THE TERMINATOR: METAL’S DEADLY DUO DISCUSS THEIR DIABOLICAL NEW SERIES!

Declan, as we’re writing these questions, the final 10th issue of your initial Terminator series is about to come out. How do you feel that title and its stories ended up working out? Did you accomplish what you set out to do? And how do you feel about the reactions you’ve seen from fans and critics?

DECLAN: I feel, in a word… good? Issue #10 wraps up the series nicely in a way that I think will reward die-hard Terminator fans after taking many leaps into the unknown with the series as a whole, while tying it all together in a satisfying way.

I certainly had goals with the series: to tell compelling stories about humanity, using the tapestry of the world of the Terminator. To try and make a comic that didn’t feel like a licensed book, that used the franchise to generate new stories told in a compelling way. I feel like I achieved that, with the help of all the artists who contributed to those stories. Working on all the different ideas for each issue was extremely challenging and made for some stressful months, but with the series now wrapped I can honestly say I’m extremely happy with the end product.

Honestly, knowing how passionate the Terminator fanbase was, I was surprised with how positive the reaction was from both fans and critics. I had braced myself for some serious blowback that just never came.

For this next phase, the series is leveling up, not unlike a new Terminator model, and Mr. Rory McConville has joined the team. We understand you two have worked together before, and are even in each other’s backyards (not literally!). What was the thinking in bringing on another collaborator and choosing Rory specifically for this project?

DECLAN: Well, this first series was always planned as 10 issues, and a while ago series editor Nate Cosby brought up the idea of a follow-up series due to the success of the current book. I was interested — we had created a story engine for compelling sci-fi stories, and I saw the benefit of continuing. We needed a reason for a new series, though, as the current series had a definite end. It would require a lot of new ideas, and I just didn’t have the necessary brainspan to take on that challenge solo all over again with my current commitments. Nate suggested bringing on Rory who, as you said, had worked with me on a previous series, a time travel sci-fi series as it happened, called Time Before Time. We had a great rapport, so it felt like a natural fit to bring him on and help me to keep powering that engine.

Rory, welcome to the team! You’re no stranger to some fun time-travel shenanigans through your series Time Before Time, or some general badassery through your work in the Spawn universe. What kind of history do you have with The Terminator? How exciting is it to craft stories for this iconic franchise?

RORY: I have to confess that I completely missed The Terminator when I was a kid, only properly discovering it when I was a bit older. One thing that really struck me once I did, though, was how much of an impact it had had on so many stories that had followed it.

It’s always a thrill and a challenge getting to play in an existing universe, especially one as beloved as this. What really excites me is how much unexplored terrain there is, particularly when it comes to the post-apocalyptic future war. I’m really pleased with the issues we’ve developed so far — with each one, we’re aiming to tell new types of stories in the Terminator universe or find a new spin on classic setups.

We’re curious about how the actual collaboration comes together. Rory, how do you and Declan go from plot to script and juggle it all as two people with different perspectives and ideas? Are there some elements in this new series that were a major contribution of yours so far that fans would have missed out on if it was just Declan?

RORY: Usually, we start with a phone call where we’ll toss around story ideas. Done-in-ones are incredibly idea-intensive, so it’s really useful to have another brain to bounce concepts off so that we can make each issue as distinct as possible. Dec and I have a pretty good feel of each other’s sensibilities at this stage, and ultimately we both just want the best idea, it doesn’t matter who it comes from. I think the fact that he’s built up so much knowledge about the Terminator universe from being immersed in it for so long now, whereas I’m coming to the series with a fresher perspective, has been really useful for the process in terms of finding new avenues to explore and ensuring we’re not retreading old ground.

On Time Before Time, I would’ve done a lot more of the actual day-to-day pen holding, but this time around, we’re splitting things right down the middle. We each wrote half of #1 and did a pass on the other’s section to help establish the series’ tone. For subsequent issues, we’ll be alternating, with one of us taking the lead and the other giving notes — I’ll leave readers to guess who’s taken the lead for each issue.

In terms of contributions, we’ve both got our fingerprints on every aspect, but I had a very clear idea on the series’ approach to the future war stories from the get-go.

For the fans who checked out our initial Terminator title, will there be some connections between the two or is this largely a fully fresh set of stories? The Terminator world has some direct ties between its stories, but fans are also familiar with jumping around the timeline and spotlighting different visions of the battle between humanity and Skynet, especially in comics.

DECLAN: I would say that for the most part, we’re dealing with brand new stories. There is still a little time hopping though, and some connective tissue that leads back to the previous series. We mainly want this to be a fresh series that new readers can jump on, with the option of being able to go back to the previous book to discover more great stories.

RORY: Yeah, there’ll be some fun Easter eggs for readers of the previous series, but nothing that would stop someone diving straight in. Each issue is designed to be a completely satisfying standalone tale in its own right.

Part of what made that series really fun for readers was stories being contained to one or just a few issues, though with connective tissue in the themes. Will Metal replicate that format, or tell more of a longer story across issues?

DECLAN: That was something we discussed, but we felt the done-in-one structure of the first Terminator series was a large part of what made it work so well. Because of that, I wanted to keep that format, but with a shift in focus. Having said that, if the series does well, it opens the door for some longer stories.

RORY: I wouldn’t rule out longer stories down the line either, but I think we’re some way from exhausting the done-in-one format, particularly now that we’re focusing more heavily on the Future War era. The previous series was split roughly 80-20 between Terminator missions in the past and stories set in the Future War, but Metal will flip that, with an increased focus on the lives of those trying to survive in the post-apocalyptic future.

Through its format, The Terminator was also able to showcase the stunning talents of multiple illustrators. The kickoff of Metal is drawn by Lorenzo Re, who did issues #4 and 6 of the preceding series. What makes him a great match for this genre and mythos? And can fans look forward to similar diversity of art, to match the range of stories you two are telling?

DECLAN: This new series is called Metal and I have never worked with an artist as METAL as Lorenzo Re. Every artist brought something great to the previous series, but Lorenzo clearly has a specific vibe and we all felt he was the best person to open this iteration of the series. Once you see the pages you’ll understand what I mean.

And yes, the series will shift artists along with the stories and time settings. It’s been a wonderful way to work with such talented people and bring in different strengths to the stories. We will see some artwork from recognizable collaborators, along with some fresh faces.

RORY: Lorenzo’s depiction of the Future War era in #6 was a real highlight of the previous series, and as Dec said, the one is called METAL and no one captures that quite like Lorenzo. Every artist coming up in this series is incredible, though, and getting to see each of their interpretations of the Terminator has been one of the best parts of the job.

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