Terminator Printed

NOW COMICS (1988-1990) 17 issues

The first Terminator comic book saw the light of the day in 1988. Released by NOW Comics, it had little to do with the actual movie and was more of it's own adventure comic with a license than a movie tie-in. The series is targeted for very young audience with very bright, colorful and cartoonish artwork and scripts. It followed the adventures of people fighting with machines in 2031, although the future war is nothing like what we've seen in the movie. It's bright, shiny, with grass and blue sky. Gone are tanks, darkness and ruins. The whole theme and feel is reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Terminators, often referred to here as 'Nators, look nothing like the movie endoskeleton. They also have very human-like characteristics and are depicted as cliché cartoon robots who want to wear people's skin. There's also a Terminator Town, showing how light natured and cartoonish the series was. The series introduced and included Kyle Reese's little brother Tim.

Even the logo was changed, underlining the fact that the series was only based on the concept of the movie and didn't have much to do with it. The main characters were often switched around and the action was taking place in various places on Earth, from Tropical Jungle to the Oceans. The series also featured 'Nator babies and wolves.

'The Terminator' survived as it was for 17 issues until experiencing a big revolution

TERMINATOR: THE BURNING EARTH (1990)

(Story: Ron Fortier, Art: Alex Ross) 5 issues

After receiving some criticism , NOW Comics decided to completely revamp 'The Terminator' comic book and had a 'reboot' of sort.

Starting with #1, "The Burning Earth" was a 5 part story published between March-July 1990. This time, the mini-series was heavily tied to the movie with an incredible attention to visual detail and fantastic recreation of the war and world seen in the movie.

The previous incarnation of the series was completely disregarded and the story was now very gloom, dark and gritty with very mature story targeted for much older audience. The entire series was painted by the famous Alex Ross, who did every cover and every panel and recreated in great detail the ruins, landscape, Ground and flying HKs and terminator endoskeletons, as well as Resistance's uniforms and accessories. The 'back to roots' approach was signaled by the inclusion of the movie logo and lettering for the first time. Terminators are portrayed as emotionless cold killers in a very spooky way.

"The Burning Earth" is a very accurate representation and a great companionship to the movie

TERMINATOR: ALL MY FUTURES PAST (1990)

(Story: Chuck Dixon, Art: Diego and Desol) 2 issues

Although Alex Ross is absent from this two issue mini series, the visual theme of the dark and gloomy movie future is somewhat still intact, although definitely not as impressive as it was in the previous series. The downfall is the unnecessary over creativity, typical for licensed comic books and video games.

"All My Futures Past" tells the story of the time travel. Two teenage boys, somewhere far away in the valley untouched by the war, witness a fighter being shot down and talk to the dying pilot who gives them important data to deliver to John Connor. The data of course is about Skynet's plans to sent it's newest invention, the terminator, back to 1984. Brave boys make it to LA and witness Reese being sent back after the killer.

DARK HORSE COMICS (1990 - 1999)

Dark Horse Comics took over the license and started their own series in August 1990. Unlike NOW, which continued on after the movie and didn't touch the movie's story, DH decided to reinvent everything and set the story in the present. DH was also a return to the typical 80's comic book style, although still with more mature scripts.

While a good comic book, it had little to do with the terminator. It was too bright and felt very much like a G.I.Joe cartoon. Also, there was just too much tweaking with the story, with numerous time travels, revisions and all that, eventually ending with Connor being born a girl!

Almost all of the Dark Horse series were linked together with same characters. It's also interesting to note that DH's 'Tempest' was the second one to introduce a terminator-human hybrid (first being the cartoon styled first issue of NOW comics)

Terminator series' released by Dark Horse

TEMPEST (1990)

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES (1991)

ONE SHOT (1991)

THE ENEMY WITHIN (1991)

HUNTERS AND KILLERS (1992)

ENDGAME (1992)

SPECIAL (1998)

THE DARK YEARS (1999)

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

Randall Frakes and William Wisher

Published by Bantam Spectra

Randall Frakes is a film and science fiction writer primarily known for his work with long-time friends, Bill Wisher, and James Cameron. His first film work was as a special effects cameraman for Roger Corman, and a number of unproduced screenplays, before his collaborations with Wisher and Cameron, kicked of his professional film-writing career. Because of his personal friendship with Cameron, he and Bill Wisher were heavily supplied by James' knowledge and information about the franchise. Based on that fact, This novelization is as canon as novelization could be.

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

Shaun Hutson

Published by Star Books

A very different novelization from Frakes and Wisher's version. While the other one was numbered by days, this one is divided into parts and chapters. Also adds some extra scenes, like more interaction between Sarah and Ginger

THE TERMINATOR (1996)

Sean French

Published by British Film Institute

Part of the BFI's "Modern Classics" series; a very bizarre critique and opinion of the film. One which has upset some fans of the movie