The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1 Review

 

Writer: Paulina Ganucheau

Artist & Colorist: Kendall Goode

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artists: Will Robson, Francesco Biagini, Reese Hannigan & Kendall Goode

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Price: $5.99

Release Date: December 3, 2025

 

Ava is leading her squad on a scavenging mission through Orchard Mall when she gets a call. Her base reports that they've spotted a drone scanning the mall for Humans. Chris is new to her squad. He's a kind lad who is eager to support Beta Team. But Chris anticipated a training mission, not a combat situation. Can Ava and her team make it back to base? And can Ava help Chris survive his first tour of duty? Let's grab our weapons, leap into The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1, and see!

 

Story

The snow is falling outside the shattered mall. Still, as Ava and her team search for food and supplies, they have their combat gear to keep them warm. Ava put Chris in charge of the radio. But when he forgets the new call sign, Ava acknowledges the warning and orders their return. Since Judgment Day, everything has changed. Instead of gathering with family members and friends to celebrate the holidays, Ava leads her squad through the wreckage of a parking structure on Christmas Eve.

 

In The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1, a new generation has grown up in this New Normal. They consign holidays like Christmas to ancient history. Chris is rattled but wonders what life was like before Skynet stripped Humans of their culture. As they battle dangers from their Skynet oppressors, and her squad suffers casualties, Ava shares her Christmas memories with Chris.

 

Before Paulina Ganucheau's story follows Ava's team, she begins with a Terminator reaching Orchid Mall. Like Chris, the Terminator knows nothing about Christmas traditions. And like any T-800 transported through time and space, it also scavenges for what it needs. When its sensors detect the Human Resistance Platoon, the Terminator finds a clothing store and selects an appropriate disguise.

 

The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1 reminds us that even in our darkest hours, memories of brighter days lead us through. It's a testament to the importance of family and cherishing the people life brings our way. Moreover, it's a lighthearted, action-packed nightmare that Ava and Chris must endure if they are to awaken to a better future. Or at least, face tomorrow's battles.

 

Art

Snow drifts lazily to the parking lot outside the shattered mall entrance. Skeletons occupy damaged and overturned cars. Inside, manikins inhabit a shop in the litter-strewn mall. Energy arcs from a ball of light. When it fades, a figure rises. As the muscular "man" strides through the shop, words and numbers overlay his vision.

 

Kendall Goode shows the Terminator in limited tones of brown and blue. He perceives the world in shades of red. When the Human Resistance captures the narrative, Ava and her team wear blue, gray, and green, while Ava wears a red bandana in her blond hair. A drone pierces the purple sky and gray rubble with a beam of red light. Then, Ava’s rifle turns the sky orange in The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1.

 

Jeff Eckleberry portrays dialogue with lowercase black letters in white balloons. The Terminator’s thoughts and readouts appear as giant white letters. Sound effects evoke the brutal firefight that erupts whenever Kyle Reese closes his eyes. And none of the Skynet death machines say “Roger, Roger.” Thanks to Dynamite Entertainment for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Faced with Skynet’s insatiable need to destroy their creators, Human survivors struggle for meaning in their shattered world. A training mission to a former shopping mall becomes the crucible in which a woman fights for the world she lost, and a frightened recruit tries to forge his future in The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

For more cover art see my reviews at Comic Book Dispatch.