The credits for this issue say Tony Caputo (also NOW Comics publisher) is the guest writer. Except we’re on Terminator #2; it’s not like there’s an established team. Plus, penciler Thomas Tenney is new too… but not a guest.
Tenney and inker Jim Brozman deliver possibly better art than the last issue, but it’s not more interesting. Instead, it’s all very blandly composed, with Tenney sure readers want to pour over the page to discover child soldiers early and so on.
The child soldiers belong to Johnnie-O and the Synth-Slashers. Johnnie-O doesn’t make it through the first action scene (he’s a grown-up leading child soldiers, boys and girls, but the boys are stronger). The rest of the issue is Tim trying to get his less capable comrade Ann away from the Terminators. Sometimes they’re called ‘Nators, sometimes they’re called ‘Gators. Whatever proofreading they had going at NOW wasn’t enough.
The issue juxtaposes Tim and Ann’s journey with last issue’s rag-tag unit, Sarah’s Slammers. Terminator needed a guest writer to come in and lean further into its worst details. Though when the characters discuss The Terminator: The Movie, the units just have numbers and don’t sound silly. Except they can only repeat the Kyle Reese line from the original. Apparently, no rights to anything else.
Reese just recently went back in time. Or at least, they thought he went back in time, but the place blew up. The resistance fighters are telling the moon humans about it. Also, in the need for proofreading department, one moon person tells them all the androids on the moon are cool and chill, then the android they brought with them immediately says he’s the only android on the moon.
The questionably action-packed finale brings Tim and Ann into the existing plot. The last line of dialogue reveals a “surprise” movie connection.
Hopefully next issue, they get some creative regularity on the book, but… there’s only so much anyone’s going to do with this comic.
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