The Terminator: Metal #1 is the first comic book issue in the The Terminator: Metal comic book series published by Dynamite Entertainment. It was published on October 22, 2025.
Premise[]
Official description of The Terminator #1 from Dynamite Entertainment:[1]
KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE - AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER!
In the post-apocalyptic future that follows Judgment Day, the shattered remnants of humanity must make use of every tool they can in their existential battle against the machines - and that includes the deadliest weapons that Skynet sends to annihilate them.
For one member of the Resistance, this means trusting his life to a reprogrammed Terminator. Trapped behind enemy lines, the soldier and his repurposed engine of destruction must find a way to both survive and complete their mission - an undertaking with such a low probability of success that it could reboot the Terminator back to its default settings!
Acclaimed Terminator and ThunderCats author DECLAN SHALVEY is joined by co-writer RORY MCCONVILLE and returning artist LORENZO RE for a brand-new chapter in his chilling saga of the War Against the Machines with The Terminator: Metal #1 - featuring brutally beautiful covers from SHALVEY, BOB LAYTON, SEBASTIAN PIRIZ, and IVAN TAO!
Plot summary[]
Year 2025. A Tech-Com squad is engaged in a firefight against Hunter-Killers. Among them is Professor Percy Dalton, a Resistance scientist and soldier, fighting alongside “Tex”, a reprogrammed T-800 unit that has served the Resistance for months. Dalton secretly considers Tex a friend.
The tide of the battle turns when a line of T-800 endoskeletons emerges from the smoke. Tex realizes too late that Skynet has led them into an ambush just as an HK-Aerial appears overhead and drops a bomb. When the dust clears, Dalton and Tex are the only survivors. Dalton thanks Tex for saving his life, one of many times. Thankfully, the data stick Dalton is carrying is still intact.
Searching for survivors, they head toward a nearby position where Tex detects possible human life signs. They find two Resistance recon soldiers, Major Cooper and the wounded Amos, who also survived the bombing. Cooper recognizes Dalton from training camp, but Amos immediately distrusts Tex, accusing it of having alerted the machines. When Dalton explains that the data stick must reach command, Cooper and Amos decide to join them.
As they move out, Amos quietly tells Cooper he doesn’t trust the reprogrammed Terminator, nor Dalton’s strange attachment to it. Cooper tells him him that Dalton is odd but a good guy, and that Tex has saved multiple Resistance lives, but Amos is still not happy with their presence. Meanwhile, Tex confides to Dalton that the wounded Amos is slowing them down. When Tex tries to carry Amos to speed up their progress, Amos lashes out angrily. During the argument, Cooper accidentally steps on a landmine, which detonates and kills him instantly.
Tex urges Dalton and Amos to follow an alternate route through a ruined skyscraper. Amos refuses, convinced it’s a trap. Dalton insists that Tex has been fully reprogrammed and that if it had wanted them dead, it would have killed them already. Amos counters that maybe it’s still trying to do it within the confines of its current programming. The confrontation escalates until Amos decides to leave on his own. Tex stops him, warning that if captured, he could compromise the mission. Amos draws his weapon and fires on Tex, forcing Dalton to pull his own gun. The two men aim at each other in a tense standoff.
Suddenly, Amos’s head is blown apart by plasma fire. Two T-800s appear. Dalton manages to destroy one but is badly injured by the other, which moves in for the kill. Before it can strike, Tex intervenes, punching through the enemy’s chest and disabling it. Dalton, bleeding out, thanks Tex and asks for help. The Terminator calculates that Dalton has only a 13% chance of survival, and that if Tex attempts to save him, the probability of mission success drops below 10%. Tex retrieves the data stick as Dalton pleads not to be left behind. Tex turns away, stating flatly that he doesn't need to worry, as the mission will be completed. As it walks off into the ruins, its red optic glows in the dark while Dalton calls out its name in desperation.
Characters and machines[]
- Percy Dalton
- Tex
- Amos
- Cooper
List of variant covers[]
| Cover artist | Cover version | UPC |
|---|---|---|
| Declan Shalvey | Cover A | 72513035989601011 |
| Bob Layton | Cover B | 72513035989601021 |
| Sebastian Piriz | Cover C | 72513035989601031 |
| Ivan Tao | Cover D | 72513035989601041 |
| BLANK AUTHENTIX | Cover G | 72513035989601071 |
Covers gallery[]
