By d. emerson eddy — We live in interesting times. As I write this, I'm uncertain as to when my next choice for comic of the week is going to go up. Diamond Comics Distribution is no longer shipping new product for the time being, everything non-essential in my region is closed anyway, and it looks like many publishers are pushing back digital releases in order to help brick-and-mortar retailers as well to not give further undue hardship during this time. So, when new comics will resume a regular schedule is up in the air. I know that uncertainty can lead to anxiety, it certainly does for me, so I wanted potentially the last comic of the week for a while to be something of comfort food. For me, a mash up of two seminal '80s products representative of my childhood could have come at a better time.

Transformers vs. The Terminator #1 from David Mariotte, Tom Waltz, John Barber, Alex Milne, David Garcia Cruz, and Jake M. Wood is exactly that. It inserts our favorite robots in disguise into the familiar plotline from the original The Terminator film from 1984, with the Decepticons being the force that has to be stopped by travelling back into the past. Despite the gravity and grim tone of a robot apocalypse, it's just fun to see this familiar story reinterpreted with new players, and being put into the kind of situation where a traditionally evil Skynet are the de facto protagonists.

David Mariotte and John Barber play with our expectations a bit as we're introduced to the Sarah Connor and T-800 of this reality, rather humorously finding out that Connor's more or less expendable in this changed world. They also hit a nice tone of incorporating some familiar elements and iconic lines from the original version of the story, but reinterpreting them into this new dynamic of a different threat. It's also funny to see the T-800 try to make the distinction between the Transformers being invading robots and him being a terrestrial model. Fleshbags be damned.

It's absolutely wonderful to see the return of Alex Milne to the Transformers again, supplying another form of nostalgia. He was one of the essential parts of IDW's previous continuity on More Than Meets The Eye and more and it's a treat to see his art again. His Transformers and Terminators are gorgeous and weighty, but there's a nice darkness here that suits the tone of the story. His Sarah Connor and “en-fleshed” T-800 are off model, so don't expect likenesses, but they're still nicely realized across the backdrop. With what amounts to two warring factions of robots and an analogue to Mount Saint Helens erupting, humanity looks particularly fragile going forward.

David Garcia Cruz chooses a darker color palette here of purples, blues, and reds that are representative of both the dark tone of the story and bits of '80s nostalgia thrown in as we get some glowing variants along that theme. Nice electric blues as the T-800 makes its time jump. Jake M. Wood's letters help along this theme as well, with some very nice retro computer display lettering.

Overall, we may not know what the future will truly bring, but in Transformers vs. The Terminator #1 we get a great reinvention of the past from Mariotte, Barber, Waltz, Milne, Garcia Cruz, and Wood. If you're a fan of either of the properties, definitely check this out, as it's a fun ride that hits the nostalgia buttons well. Even if you're not, this is still a fun and action-packed comic with two factions of killer robots.

Transformers vs. The Terminator #1
Story: David Mariotte, Tom Waltz, & John Barber
Writers: David Mariotte & John Barber
Artist: Alex Milne
Colorist: David Garcia Cruz
Letterer: Jake M. Wood
Publisher: IDW & Dark Horse
Price: $4.99
Solict: It's Skynet vs. Cybertron in a crossover for the ages! 1984: When a deadly race of machines emerge from another time, will a robotic guardian be able to protect the Earth from a dire future... or will the T-800 fail in his mission to prevent the world from becoming a plaything to the Decepticons?

d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.