Comic Book Review - The Terminator #2

What lurks in the jungles of Vietnam? 

The first issue of Declan Shalvey’s The Terminator series served as a real jolt to the ailing franchise. While Hollywood churns out a lacklustre Terminator film every few years, none have compared to James Cameron’s original duo, The Terminator and T2: Judgement Day. With the battle between Skynet and the Connor family wearing thin, the Terminator franchise needed a real kick up the metal butt to reinvigorate its fans into taking another trip into its apocalyptic future. 

And thankfully this has happened in the past as writer Declan Shalvey takes the infamous T-800 Terminator and throws it into the jungles of 1976 Vietnam. 

Aptly named ‘Apocalypse Then’, we open to Saigon on the eve of its capture by the Viet Cong. Our focal point in this time zone is the American G.I. Duggan who’s got something hidden within the Vietnamese jungle. With the American forces preparing to depart Saigon, Duggan seemingly abandons his platoon to retrieve this hidden stash all the while unaware that a Terminator is also hunting him. 

Throwing an iconic character such as the Terminator into the jungle is quite a departure from what we’ve seen before. Not only do we get a wholly unique narrative, but it also allows Shalvey to have some fun along the way. While the narrative is split between Duggan and the T-800 it’s the latter that had me more intrigued. Not because the story was lacking but, because I was interested in seeing how a killing machine from the future would compare to the brutality of the Viet Cong. There’s a lot of cold machine logic on display as the Terminator utilises its future capabilities to analyse and brutally decimate the outmatched soldiers with relative ease. It’s a great choreographed piece which highlights the ferocity of a machine programmed to kill. 

With the story essentially split across two parts, it's down to Duggan to add the human element to the proceedings. As the T-800 leaves a wake of destruction within its wake, Duggan is racing across the country to retrieve whatever it is that he is looking for, to then get back to Saigon for his evacuation. We don’t find out what he’s looking for as the T-800 finds him first. This then leads to the conclusion of this opening part, while leaving no assumptions to the impending showdown of man Vs. Machine. 

Once again, David O’Sullivan brings an incredible amount of energy to his artwork for this issue. Whether we’re following the T-800 or Duggan, O’Sullivan brings a different tone to each character. When we’re following Duggan, there are plenty of warm tones that bring the humid atmosphere of Vietnam to life, which is a stark contrast to the bloody, shadowy world of the T-800 embedded deep within the jungle. Both locations contrast extremely well with O’Sullivan pitting blood and bone against the machine in a different way to Shalvey’s script. 

Seeing this second issue out is a brief appearance from Sal Crivelli’s “Buried Alive”. Much like its opening part, we’re given two pages that don’t give too much away. This time we follow a Terminator as it arrives within the present day with orders to terminate Hassan Chafik. Why? Well, for now, we don’t know. 

Overall The Terminator #2 does a brilliant job of establishing what direction it’s going in, whilst building its own story away from James Cameron’s established lore. There’s no mention of John Connor, Skynet, or the resistance. Instead, we get the opening act of man vs machine with a deeper mystery slowly revealing itself. 

Rating: 8/10 

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