Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Painkiller Jane #5
Dynamite Comics
Palmiotti & Quesada
Part three of the crossover with the Terminator heats up with a fast paced battle between Jane and the female Terminator. This issue doesn’t have a ton of plot set in the current time period, but it has plenty of action. However, in the future time period we learn some key points about the characters that are fighting the oppressive machines.
The issue picks up right in the action of Jane versus the Terminator. Jane is losing. Maureen, her cop friend, tries to keep Jane covered and the Terminator off balance with periodic gun fire. Once Jane is down, the Terminator takes a taste of her blood. Why? No, she isn’t an Orc from Lord of the Rings, but she has a secret trick up her sleeve.
In the future, Connor, Vanessa and the others debate who should follow the “other” Terminator back in time. Vanessa convinces Connor to let her go. She talks a lot about her blood samples and how her DNA is already on file if they need it. Remember my review of Painkiller Jane #4? I mentioned how we didn’t need a second Jane, only this one running around in the future. Well, shortly after Vanessa talks her way into time travel, another Terminator female (this one blond and in the future) is looking for “Vasko”. How and why in the future? That’s easy: Vanessa is related to Jane. Probably her daughter, but related nonetheless. Come on, red hair, snarky comments, love of gun fire. They had to be related.
The Terminator that licks up some of Jane’s blood, transfers the data back into the future to alert the machines of the potential target she encountered. This makes the Terminator’s new assignment to kill Jane. This whole data transfer through the time stream is a bit heavy to take in. I admit, it seemed unrealistic, even in a comic where people have incredible healing powers and machines and humans can freely time travel whenever and wherever they want.
Maureen busts in to save Jane and Jane is given enough of a distraction to toss the Terminator out the window. Eventually, Jane confronts the Terminator in the basement and losses. Again. But not before Jane gives Maureen a kiss.
A solid issue. Lots of action. Lots of blood and shooting. A little light on character development. However, at least we find out about Vanessa in the future. This issue also has another tidbit I liked, which is that Jane takes a beating.
One thing I didn’t really like, though, was how the Terminator wouldn’t have just killed Jane rather than beating on her. It just seemed like she was toying with her for much of the issue and it didn’t fit with an actual terminating machine. Still, the story is pretty entertaining.
The artwork is great. It has tons of details, such as when Jane crashes through the ceiling and lands on the coffee table, the remote control bounces into the forefront. Also, the Terminators, present and future, look very cool. Of course, the piles of blood and violence enhance the story all the more courtesy of the stellar art.
This is a fun issue. Jane looks like she is losing big time. No doubt her “daughter” will be coming in to save the day next issue, but in the meantime, the Terminator flexes her muscles. You won’t find the typical Jane-like humor and layered plot, but you will get the action you would expect from her title. I’d recommend this for Jane fans, Terminator fans, sci-fi fans or someone looking for a good, old fashioned, shootout.
4 out of 5 geek goggles.
 Painkiller Jane #5 |
