Transformers vs. The Terminator

Transformers vs. The Terminator
Cover to Transformers vs. The Terminator #1. Art by Francesco Francavilla.
Publication information
Publisher	IDW Publishing Dark Horse Comics
Format	Limited series
Genre	Crossover Science fiction
Publication date	March 25 – September 30, 2020
No. of issues	4
Main character(s)	Transformers (Hasbro) Terminator (StudioCanal)
Creative team
Created by	John Barber David Mariotte Tom Waltz
Written by	John Barber David Mariotte
Penciller(s)	Alex Milne
Letterer(s)	Jake M. Wood
Colorist(s)	David García Cruz
Editor(s)	Megan Brown Riley Farmer Tom Waltz

Transformers vs. The Terminator is an American comic book limited series published on 2020 by IDW Publishing and Dark Horse Comics. It is a crossover event between the Transformers franchise, owned by Hasbro, and the Terminator franchise, currently owned by StudioCanal.

Premise

In the year 2029, the Earth has been laid to waste, ravaged by the Decepticons after their complete victory over the Autobots. To prevent this from occurring and ensure their own dominance, Skynet sends a lone T-800 unit back in time to 1984 to destroy the dormant Cybertronians and save the future.

Publication history

Transformers vs. The Terminator is produced by IDW Publishing in partnership with Dark Horse Comics, current license holder of the Terminator franchise.

Co-writer and IDW's Editor-in-Chief John Barber said “I still remember the visceral thrill and terror of my first viewing of The Terminator, and while I’ve seen it a hundred times since then, it still gets my pulse running. I’ve worked on Transformers a lot over the years, and the opportunity to combine these two mechanistic universes together to see who comes out on top (while working alongside Tom, David, and my old collaborator Alex, no less) —well, it’s way too exciting a chance to pass up.”

Artist Alex Milne said “Transformers was a large part of my childhood; I was captivated, wanting to see how Optimus Prime would foil the plans of Megatron. Later, I came across The Terminator and was amazed by the idea of a robot pretending to be a human, sent back in time to hunt down a specific target. Now, as an adult, I’m very pleased to lend my talents to a project which sees these sci-fi icons brought together!”

Characters

Main articles: List of Transformers comics characters and List of Terminator characters

Transformers characters	Terminator characters
Autobots Arcee Bumblebee Cosmos Gears Glyph Huffer Jazz Mirage Optimus Prime Powerglide Prowl Ratchet Sideswipe Trailbreaker Velocity Wheeljack Decepticons Bombshell Kickback Megatron Ravage Refraktor Skrapnel Skywarp Soundwave Starscream Thundercracker	Sarah Connor Skynet T-800

Issues

Issue	Title	Written by	Drawn by	Colored by	Lettered by	Publication date
1	"Enemy of My Enemy, Part 1"	John Barber and David Mariotte	Alex Milne	David García Cruz	Jake M. Wood	March 25, 2020
2	"Enemy of My Enemy, Part 2"					June 24, 2020
3	"Enemy of My Enemy, Part 3"					August 19, 2020
4	"Enemy of My Enemy, Part 4"					September 30, 2020

Reception

Issue	Publication date	Critic rating	Critic reviews	Ref.
1	March 25, 2020	7.2/10	9
2	June 24, 2020	7.0/10	5
3	August 19, 2020	6.3/10	4
4	September 30, 2020	6.6/10	3
Overall	—	6.8/10	21

Collected editions

Title	Material collected	Pages	Publication date	ISBN
Transformers vs. The Terminator	Transformers vs. The Terminator #1−4	96	November 25, 2020	1684057256, 978-1684057252

External links

• IDW Publishing's official announcement Archived 2022-05-23 at the Wayback Machine