Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Terminator #5!Since the very first installment of the franchise, the titularTerminatorhas always been utter nightmare fuel. A nearly unstoppable killer robot with the power to travel back in time and murder any given target wherever (and when-ever) they are? Absolutely terrifying. But now, theTerminator has become even scarierin a completely new way - and all the franchise had to do was put the killer robot in space.
InThe Terminator#5 by Declan Shalvey and Joe Mulvey, a T-800Terminator goes back in timeto 1965 and hijacks a NASA space shuttle during a mission to put a satellite in orbit. The Terminator’s mission was to tamper with the satellite, as doing so would be beneficial to Skynet in the future.
When NASA loses contact with the astronauts (because the Terminator killed them), two more are sent to the satellite’s location, both to see what happened to the other astronauts and make any necessary repairs to the satellite and complete the other astronauts’ mission. When they get to the satellite, however, the astronauts are greeted by theT-800 in its pure robotic form, as the vacuum of space ripped its synthetic human skin from its endoskeleton - creating a visual that is sure to haunt readers’ nightmares forever.
The Terminator Has Become More Than Just Deadly, but Also Visually Terrifying
Terminators Have Becomes Terrifying in a Whole New Way
In the past, Terminators were really only scary because of how deadly they were. There was a sense that any target was never safe, since the Terminators were both nearly unstoppable and capable of attacking at any place and at any time (literally). In other words, Terminators were scary the wayhorror icons like Michael Myers and Jasonare scary - unrelenting, unstoppable monsters who will always go after their targets no matter what.
But, in terms of visual horror and actually looking scary, the Terminators never really scratched that particular ‘horror itch’. In truth, Terminators look badass, meaning the sight of one isn’t scary out of context. Horror icons like Freddy Krueger or Art the Clown, for instance, are visually terrifying, but Terminators simply are not. However, the sight of a Terminator’s synthetic skin floating in space while the robotic endoskeleton stands behind it changes that completely.
The Terminator’s Latest Comic Continues an Exciting Trend for the Franchise
Dynamite Entertainment’s Terminator Series Puts the ‘Horror’ Back into the Franchise
One of the earliest promises for Dynamite Entertainment’sTerminatorcomic series from series writer (and cover artist) Declan Shalvey was that horror would be a main priority.The firstTerminatorfilmwas scary, but the franchise quickly traded horror for action with the second installment, and that status quo seemed permanent with the subsequent installments. But now, the horror has been brought back toThe Terminator, and this newest issue is the latest proof of that being the case.
After Seeing Terminator’s T-600, I’ll Admit It: Skynet Could Kill Us All In an Instant
The Terminator’s T-600 has a pretty bad rap as an outdated, obsolete, and ineffective model, but I’m here to tell you that that is far from the truth.
It’s fair to say that readers won’t forget the sight of vacant human flesh floating through space - like a ghost made of stretched and twisted skin - anytime soon, and that’s a good thing. This moment not only solidified thatThe Terminatoris a horror series again, but it brought a new level of visual horror to the series that it had been lacking, and it’s pure nightmare fuel.
