Yanick Paquette Cover F Variant
Terminal #2
Writer: Joe Casey, Robert Kirkman
Artist: Andy Kubert
Cover Artists: Arthur Adams, Ben Oliver, Cedric Poulat, David Finch, Mahmud Asrar, Rick Leonardi, Yanick Paquette
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics
Terminal #2 looks fantastic. It reads quickly. There’s plenty of action and bloodshed to keep things moving. So why did I finish the issue feeling like I still barely knew anyone?
That’s the biggest problem I’m having with Terminal. Joe Casey and Robert Kirkman have dropped us into a world that feels like it existed long before we arrived, but two issues in, I’m not sure the comic has given me enough reason to care about the people inhabiting it. There’s clearly a larger story being told here, but I’m still waiting for the characters to give me a reason to invest in it.
A Tough Break(er)
After Marilyn Howe’s tragic demise at the hands of Maculox, who failed to grant her a super-powered awakening, her sister Alessandra, known to the team as Crusher, struggles with the guilt of allowing Theed, the operative leader of The Activators, to convince her to bring Marilyn to their headquarters. Not only did she put her sister in danger, but her decision ultimately contributed to Marilyn’s death.
As Crusher contemplates what life could have been like for her younger sister had she never flown to the remote island, Breaker attempts to console her over the loss. This doesn’t go particularly well, ending with a knuckle sandwich to the face for Breaker’s troubles.
In Crusher’s words, why would he care? He didn’t even acknowledge Marilyn’s presence while she was on base. It’s hard to argue with Crusher’s emotions in the moment, which begs the question: how will she cope with the loss of her sister as The Activators prepare to head out on another mission?
Will she remain the headstrong field leader of The Activators that she normally is? Or will her heartache begin to unravel her on the battlefield, not only for her teammates to see, but for her enemies to exploit?
Wright Into the Fire
The Activators have been tasked with protecting tech guru and philanthropist Benjamin Wright. None of them seem overly enthused by the mission, but a job’s a job at the end of the day.
As the team arrives in Cody, Wyoming, they enter a phone manufacturing facility belonging to Wright, only to discover that it’s heavily armed with security guards stationed throughout the perimeter. Their position is quickly compromised, and the guards open fire on The Activators. Before they can get very far, however, The Awoken arrive and take them out, presumably while hunting for Wright themselves.
It’s a pretty straightforward sequence, but it keeps the issue moving. There’s very little downtime between the team arriving at the facility and everything immediately going sideways, which works in Terminal’s favor. The problem is that once the action starts, I’m reminded of how little I actually know about the people involved.
Names Without Faces
The biggest problem is the lack of characterization among both The Activators and The Awoken. So far, Crusher has received the bulk of the attention, and you’re meant to feel empathy for her after losing her sister. That works to an extent because we’ve actually been given something to latch onto with her. The rest of the team, however, comes across as little more than background characters.
What are we supposed to know about Breaker? Thrasher? Or Racer? Besides the fact that they have names seemingly plucked out of a 1990 WCW creative meeting with Jim Herd, we know virtually nothing about them.
I understand that Terminal is throwing us into the middle of an already established universe. That’s not inherently a bad thing. Plenty of comics can drop you into the deep end and make you want to swim. But an established universe isn’t a substitute for characterization. Just because these characters apparently have histories and relationships that existed before we met them doesn’t mean I automatically have a reason to care about them.
Right now, Crusher is the only member of The Activators who feels like a character rather than a piece being moved around the board. Everyone else feels like they’re here because the story needs them to be here. After two issues, that makes it difficult to become as invested in this team as I’d like to be.
Art Is the Activator
Andy Kubert, in case you didn’t know, is one of the greatest comic book artists of all time, and his work in Terminal #2 does nothing to change my opinion of that. His artwork greatly enhances my enjoyment of the series, and his action panels are stellar as usual.
When The Activators and The Awoken engage in an all-out war at the phone manufacturing plant, Kubert doesn’t spare you the gory details. There’s plenty of brutality on display as these two groups, who clearly have no love lost for one another, tear into each other.
There’s one panel that I really like, showing Racer running so fast that you see multiple blurred versions of him, creating the illusion that he’s moving at warped speeds. I’ve always enjoyed simple visual tricks like that, and Kubert makes the effect work beautifully here.
It’s the kind of artwork that makes Terminal an easy comic to look at, even when the story itself leaves me wanting more.
Waiting for Departure
If you enjoyed Terminal #1, I don’t see why you wouldn’t also enjoy Terminal #2. If you were on the fence after reading the first issue, like I was, however, I don’t think this will do much to sway your opinion.
There’s nothing here that I would consider particularly great or particularly bad. It’s visually stunning, thanks to Andy Kubert, but nothing about Terminal #2 manages to stand out beyond its artwork. There aren’t any characters you’re particularly compelled to root for, apart from Crusher, because the rest are given so little characterization that they feel more like grunts under Theed’s thumb than fully realized members of the team.
After two issues, what you’re left with is a comic that wants you to appreciate the fact that you’ve been dropped into a lived-in world but isn’t willing to give you much of a reason to care about the people inhabiting it. I can see the appeal of what Casey and Kirkman are building here, but right now, I’m admiring the world from the outside rather than feeling like I have a reason to step into it.