Terminator : Sector War

The Terminator graphic novels

by Brian Wood (Writer), Jeff Stokely (Illustrator), Frédéric Wetta (Translator)

Bestselling Writer Brian Wood (Aliens: Defiance, The Massive, Briggs Land) pens a thrilling chase with electric art by Jeff Stokely (The Spire, Six-Gun Gorilla).

Two Terminators went back in time to 1984, one to kill Sarah Conner, and another targeting NYPD Officer Lucy Castro, a rookie cop assigned to one of the worst sections of the city. Isolated and unable to call for backup, Castro faces off against the relentless T800, relying on unlikely allies to see her through to dawn.

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

112 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2019

About the author

Brian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.

From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.

His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.

He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, 2 terminators were sent back in 1984, one in Los Angeles looking for Sarah Conner, and one in New York looking for Lucy Castro. The difference is Castro is a tough as nails beat cop who can take care of herself. This totally has the feel of the original Terminator. There's not much original here, just nonstop action with a protagonist who is a combination of Sarah Conner and Reese. It's a fun, quick read. Stokely's characters are very manga driven, but his action sequences are top notch.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uninspired skippable shoot-em-up Terminator tale.



It started well, but quickly went downfall for good and after reading and living Brian Wood's Aliens: Defiance miniseries from Dark Horse I was expecting much more.



'Nuff said.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why was this even made?

I like most of Brian Wood's stuff (Despite not buying anymore since we found out he was hitting on woman, using his power in the comic world to get advances on woman, all while having a pregnant wife. Yikes...no supporting that.) Anyway, this is pretty bad. It's just a rehash of EVERY terminator comic/movie/game you ever read/played. It's a woman, Castro, who's on the run from a terminator. Worst of all is there is no BLOOD. No heavy violence. Listen, I'm not a gore freak, but the reason Terminator 1-2 were so good is they have a horror feel. This has...a chase feel but not very interesting.

Overall, extremely passable. Some cool action moments but the dialogue, story, and art all lack something major. A 2 out of 5.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, there were two Terminators sent back to 1984, one to target Sarah Connor and the other sent for Lucy Castro, an NYPD officer. That's really the only original thought in this entire book, which pretty much reads like a complete re-hash of the original story. The artwork is pretty decent throughout, though, which is why I give it 3 stars.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terminator takes the time to tell the woman he's hunting exactly why he is hunting her. No good reason why he'd do that.

The art works when it's the Terminator, but humans get manga faces.

[Sem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have much sympathy for Brian Wood as a person after, uh, recent years. But damn does this book deliver on all fronts: a great simple plot that kicks off an action-fueled chase illustrated masterfully by Jeff Stokely as well as a badass heroine who doesn't feel one bit less cool than Sarah Connor. A worthy addition to the Terminator canon. Unlike, you know, some other feature-length entries.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is a bit too manga for me. The story is shallow, but let's go through the list of items. Heavy vehicle driving at high speed - check. Shotgun with unlimited ammo - check. T-800 with a mission it won't give up until it's done or destroyed - check. Strong female target - check. Suspense on every other page - check. This story hits the mark. Surely you're not expecting something mature and life-changing in a Terminator story.

Very much like Sarah Connor, Lucy Castro is also targeted by a Terminator tasked with killing her and her unborn baby to prevent it from becoming a leader of the Resistance fighting Skynet in the future. Lucy is determined to survive against this seemingly indestructible enemy.

Lucy needs allies, but can't contact the police. She reluctantly allies herself with an arms dealer, but even his weapons and his numerous gang members are put to the test by the tank that is the Terminator. She finishes the robot herself using an excavator. The following morning she finds out about Sarah Connor being targeted by a similar machine, so she quits her job and heads for LA.

[Dann · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Dark Horse comes Terminator: Sector War, an exciting and action-packed graphic novel. On the same night that the T-800 terminator was sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor in Los Angeles another terminator is sent after NYPD Officer Lucy Castro in New York, but with no resistance fighter to protect her Castro will have to outsmart and outrun the terminator on her own. While it’s kind of the same old Terminator story, author Brian Wood does a pretty good job at having Castro workout what the terminator is and use her police resources and knowledge to come up with a plan to defeat it. Also, the ties to the original film help to make the story less random and inconsequential (as Terminator comics often are). However, the artwork is rather mediocre; often lacking definition. A fairly typical Terminator adventure, Terminator: Sector War is entertaining and delivers a lot of thrills.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The same night in 1984 that a Terminator hunts Sarah Connor in Los Angeles, a second Terminator is sent back to New York to target the rookie cop Lucy Castro.

