![]() Since it covers ground that a filmic “Salvation” trilogy would have had parts two and three not been canceled, “The Final Battle” is among the most essential “Terminator” comics. ![]() Straczynski communicates the rules and then tells a helluva story within those parameters. Another reason is more straight-up rational: “Good” Terminators will make excellent laborers for the rebuilding.Ĭrisp, logical writing like this is found throughout the 12 issues of “The Final Battle.” Often with time-travel stories, a reader has to allow for a certain amount of “just go with it” story points, but that’s not the case here. It’s not clear that John will cease to exist if he clicks the “delete” option on Skynet, but that possibility works to explain why he wouldn’t simply delete his longtime nemesis. Storytelling with soul: The 20 best ‘Angel’ episodes This gives us a striking image for the singularity theory as John argues his case with Skynet that both sides should end the war and team up to rebuild the Earth into something beautiful and meaningful again. In a saga where a main hero (Marcus Wright) and a main villain (Parnell) are human-Terminator hybrids, it’s nonetheless a shocking twist that John decides to have his brain copied into an endoskeleton body in the closing issues. It’s logically inaccurate but emotionally true. ![]() This is dramatically boring in the moment for our heroes, but not for readers because 1, we’ve been following Simon’s battle against three Terminators in 2003 since Volume 1, and 2, Woods delivers back-and-forth panels that give the dramatic impression of the events happening in a linear sequence. When things do not immediately change, John announces “The mission has failed.” A surprising twist Straczynski and Woods give a master class of how to pull off this trick in a segment where John and Marcus observe Simon going through the Time Door in 2029 with the mission to kill Thomas Parnell (a serial killer in the employ of Skynet). But that only makes it more surprising and fresh indeed, it’s impressive that Straczynski can keep a reader turning pages with bated breath in a saga where predetermined fate is a central theme.Ī big challenge for writers and artists throughout “Terminator” comics history is to find ways to illustrate the inexplicable fact that events happen at different times yet all times occur simultaneously in meta-time. Straczynski – ably assisted by Pete Woods’ crisp art – explores all of these notions, but of course he’s coming at the singularity theory from the endgame of the Resistance-versus-Skynet war, which is not how scientific theorists assume the merger will come about. “Terminator: Salvation - The Final Battle” Volume Two (2014) In other ways, it’s a comforting notion, because it says no fear is necessary we are intrinsically linked with the AIs we create, and things like artificial hearts and artificial limbs will make humans’ lives better. In some ways, it’s a scary notion that we will “turn into” robots. The theory is the opposite of the initial fear-based theme of the “Terminator” saga: that robots will wipe out humanity. ![]() The singularity – as it applies to human and artificial-intelligence evolution, as well as artificial body parts – is the theory that humans and robots will at some point in the future become a single entity. Along with the movie and “The Final Battle” Volume One, Volume Two (which includes Issues 7-12) is part of what I consider the core “Salvation” trilogy. It’s an outstanding conclusion of the “Salvation” saga, which got cut down to only one film but enjoyed a robust run of novels and comics. Michael Straczynski goes deep into the 2029 battle and deep into the idea of the singularity in “Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle” Volume Two (July-December 2014, Dark Horse).
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