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It's been 40 years since Arnold Schwarzenegger first uttered the immortal words "I'll be back" - and he was right. The Terminator, which premiered in October 1984, remains an all-time classic of movie science fiction, one that has spawned numerous sequels (of extremely variable quality), a TV show, and masses of comics over the last four decades.
Some of those comic books will soon be coming back into print thanks to Dynamite Entertainment. The publisher has announced that it has signed a new partnership with StudioCanal to produce a range of Terminator 40th Anniversary graphic novel collections as well as "new stories in the rich world of The Terminator universe."
No details of those new stories are available just yet, but the crowdfunding link for the 40th anniversary reprints has just gone live. Three volumes of The Terminator 40th Anniversary Graphic Novel Collections will be published, with each available as softcover, hardcover, and hardcover with metal jacket editions. A set of three key issues with a shiny "chrome" cover finish is also available.
Interestingly, this will be the first time that the various Terminator comics will be presented in chronological order. Here's what Dynamite had to say about that:
"No...it's not the phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range, but these three volumes give you something that no other Terminator product ever has. For the first time ever - you can read The Terminator stories at full graphic novel size in chronological order! When you sit down with these apocalyptic versions, you'll be reading in the events of the chrono war waged by Skynet against the rise of the resistance in the future in the actual timeline sequence. That's something even Skynet wasn't expecting!"
Here's the breakdown of the comic stories that will be included in the volumes.
- The Terminator One-Shot
- The Terminator Sector War #1-4
- The Terminator 1984 #1-3
- The Terminator 1990 (Tempest) #1-4
- The Terminator Secondary Objectives #1-4
- The Terminator The Enemy Within #1-4
- The Terminator Endgame #1-3
- The Terminator 1998 One-Shot
- The Terminator Death Valley
- The Terminator Dark Years #1-4
- The Terminator Hunters and Killers #1-3
- The Terminator Suicide Run (DHP #138)
- The Terminator 2029 #1-3
- The Terminator Burning Earth #1-5
The history of The Terminator in comics is almost as convoluted as the movies' time-twisting continuity.
The franchise was first expanded onto the printed page by NOW Comics in 1988, before Dark Horse took over the license in 1990. The publisher released many new comics, including crossovers like 1992's RoboCop Versus The Terminator, Superman versus The Terminator: Death to the Future in 1999 (in collaboration with DC), and Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator in 2000.
That would prove to be Dark Horse's final release in the franchise for several years, as Dynamite took control of the license for the first time, but Dark Horse started publishing new Terminator comics again in 2008. Other publishers that have dipped their toes into the time-twisting future war have included Marvel (which published a comic adaptation of the first cinematic sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Beckett Comics, Malibu Comics, and IDW.
To get your hands on the 40th anniversary collections, head to the crowdfunding page now. Further stretch goals will be added over time.
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