J. Michael Straczynski Takes On The Terminator Universe: Today In Science & Science Fiction
This article is more than 2 years old
While most of us learned the name “J. Michael Straczynski” via his excellent Babylon 5 series, he’s also worked extensively in comics over the years, penning memorable series such as Rising Stars and Midnight Nation, not to mention playing in the Big Two’s respective sandboxes on titles including The Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, and Superman. Today he takes his talents into one of the most beloved fictional apocalypses around, the universe of the Terminator franchise. The first issue of Dark Horse’s Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle hits comic stands today, with JMS scripting, art by Pete Woods, and colors by Matthew Wilson.
The Final Battle will have everything you’d expect from a good Terminator tale: time hopping, murderous robots, future rebellion leaders who scream at directors of photography who walk onto the set during a scene. The 12-issue series is set in the aftermath of 2009’s Terminator Salvation, with an adult John Connor continuing to lead the human resistance against Skynet’s genocidal machines. Back in July, JMS told Comic Book Resources:
The story that I’ve always wanted to see visualized, and that I think other fans of the movies have eagerly anticipated, is the battle that set all of the movies into motion: the assault on Skynet, the Terminators going through and what happens afterward on both sides of the timeline. So the events weave in and out of the tapestry of The Terminator, showing what we know or what we think we know, then turning the camera around to show us that what we thought we knew may not be exactly what happens. … the story becomes about Skynet, but also about who and what we are as a species. Which is what always set this series of movies apart from the imitators: it’s not just about machines, it’s about what those machines have to say about us.
You can pick up Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #1 at your local comic shop, or purchase a digital copy at Dark Horse’s online store.
A-listers J. Michael Straczynski and Pete Woods unite for the biggest Terminator story ever! Hopping between the future and the past, this sweeping, twelve-issue epic counts down the end of the Machine War — but not the one fans expect! Everything’s at stake, and the fates of Skynet and John Connor will be told!
Today in Comics
Doctor Who #16 (IDW Publishing)
Deadman’s Hand, Part 4 of 4: Series finale! The people of Deadwood fighting zombie gunfighters and cross-dimensional alien invaders! Oscar Wilde debating for Earth’s very existence! Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Clara in a suicidal stagecoach attack! Thomas Edison’s redemption! And the Doctor, sacrificing everything one last time… but is it enough?
Guardians of the Galaxy #9 (Marvel)
INFINITY TIE-IN The Infinity adventure continues as Thanos’s rise might lead to the Guardians’ fall.
Judge Dredd #14 (IDW Publishing)
Dredd returns to Mega-City One—still recovering from the ravages of “The Long Fail”—only to find the Justice Department under siege! Seems that someone has snuffed 12 Judges in creative and shocking ways. Someone who is intimiately familiar the routines of your average street Judge and their sector houses… Someone who Dredd himself failed to catch just a few months ago!
RoboCop: Last Stand #5 (Boom! Studios)
RoboCop and Marie have been set up. Fighting with every ounce of strength and wit they can muster, Marie and RoboCop must face an army of android Ottomos coming at them from all directions. With no chance of survival, they can only hope that their deaths will mean the end of OCP.
Star Trek: Khan #3 (IDW Publishing)
Written by Mike Johnson, with art by Claudia Balboni and David Messina, and a cover by Paul Shipper, Khan #3 finds Khan fighting to preserve his empire as the Eugenics Wars lay waste to the planet. The tale, once again overseen by Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness co-writer/co-producer Roberto Orci, runs 32 pages, costs $3.99 and sets the stage for the final two installments.
Today in Television
The Tomorrow People (The CW, 9/8c) — “Thanatos”
HIDDEN SECRETS — Stephen (Robbie Amell) is determined to uncover what he hopes is the key to finding his father, and crafts a plan with the Tomorrow People that involves getting inside Jedikiah’s (Mark Pellegrino) head.Meanwhile, Cara (Peyton List) and Russell (Aaron Yoo) encounter an uninvited visitor in the subway tunnel base.Stephen takes a risky opportunity and snoops around Ultra.
