The Terminator is one of the most iconic franchises to ever hit the big screen over the years, but it has also been a classic comic book character since the late-1980s and with writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow at the helm it is making a triumphant return to Dynamite Entertainment.

The plans to kill Sarah Connor and her son John have failed, but the genocidal Skynet isn’t out of options yet. There are still a few more avenues into the past that will allow it to destroy the human resistance that is poised to smash its processors into silicon shrapnel – it just needs to expand its theater of operations.

Opening a new front in the war, Terminators are dispatched across the globe and throughout time to target current resistance fighters, their ancestors, and anyone else unlucky enough to be in the strike zones. And while none of these secondary assignments are as straightforward as the missions of the first T-800 and T-1000, time is literally on the machines’ side. When all of history becomes a war zone, nowhere – and nowhen – is safe!

Declan Shalvey takes hold of the reigns of The Terminator and brings a bold vision that respects the original movie franchise’s roots while simultaneously charting new territory. Shalvey’s intricate plot weaves together countless threads from past, present, and future gives us a full scale threat that we are only getting a taste of in this debut issue.

It can be a daunting task sometimes to take an established franchise and create something new and exciting for new readers, while also not ruining the original source material for die hard fans. Shalvey takes this complex storyline gives us everything we’d expect in a The Terminator comic, action, cyborgs, time travel and more. In addition to the surface action, the writer dives into some wonderful character development, giving us a reason to care for the characters in each panel and the threat being brought to their front door.

Shalvey is not the only creator on this book brining this series to life. The artwork by Luke Sparrow takes the script from Shalvey and gives us vivid illustrations with meticulous craft. The visuals are dynamic and echo the cinematic feel of the original films while capturing uniquely comic moments too. Luke’s ability to blend the past and present works seamlessly, but also different enough to allow us to know where we are in time. Additionally, Sparrow’s action on each page makes the still images feel like they are moving at times, which is a unique skill in drawing.

The Terminator is a timeless character that has been able to move outside the world of feature film and this is even more evident with The Terminator #1 by writer Declan Shalvey and artists Luke Sparrow and Colin Craker. This debut issue sets an electrifying tone for what should be one hell of a series. The Terminator returns of comics in fitting fashion!

The Terminator #1 hits local comic shops on October 9, 2024 from Dynamite Entertainment.