The Terminator: One Shot

The Terminator graphic novels

by James Robinson, Matt Wagner (Illustrator)

This beautifully illustrated 48-page trade paperback spotlights writer James Robinson, who delivers a compelling and action-packed script which plays to Matt Wagner's atmospheric and visually stunning renderings. Unknowingly, Kyle Reese went back in time to protect Sarah Conner from the second of two Terminators sent from the future to alter the past. In this one-shot special, we encounter the very first Terminator to be sent back through time, a female version of the 800-model, but just as deadly, if not more so. Her mission: to kill John Conner's mother! The Sarah Conner that she finds has a mission of her own: to kill her new husband and take off with his vast wealth before ever having a baby!

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Time Travel, Fiction

51 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

James Dale Robinson is a British writer of American comic books and screenplays.

Reviews

[Benji's Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked the art for this one. The story was alright, but not bad for a pre-Terminator 2 Dark Horse Comic.

[Alex Budris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty sci-fi noir. This came out in 1991 - I would have been eight - and somewhere thereabouts, maybe a couple years later, I owned this comic book and distinctly remember reading it for prob the fiftieth time, early in the morning in my babysitter's living room chair, wishing I was anywhere else but there. This memory shows both how gripping this graphic novel is and also how much I hated my babysitter. Great story, great art, pop-up robot motorcycle shoot-out splash in the middle. All around, four stars or better.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Shot (1991). This one was a little harder to love than DH's first story, "Tempest" because it's the story of a Terminator sent back before Ahnold that goes after the wrong Sarah Connor in San Francisco, who also turns out to be an unlikeable character. But Robinson's writing slowly brings the comic up to par, and he introduces a bit of timey-wimeyness of his own which is pretty delightful and answers the question of why no one tried to kill Sarah earlier in her life. [4/5].

[Dunebat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every bit as fast-paced and fantastic as the film it's based on.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second Terminator comic I've read that has a twist part of the way through. In "Tempest", it was a bit unplausible, this time around its "seriously? Why?"

There's not a lot of substance to the story, it's a page filler. Lastly, the artwork is nice, but it doesnt fit with the tone (a little too abstract)

For die hard fans only

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turns out the title was a pun. I'm not really sure how I feel about the art. Sometimes it gets too shadowy. The scenario here is that a different Terminator was sent back around the time of the first film, but it went after a different Sarah Connor. (Sarah Lang, who'd just gotten married.) The idea of John Connor sending back someone to watch his mother from birth in case a Terminator gets sent earlier than the first film is smart. But there's not enough page time devoted to fleshing out this sort of story. The ending goes for tragic, but also feels abrupt.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a big Terminator fan; only in this comic because of Matt Wagner (who took time from the Aerialist to work on this). It's got one really sweet gimmick. Otherwise it's pretty unmemorable.

However, I am interested in Burning Earth since it's the first work of Alex Ross. And The Last Battle because JMS did a nice "ending" to the saga.

[Pranay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is fabulous however the story is similar to the first Terminator movie. The only difference is that we have a Female T800 (first appearance) who is out to kill a new Sarah Connor.

This new Sarah Connor has just got married a few days ago and changed her surname to Conner. There is another story twist as well which kind of makes it exciting to read.

Definitely for the Terminator fans.

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/10

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

re-read. would have benefited from a longer format and more panel space

[Dennis Brock · Rating 2 out of 5]

While some rave about the artwork, I just couldn't get past it. It is a great style, but not for a Terminator story. 2/5

[Martti · Rating 1 out of 5]

A separate self-contained Terminator story in one issue. A bit boring. With extremely subpar artwork. Not the same style at all like in the Tempest or Secondary Objective.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

art was super good this and the story was kind mid but I think the art really made some scenes much more cooler

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know why the art is so reminiscent of 1991? Because this is a sneaky re-release of 30 year old material If you have the omnibuses, don't bother, you already read it.

[Riley Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Works perfectly as a standalone story after the Terminator, with a concurrent storyline involving ANOTHER Sarah Connor. And that story has some twists and turns as well. Pretty good stuff!

[Zoë Birss · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book I found in a comic shop bargain bin, this was a surprisingly effective and impactful story. Going in, I only expected as much as most would from a Dark Horse sci-if movie spinoff from the nineties. But it was really not bad.

The story is enough to hang a decent Terminator tale on. Some of the action and suspense was actually very effective, honouring the franchise but still doi some unique things.

Considering that the film franchise can do nothing but retread, I was happy to read a story from so early on that was willing to try a couple of new ideas. Compared to the films, this book goes new places the films still haven't.

Also, this is the only comic I have ever read with an actual pop up page. A Terminator on a motorcycle is jumping over the heads of some cops. It actually worked in the story and the illustration. It had real impact. And it was appropriate and well done. I'd love to see more experimentation like this in the medium.

I wouldn't go out of my way to find this book. But if you stumble upon it, you could do a lot worse.