Comic Review: The Terminator: Enemy of My Enemy, Vol. 1

Written by: Neil Davies, Special to CC2K

This new story in the world of The Terminator offers a fresh perspective and thrilling story in an otherwise stagnant franchise.

Author: Dan Jolley
Pencils: Jamal Igle
Inks: Ray Snyder

Author Dan Jolley’s first step in the world of The Terminator truly took me by surprise. As someone who has been a fan of the Terminator movies, it was refreshing to see that this story did not involve Kyle Reese or anyone from the Connor family. Not that those stories weren’t classic and enjoyable, but they consistently lacked character and story diversity. As a fan of the series, it seemed strange that in this enormous future robot war saga, there were no other prominent characters worth mentioning beyond Sarah, John, Kyle and Arnie. However, The Terminator: Enemy of My Enemy, Vol. 1 is an entirely new story focused on different characters, and that alone makes it a must read.

At first glance this volume seems to be a typical Terminator plot. A killer robot from the future arrives in the past to kill an influential member of the future human resistance, and a guardian intervenes to protect them. This repetitive premise, frankly, bored me and had me rolling my eyes and looking forward to being done with this comic, but then something truly interesting happened. Roughly a quarter of the way through this book the tone shifts, the plot is turned on its head and the reader is introduced to a fresh take on the world of The Terminator, spearheaded by an interesting and powerful female lead.

Stylistically this comic is smooth and effortless. It manages to tell a story that takes place during the 1980s without being bogged down in the time-period, making it a piece that easily exists in the modern world. Jamal Igle’s artwork is clear, detailed, and captures the creepier elements of an un-killable robot, while also ramping up the intensity of the spectacular action sequences.

The story itself is fast-paced and interesting, however it does suffer from a slight lack of character development. Through expositional flashbacks, Jolley attempts to sway readers into caring about the protagonist. However, these glimpses into backstory, while interesting and well written, aren’t entirely connected with the story’s present action.

The Terminator: Enemy of my Enemy is cleverly written and full of compelling action sequences. Not only is this comic one of the better Terminator stories, it has also quickly jumped to my personal list of recommendations. This novel is a must-read for Terminator fans and is easily accessible to those unfamiliar with the saga.

4.5 out of 5.0