HUMANITY IS ON THE NAUGHTY LIST! It’s Christmas Eve in Skynet’s apocalyptic future, and the atmosphere is pretty far from festive. But even in the blasted rubble of civilization, the surviving elders of the Resistance have fond memories of the holiday — and in between drone attacks, the younger members are eager to hear about them. The story of the jolly old man in a red suit who infiltrated people’s perimeters is especially intriguing. How did he avoid the sentries and guard dogs? What kind of exfiltration technique was he using? And most important, did he have glowing red eyes that matched his fur-trimmed hat — like the hulking figure that’s now advancing on their position? The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town is a holiday tale featuring killer robots.
Written by Paulina Ganucheau, The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town is an entertaining one-shot that delivers a little festive cheer into the 41 year old franchise. Did we say cheer? We meant a life and death battle with a Terminator. The story has a tentative connection to the holidays with the resistance members chatting about Christmas that was and the Terminator donning a Santa Claus outfit.
For those who are Terminator fans, this might irk you as the mall they’re in is set up for the holidays, but in the films Judgement Day is July or August, so it’s a little odd that there’d be any Christmas stuff out on display for the Terminator to don. There could be explanations it was left there by others, and maybe I missed that explanation, but it’s a small detail that stood out to me.
The art by Kendall Goode is decent. With lettering by Jeff Eckleberry, the overall vibe feels bit more kids cartoon than Terminator franchise. It’d be like the Terminator adapted for the 90s Fox afternoon cartoon block. The action is decent and Terminator looks interesting and somewhat deranged dressed as a killer Santa but the style delivers a lighter tone than other recent Terminator comics.
Though The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town isn’t the Terminator vs. Santa silliness I wanted, it’s still an entertaining comic and a bit different to get you in the holiday mood.
Story: Paulina Ganucheau Art: Kendall Goode
Color: Kendall Goode Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read
Dynamite Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics
