Geek Culture Reviews

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 r...

Skynet failed in terminating John Connor, but it has a few more plans up its cybernetic sleeves…  Fresh from his stint with the Xenomorph in Marvel’s Aliens , writer Declan Shalvey takes on another icon of 80’s cinema. This time he swaps acid blood for cold, hard steel as we get a new entry in the Terminator franchise. With Skynet’s war on the Connors dead in the water, the insidious artificial intelligence has developed a new way of terminating humanity by targeting the human resistance before Judgement Day even happened. With Terminators sent through time to various time zones, the war of the future is happening in the past. With time literally on Skynet’s side, will anyone survive to take the fight into the future?  Straight off the bat, Shalvey gives us an opening narrative that throws a curveball to established Terminator lore. Taking place in 2018 we see a lush green environment that’s a far cry from the desolate wastelands that are synonymous with the series. Here, it...