TERMINATOR:2018 gives you our first look review of IDW Publishing's TERMINATOR:SALVATION Official Movie Prequel Issue #2, the next chapter in the movie tie-in comic series setting the scene for Warner Brothers' summer sci-fi thriller starring Christian Bale.

As you'll recall from our review of Issue 1, the Sand in the Gears storyline broadens the post-apocalyptic struggle for human survival against Skynet's mechanical army of Terminators.  Amid the ruins of Detroit, local resistance leader Elena Maric works in wireless league with her Nigerian counterpart Bem Aworuwa, along with an international cast of survivors-turned-soldiers plotting against their technological nemesis.

Some plot highlights are discussed in the next three paragraphs, but no genuine movie spoilers are revealed:

In Sand in the Gears, Part 2, the action literally picks up from the final panels of the previous issue, with a quasi-redneck midwestern father Jackson about to be terminated by a de-skinned T-600 assassin.  Elena's resistance unit saves Jackson, who turns out to have crucial knowledge which can make the next resistance assault against Skynet a success.  Yet Jackson blames Elena and her missions for the death of his family, and thus a battle of stubborn wills ensues.

In the deserts of Africa, Bem and his troops have captured an abandoned Hunter-Killer Tank which they hope to use on their front of the coordinated resistance attack.  The worldwide plan: to literally and figuratively throw sand in the gears of Skynet supply operations simultaneously around the globe, disabling Terminator counterattacks while disrupting Skynet's ability to renew its forces under fire.

As Jackson reluctantly agrees to aid Elena in her Detroit attack on a local Terminator factory, their plans are quickly interrupted by a scouting party of T-600s who force a quick and explosive evacuation of the underground headquarters.  Meanwhile, a nighttime air drop of secret cargo to resistance troops in Algeria raises the stakes of the war dramatically!

As a prequel tie-in story, Issue #2 offers more glimpses of the filmed world we'll see in TERMINATOR:SALVATION this May:

• The resistance fighters demonstrate various guerilla tactics of war which will likely be used by John Connor (Christian Bale) and General Ashdown (Michael Ironside), including the use of captured Terminator weapons and technology against Skynet itself.
  
  
• Elena indicates that the upcoming mission is under the command of Ashdown and a General Losenko
  — is this the reveal of a character from the film, or just comic adjunct for this prequel series?
  
  
• There is a new model of HK-Tank evident which rolls on wheels rather than treads (see page scan for preview) as a high-speed weapons platform.
  
  
• We also get a glimpse of Elena being captured by the giant claw of a Harvester machine, quite reminiscent of the brief shot seen in the TERMINATOR:SALVATION theatrical trailer.  Might this nightmarish memory of hers have some hidden consequences for her character?
  

Battle action certainly picks up the pace of Issue 2, and Dara Naraghi's crisp writing compliments the dynamic panel illustrations of Alan Robinson well.  The vibrant color palette contributed by Tom Smith from Scorpion Studios modulates the mood an intensity of scenes ably, from glowing magentas of lethal Terminator attacks to the desaturated blue-gray of the midnight cargo drop.  Once again Nick Runge provides the eye-catching cover design which sets the tone for this fast-paced firefight of a story.

A captured Terminator machine is alluded to in the cover art of Issue 3, with the end-panel caption Next: Devil's Night implying the war will only get hotter as Elena, Bem and the resistance engage their all-front attack on Skynet.

Sand in the Gears, Part 2 of the TERMINATOR:SALVATION Official Movie Prequel comic quadrilogy paints the human resistance as a formidable foe in this future war.  This leaves plenty of dramatic and action potential open for McG's feature film this summer, as John Connor attempts to reconcile his present with the post-Judgment Day world once envisioned by his mother.

TERMINATOR:2018 anticipates further exciting escalation of story and character conflict in Issue 3, infiltrating newsstands and comic retailers in March.  Be sure to return for our review of Sand in the Gears, Part 3 as T:2018 continues its coverage of TERMINATOR:SALVATION.