There's a simplicity to this book that I liked. It takes the Terminator franchise back to the very simply premise of a woman, totally outmatched, trying to survive whilst pursued by the ultimate killing machine.
That's really all there is to this book but, for once, the lack of complexity works in its favour. It's not trying to reinvent the franchise (something the increasingly terrible movie sequels kept trying), it's just taking the core premise and doing that.

There are two things that let the book down though, one of which is that, whilst the simplicity is nice, we never actually get much of a sense of why Lucy is important enough to warrant SkyNet's enmity to the same degree that Sarah Connor does.
There's a brief scene that tries to tell us, but that scene is this book's other problem; it totally breaks credibility that a Terminator would pause mid-killing spree to explain its motivations. It even tells Lucy to "Prepare to be terminated", instead of just actually terminating her, and thereby giving her the moment needed to escape. It's silly but also highlights how important it is to have a Kyle Reese-type character to give us the lore dump we need about future events.

Also, I saw nothing that explains why this book is called 'Sector War'. It's not a big deal, but you'd think the title would have something to do with the plot.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essentially one long chase/action sequence, and in that context there's not much opportunity for rich characterization; however, it is fun to look at. Stokely's art reminds me of what the writers used to refer to as a sort of American or Western manga style, which is nice and grimy and has character. One nit to pick is I was never fully convinced that a cop couldn't find a single working phone the entire evening despite having a car. She never saw any other cops that night, or didn't go straight to any precinct?

[Otherwyrld · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually can't see the point of this graphic novel - a retread of the original Terminator story but with a rookie cop in New York instead of Sarah Conner. A terminator that is not nearly as entertaining as Arnold. A future child who is destined to do ... what exactly? Certainly not as much a John Conner.

The anime style of the artwork didn't suit the story, the faces in particular were poor though the backgrounds were good.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art style is interesting, and not one I would've thought of in association with a Terminator story. I questioned why this story even needed to be set in 1984 when there's no acknowledging the events of the first movie until the very end, at which point it would've gotten more interesting had we gotten to see Lucy's meeting with Sarah. I also kind of wish we could've seen Lucy's daughter in the 2029 time period. Sort of a missed opportunity.

[Robert Hultman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reboot is what so many of the reboots in the past wish they were. The Now comics series was at best hit or miss and the couple Dynamite Entertainment series I recently looked into were quite lacking. This one has good artwork and storytelling with excellent pacing and writing. Dark Horse to the rescue once again.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian Wood really seemed to be phoning this one in, especially since his Aliens stuff was actually pretty solid. It's basically a copy of the first film without anything that made the original appealing. Most of Wood's characters are usually pretty good too but these were completely forgettable.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

If there was a good reason to do a full remake of Terminator set in NYC rather than LA in parallel with the first movie, I can't think of it.

Also The Bronx in 1984 looks worse than the post-Skynet future which....is entirely possible, actually.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman is chased by a machine from the future.

This graphic book was reasonable, but the plot was a bit jumpy and not that original.

Reading time around one hour.

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[S G-W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art, but basically a re-skinning of the first movie, set in New York with a couple twists.

[Onyx · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story would have benefited from a more silent Terminator, one that doesn't explain everything to the protagonist. A 101 infiltration unit would not explain why it's trying to kill it's target. Just wish there was more show and less tell. The ideas they had were cool but fell short. Some of the artwork specifically the cover stuff is really great and the protagonist is cool but the story fails to deliver on the premise in an effective way.

[Atef Attia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Une entrée inutile dans l'univers Terminator en forme de resucée du film original (en remplaçant Sarah Connor par une flic badass). Le principal tort de ce comic n'est pas seulement son manque d'originalité ni son écriture banale, mais c'est surtout qu'elle est graphiquement... super moche.
à zapper.