The new Terminator comic series is continuing to find exciting ways to recontextualize the franchise, and the latest one involves arguably their most iconic feature: the human camouflage that they “wear” over their true robotic forms, in order to more readily approach and assassinate humanity’s most vital leaders in the war against the machines.

In Terminator #6 – written by Declan Shalvey, with art by Lorenzo Re – the series turns its attention to the formative days of Skynet’s Terminator program, and in the process, reveals that the killer robots’ greatest innovation was inadvertently inspired by its human adversaries.

That is, the use of synthetic human skin and musculature over its metal exoskeleton was the result of the first interaction between a Terminator and its target. As the issue explains, an encounter between a human and the T-800’s predecessor, the T-600, led to the creation of more human-looking Terminators.

The T-800's Synthetic Skin Is Revealed As The Result Of Skynet's Trial Run With The T-600

Terminator #6 – Written By Declan Shalvey; Art By Lorenzo Re; Available Now From Dynamite Entertainment

So far, Dynamite's Terminator series has been a slow burn; Declan Shalvey's run has kicked off by expanding the scope of Skynet's forays into the past, with Terminator's popping up at some of the most tense moments in 20th-century history, including on a nuclear submarine in the mid-1980s, and on a satellite at the peak of the space race in the early '60s. Terminator #6 thrillingly breaks this formula, focusing on the story from Skynet's perspective, and exploring the early ups-and-downs of the malevolent A.I.'s plan to attack humanity using time travel.

This has an almost tragicomic feel to it, as once more it is humanity itself – albeit, in this case, a lone heroic individual – that pushes the species one step closer to the brink of extinction at the hands of its robotic creations.

In Terminator #6's most pivotal moment, it is revealed that an early time-hopping experiment involving the T-600 model, in which a human tackled the overtly-robotic attacker without hesitation, led to Skynet's realization that its assassins needed to be able to move undetected through the human population until they had identified and eliminated their target. This has an almost tragicomic feel to it, as once more it is humanity itself – albeit, in this case, a lone heroic individual – that pushes the species one step closer to the brink of extinction at the hands of its robotic creations.

New Insights Into Skynet's Goals & Motivations Take Dynamite's "Terminator" Series To The Next Level

Terminator #7 – Written By Declan Shalvey; Art By David O'Sullivan; Available April 16, 2025 From Dynamite Entertainment

In addition to this lore-changing look at the origin of the Terminators' synthetic "human" component, Skynet's narration in Terminator #6 also fascinatingly provides insight into the A.I.'s motivations; as the villain of the franchise, Skynet's reason for seeking to destroy humanity are usually not emphasized, beyond the fact that it is a struggle for supremacy and survival between humanity and machines. Terminator #6 reveals Skynet's ambitions to, essentially, become God, and in the process makes the supercomputer that much more of an actual character.

Previous Terminator comic stories have taken the opportunity to explore Skynet's POV, but Declan Shalvey's take is refreshing; for many readers, this issue will reinvigorate their interest in the current run, as making Skynet as complex of a villain as it is dangerous seems like an essential part of the long-term prospects of the series. More than just expanding the mythology of the franchise, Dynamite's latest Terminator ongoing series is expanding the parameters of the story's central conflict in ways that could have a profound impact on all future takes on the iconic tale.

Terminator #6 is available now from Dynamite Entertainment.