Dynamite Entertainment's The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town is the licensed property holiday special that I didn't know that I needed. But boy, did I ever!
After a drone detects human activity, Skynet dispatches a Terminator to investigate with lethal force. The android locates a Resistance scout team hiding out in the ruins of a mall. Being that it's December 24th, the robot selects clothing that is supposed to make it easier to blend in with the human populace. It winds up selecting a Santa Claus costume, complete with hat and accompanying beard!
This has got to be one of the most wild, unusual and yet oddly satisfying Christmas specials that I have ever read. And yet, do you really expect me to believe that Skynet is so stupid an AI that it will program its Terminators to dress up as Santa Claus because the date is December 24th? If this issue was set during Easter, are we to expect that the Terminator would dress up as the Easter Bunny? (We NEED a Terminator Easter special with Arnold dressed up as the Easter Bunny!!!)
Don't expect to see Schwarzenegger in this book. The Terminator used here is clearly a T-800 from it's muscular synthetic flesh to the classic metal skeleton underneath. However, this Terminator is black and bald. I am thinking that Dynamite doesn't have the rights to use Arnold's likeness...
Still, it's a pretty intimidating Terminator. The first 3 pages where we witness the T-800 coming onto the scene and taking assessment of its surroundings was super cool. So were the moments of intense action when the android and the scout team clash. I could so hear that 'Dum dum dum de dum' theme from the original 1984 movie in my head during those moments.
My opinion of Kendall Goode's artwork of the scout team was a little bit mixed. They looked less from the iconic live action film franchise and more set from a 1990s animated series on FOX Kids on weekday afternoons. It's not terrible. And if Goode had made it where those first 3 pages matched the old school animated look of the rest of the book, I would be completely okay with it. Did perhaps somebody else work on the first couple of pages and then have to drop out? Or maybe they had to sub in to make a publishing deadline? Regardless, there is a little bit of visual disjointedness here.
There was another aspect that I almost judged poorly for this one-shot. Good thing that I decided to research a bit before I did. I haven't watched many of the newer Terminator movies. So for me, Judgement Day is always August 29, 1997. That's when Skynet becomes self-aware and takes over the world thanks to a coordinated nuclear strike. However, as we passed 1997 and more Terminator movies come out, that number keeps getting pushed further and further back. Anyways, I know that it seems like stores are setting out Christmas stuff for sale earlier a little bit each year. But in no way was there anything holiday related for sale or decked out at your favorite mall unless they had a Hallmark store selling Christmas ornaments in during the late summer of 1997. I know. I used to work at Suncoast at the Crabtree Valley Mall at that time.
Thus, in this timeline, Judgement Day occurred probably sometime around November or December. It would explain all the Christmas stuff and the Terminator getting the Santa costume from 'Santa Land'.
I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm actually glad that this was a one-shot. I think making it a miniseries would have tarnished the quirky charm of the oddball holiday special; up there with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians or Lee Majors in The Night the Reindeer Died (IYKYK). A good plot. Excellent action. Good art that just doesn't happen to be consistent throughout. This one is sure to make 2025 a Christmas to remember!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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