Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #2 Review


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With its second issue in, is this one franchise that really needs to be back?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

As John Connor prepares for the final destruction of Skynet, the malicious computer intelligence devises its most terrifying plot ever. Reaching into the past to find psychotic killers whose intelligences can be uploaded into the most lethal Terminators yet, Skynet may finally have the tools to destroy Connor!

Terminator Salvation-The Final Battle 2_CI remember when I first experienced this property.  I was young but I instantly gravitated toward its mix of out of this world effects and thrilling spectacles.  Since then there’s been some growing pains as the saga endured some misfires but thankfully this title is not one of them.  Instead we have something that’s worthwhile, as this creative team steadily builds an arc that’s sure to get people energized for the possibilities on the horizon.

What’s wonderful about the script by J. Michael Straczynski is the fact that its taken a flawed film and expanded its initial scope.  The author implements a grand design, which allows a narrative progression that intersects both the past and a dire future.  It’s a mix that takes the chase aspect of first three flicks and combines them with the Terminator War in a way that never feels disingenuous.  There are some flat moments, but for the most part the scribe balances action with development.  Truth is he only allows a few hiccups along the way.

Pete Woods handles the art and the style he creates is different that what people might yearn for when they think of Terminator Salvation.  That said I did find that from the first page to the final panel, that this illustrator handily built a visual machine that kept me locked and loaded.  Between the chaotically controlled pencil strokes and the colors by Matthew Wilson there’s a lot to love about this visceral barrage. In short: the pictures are good.

Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #2 is successful as it leaves me hoping for some time displacement, in order to make the days between releases shorter. Recommended.

4/5

fourstar

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