Review – Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #3 (Dark Horse)

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Pete Woods
Release Date: 5th February 2014

The third instalment of J. Michael Straczynski and Pete Woods’ Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle stays true to what has been laid out so far. This however is not the greatest response. The storytelling, while flowing from one issue to the next, just seems to leave more questions than answers at the end of every issue. This could be done to keep readers on the edge of their seats, waiting impatiently for the next issue, but to me it just makes reading it frustrating. I don’t find myself salivating for the next issue I find myself more with a feeling “what just happened, what’s the point that this issue was trying to make and will it be resolved any time soon?”

The story picks up right where issue #2 left off with the Terminators and Simon hunting down Parnell. We find ourselves following along on a high speed chase with drab and monotonous dialogue. It’s mostly dialogue between the Terminators, which makes the simple quick statements fitting to the characters speaking, but felt a little boring to me as the reader. Then we find ourselves jumped ahead into the future and with little to no warning other than simply turning the page, we find ourselves in John Connor’s HQ where the battle plans are being formed and the battle is being commanded. It’s a quick sequence with a big explosion and merely hints at how the battle is progressing. The story moves at such a rapid pace because of the quick dialogue from the Terminators and small conversations between the Human forces that by the time you start to get into the plot of the issue it’s pretty much done, leaving you with a frustrating ‘To Be Continued…’ at the bottom. Personally I like a little more bang for my buck; either give me a few good dialogue scenes explaining what’s taking place in more detail, let me in on the plot or don’t drag me along to another issue just to try and keep my interest. Simply put, this minimalistic approach to storytelling just isn’t working for me.

Aside from the quick and less than stellar story telling, which considering this is penned by J. Michael Straczynski I would’ve expected more from, the artwork is actually pretty good. Drawing a car chase that gives the reader a sense of the chase and the speeds that everything is moving cannot be an easy task but Pete Woods does a tremendous job. There is also a beautiful two-page splash page of the battle which catches the eye and perfectly captures the action taking place. So while the storytelling seems to be lacking and dragging everything out, Pete Woods is still keeping the eyes alert and telling the story better than the dialogue.

True fans of the franchise may thoroughly enjoy this series, as it is a very good continuation from where Salvation left off. But from the standpoint of a comic fan, it’s starting to lose my interest. Too many plots in each issue with not enough resolution, just more questions and more confusion.