Dan Watters Takes The Terminator Back to Cyberdyne in New Dynamite Comic

Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about love, flowers and maybe somebody remembering to make a dinner reservation. Apparently nobody told Cyberdyne Systems. Dynamite Entertainment and STUDIOCANAL have announced a new The Terminator comic written by Dan Watters and illustrated by Pasquale Qualano, arriving in January 2027 with a romance that’s headed straight toward a technological nightmare.

The new 30-page story follows Jack and Jill, two coworkers whose relationship starts like something out of a fairy tale. They’re inseparable, completely wrapped up in each other and convinced they’ve found something special. Then things change. Jack becomes distant, barely looks at Jill and seems more interested in his work than the person he supposedly loves.

Now, in an ordinary romance story, maybe Jack has commitment issues or is hiding something embarrassing. This is The Terminator, though, and Jack works for Cyberdyne, the Cyber Dynamics Systems Corporation. The company is preparing to launch its first surveillance satellite on February 14, 1987. That’s right, Valentine’s Day. The day of love is about to become another step toward the creation of Skynet.

That premise is what makes this announcement interesting. Instead of dropping readers into another familiar chase between a killer machine and its target, Watters is looking at the human lives unfolding around the technology that will eventually change everything. People are falling in love, fighting, working late and making choices without knowing the future they’re helping create. The threat is there, but it doesn’t have to walk through the door carrying a plasma rifle to be terrifying.

Watters has been building an impressive run across major comics properties, including Batman: Dark Patterns and Nightwing, with Spider-Woman also on his slate. The announcement describes this as his first solo Dynamite project, following a previous collaboration with Si Spurrier on The Shadow. His interest in unsettling characters and morally complicated situations makes him a compelling choice for a story about love, obsession and the origins of Skynet.

Artist Pasquale Qualano is also making his first trip into Terminator territory. Readers may know his work from Vampirella, Red Sonja, Gargoyles and Supernatural. Qualano’s experience with horror, fantasy and action should serve a story that has to balance intimate relationship drama with the cold machinery waiting just beyond the horizon.

The release will feature three announced cover artists: Björn Barends, Francesco Mattina and Stuart Sayger. Dynamite is presenting the comic as a special early Valentine’s Day treat for fans, although I suspect the characters themselves won’t be feeling especially romantic once the full implications of that satellite project come into focus.

One thing I’ve always liked about The Terminator is that its best stories can make the future feel inevitable even while the characters are trying desperately to change it. This premise approaches that tension from an unexpected direction. The end of the world doesn’t start with a giant explosion here. It starts with a couple having problems at work. That’s a pretty wicked hook.

The new 30-page Terminator story is scheduled for January 2027 from Dynamite Entertainment in partnership with STUDIOCANAL. Follow Dynamite Entertainment for further release and ordering information.

Credits: Writer Dan Watters; artist Pasquale Qualano; covers by Björn Barends, Francesco Mattina and Stuart Sayger. Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment / STUDIOCANAL. Release: January 2027.