator 2: Infinityby Simon Furman and Nigel Raynor.
It had a lot of promise to it, but in the end was also a big mess.
Yeah, all that future stuff explained by the T-800 in that movie is bupkis.
Elsewhere, theres this guy, the T-Infinity.
This doesnt affect anything.
Its just there to establish it as being more badass than the others.
It takes place six years afterInfinityand John and Tara are married.
In a wrinkle, thats really kind of gross, the two have adopted Kyle Reese as their son.
Kyle calls John dad and everything.
John is going to one day have to be all, Hey, son!
How would you like to go have sex with your grandmother?
Here, have a photo to fawn over.
Hes the militant Phillip J. Fry.
Despite being a big mess, it does have another neat direction to it.
John ends up back in time and has to protect his mother and younger self.
Playing with the established time travel plot machine is one thing, but look at Sarah Connor.
Does Linda Hamilton really deserve this?
Anyway, theres also a giant Terminator wolf creature and a dozen identical T-800s in Killswitch Engaged t-shirts.
I dont even know.
Were off to IDWs tie-ins forTerminator Salvation, and I have a hard time caring.
Nothing to really talk about here.
It ends once we get the introduction to Kyle Reese.
Dare Naraghi and Alan Robinson collaborated on a four-issue miniseriesTerminator: Salvation Movie Prequel.
It has minimal John Connor and zero Marcus, but mainly follows two sets of survivors.
One is a group from Detroit and the other is in Niger.
You arent missing anything if you skip it.
Its by Zack Whedon and Andy McDonald.
It focuses on Ben, a soldier during the big war and best friend of Kyle Reese.
Kyle never actually died at the end of the first movie!
Hes been prisoner all this time!
Its a rather sweet story because it decides to pay respect to Kyle as a character.
Hes no longer really victimized by fate as much as he is in the original film.
Im trying to stay away from spoilers here, but, screw it.
He doesnt make it out of the story alive in the end.
But he lives longer.
Then came DynamitesTerminator/RoboCop: Kill Humanby Rob Williams and PJ Holden.
Dark Horse released two more minis concurrently in 2014.
One is a six-issue series calledTerminator: Enemy of My Enemy, and it is totally badass.
Its by Dan Jolley and Jamal Igle.
Its about Farrow Greene, a hired gun and expert asskicker, scarred by her past.
A third party kidnaps Fong.
Greene and the Terminator fight to a standstill once again, but this time, things get really interesting.
Greene points out that they both want Fong.
Thats so awesome you dont even know.
Shockingly, JMS actually hits his deadlines on this project and doesnt skip out on it after three issues!
JMS makes lemonade out ofSalvations damaged lemons by having to come up with a pleasing finale to theTerminatoruniverse.
Neither are referenced in any way.
Parnell is made into a cyborg and is tapped into controlling a bunch of the robots.
Now theyre expert killers, and they slaughter everyone in their way.
If anything, the story gives what may be my favoriteTerminatorcomic moment.
They beat us over the head with it.
But what about the T-800?
Weve really come a long way from the days of Konrad doing backflips and throwing alligators around.
By my count, there are 125 issues ofTerminatorcomics out there.
After going through theRoboCopcomics, I figured Id be in for the same 1:1 ratio of good to bad.
For the most part,Terminatorcomics have been pretty damn good.
Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe we shouldnt simply leave the franchise be.
Maybe we just need to wait for the right person to take the wheel and drive us home.
