Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #4 Review

There’s a lot to love about a franchise that comes packaged with time traveling robots, but is this an extension that needs to exist? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

The battle for humanity is underway, but a deadly new player has entered the game! A murderous psychopath has joined with Skynet and imbued the Terminators with his own lust for death. How can John Connor hope to survive when the machines are now as ferocious as men?

Considering that we have Terminator: Genesis coming soon, the idea of continuing the legacy of the fourth entry in a property that’s on the verge of a cinematic reboot might seem a bit strange. Don’t tell that to the creative team behind this, because at this point I’m willing to give them the keys to the proverbial ignition as they drive all of us toward a more than worthwhile final battle.

J. Michael Straczynski handles the text and the author does something with this script that I did not think was possible. He gave an explanation for why Skynet attacked the world in a way that not only molded with accepted lore but also justified the actions therein. In short: via bits of information followers get the chance to see all of this from the machine perspective. It’s a challenging and engrossing entry, but I do wish the literary enthusiast would have given more time to the burgeoning events in the past.

The art done by Pete Woods is by far his best to date. We don’t get to see much of the current era, as the text seems to focus in on the future war this outing. Not only does he get to give a visual cadence to the birth of a new entity but he’s also given the opportunity to show the humanity of inhumane decisions. Combine those pencil strokes with the colors done by Matthew Wilson and we receive a striking barrage of illustrations.

Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #4 pushes the franchise into some interesting waters as it easily earns a recommendation from me.