Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human #2
Written by Rob Williams
Art by P.J. Holden
Colors by Rainer Petter
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Walter Simonson, Jonathan Lau, Tom Feister
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 7, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

There’s nothing quite like a good mash-up, no matter the art form. When an artist takes two distinct pieces and combines them well, that is the mark of true brilliance. Well, put together Robocop and Terminator, and you have a geek’s dream come true!

Come with me on a journey to the future…and the past. In the future, Robocop has seen all the horrors that Skynet is responsible for. In an effort to change the course of history and stop the evil before it happens, he travels back in time and finds himself in the days when Sarah Connor and her young son John struck down Cyberdyne Systems. A battle ensues when he encounters the second time-travelling Terminator, whom he perceives as a threat.

The way the time travel is framed in Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human #2 might be a bit confusing at first to new readers, but on my second and third read, I was able to follow along much more closely. Rob Williams does a pretty masterful job of taking the best elements of the two franchises and combining them in a way I hadn’t quite considered. The very human Robocop makes a natural but formidable opponent for the eerily mechanical Terminator. The contrast is chilling; here are two cyborgs, one of whom is in touch with his human side, and the other who is completely devoid of all humanity.

P.J. Holden‘s art moves the story along by leaps and bounds. In just one splash page, he recaps the entire story of humanity’s demise at the cold, metallic hand of Skynet. The battle between the two title characters is over in just a few panels, but Holden makes sure that every single one counts. I was impressed by how much action he was able to fit into so few pages.

The combination of Terminator and Robocop is even more epic than it sounds. Sure, you’ve got two robots slugging it out in battle for the future. But more importantly, you’ve got a look into the question of what makes us human! Is it our flesh and blood, or our will to survive? It’s just the kind of philosophical question a good comic should leave you asking.

I’ll give this issue a 4 out of 5, just because it was a little difficult to follow at first. You can get away with a borrow, but if you’re a big fan of these franchises, something tells me you’ll want to take the plunge and buy this one.