With the upcoming cinematic re-release of Back to the Future, you’ll get a chance to head back to 1985 and hang out with Marty McFly and Doc Brown. And now, thanks to Dark Horse Comics, you can step back one more year and re-experience the tension and terror of The Terminator.
The first issue of The Terminator: 1984 hits shelves today. It’s a continuation of the story from The Terminator: 2029, a 3-issue story arc from earlier this year, and is the first of a second 3-issue series which will complete the tale. In case you’re just getting caught up now, 2029 follows the band of humans led by Kyle Reese in events leading up to the first movie—the first appearance of the flesh-covered T-800s to the discovery of the machine that will send Kyle Reese back in time to protect Sarah Connor. However, in the comics, Kyle Reese is not the central focus. Instead, it is his friend Ben.
Ben has been tasked to follow Kyle back to 1984, both to protect Kyle and to try to prevent the chain of events that lead from the destroyed T-800 to the eventual creation of Skynet. The events of 1984 overlap with the first movie, so it’s interesting to see things from another perspective, sort of a parallel plot that intersects with the familiar movies in parts, and then moves away on its own path.
Of course, I assume that nothing in the book can negate what happened in the movies, so Skynet still gets built and Terminators still come back to attack the humans. However, it’ll be interesting to see where the story goes, and even if it can’t change the events of the movies, it could still shed new light on them and change the way we see them. Already, the first issue provides a glimpse into some of the activity surrounding the discovery of Sarah, Kyle and the smashed T-800 in the factory.
Excerpt from Issue #1: Ben marvels at Earth's past. Image: Dark Horse Comics, used with permission.
The Terminator is written by Zack Whedon with art by Andy MacDonald. Visit the Dark Horse website for a small preview of the first issue, and pick it up at your local comics store today!
