When Terminator actress Linda Hamilton reprised the legendary role of Sarah Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate, the character had undergone a pretty serious image overhaul. Returning with a no-nonsense, stripped of color, low-maintenance hairstyle, and grim and grizzled appearance to match – suggestive of a woman who had experienced life-altering events and had responded by embarking on a no-f*cks-given journey of revenge.
The message for the audience was clear – Sarah Connor had changed. Loss had marked her for life and there would be no happy ending this time.
Now Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor is back, this time in comic form; though it’s not actually Sarah Connor at all. No, this character, sporting the aesthetic of Linda’s TDF Sarah, goes by the name of ‘Cat Turner‘, in the feminist comic titled ‘Redemption‘ (I know, Redemption, just look at that Terminator connection… ).
From imprint AWA Upshot, written by crime novelist Christa Faust, and illustrated by Mike Deodato Jr.
Redemption’s official plot synopsis reads:
“The dusty desert town of Redemption survived the apocalypse but is hanging on by a thread. A despot rules the town with an iron fist and controls its most precious resource: water. When that strongman marks her mother for death, young Rose Obregon ventures into the perilous wasteland to seek the help of the legendary gunslinger Cat Tanner, only to discover that the so-called “Butcher” is long retired, living in solitude, far from what’s left of the world, and preferring to keep it that way. When Rose arrives on Tanner’s doorstep, with gunmen hot on her trail, the Butcher has a choice to make: sit on the sidelines or pick up her guns and do what she does best?”
AWA Upshot
The character of ‘Cat’ sports a similarly low-effort hairstyle, has the same rough scowl, and the same sense of grimly determined vengeance as Sarah Connor in the sixth Terminator movie – and that’s not mentioning the clearly borrowed facial likeness.
Author, Christa Faust, describes the story as:
“a gritty post-apocalyptic Western centered around a trio of bad-ass women, the kind of characters I love to explore. Older women, queer women, flawed women, tough women. Complex, gray-shaded women who fall outside the simplistic cliches of heroes and villains. Women who fight to save themselves and each other, rather than waiting around for a man to rescue them.”
Christa Faust
So far, so déjà vu…
Though the comic isn’t just borrowing from Terminator: Dark fate – it also echoes Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and, more liberally; The Quick and the Dead (1995)…
Redemption has a female lead who has lost an arm and has been fitted with a mechanical limb, so did Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road.
Redemption and Fury Road are both set in a post-apocalyptic future dealing with a scarcity of water.
Redemption’s story involves a town whose patriarch rules with an iron fist, with the female residents feeling the brunt of the law-making; as does Fury Road and The Quick and the Dead (though not quite a ‘town’ but more of a sanctum with regards to the former).
Redemption has a female anti-hero who reluctantly takes up the gauntlet to overthrow the male head of the town – as does the Quick and the Dead. Redemption is a story of vengeance, and, you guessed it, so is The Quick and the Dead.
The hairstyle worn by Cat Turner is also eerily reminiscent of the one Sharon Stone’s ‘Ellen’ has in The Quick and the Dead – a ratty and bedraggled thick braid.
Redemption and The Quick and the Dead are both Westerns.
But wait, there’s more…
The town in Redemption is called Redemption – the town in The Quick and the Dead is called… Redemption. Okay, now that looks eerily like plagiarism to me.
The synopsis for Sam Raimi‘s The Quick and the Dead:
“The story focuses on “The Lady” (Stone), a gunfighter who rides into the frontier town of Redemption, controlled by John Herod (Hackman). The Lady joins a deadly dueling competition in an attempt to exact revenge for her father’s death.”
Redemption’s ‘Cat Turner’ seems to be a mashup of Linda Hamilton’s ‘Sarah Connor’, Sharon Stone’s ‘Ellen / The Lady’, and Charlize Theron’s ‘Furiosa’.
*Hopefully AWA Upshot have at least paid Linda Hamilton for the use of her likeness, otherwise they may well have breached Linda’s right of publicity and therefore owe compensation – unless of course it’s deemed ‘transformative‘ enough.
*UPDATE: BleedingCool spoke to variant cover artist, Damion Scott, about how he connected with the character of ‘Cat Turner’, he stated:
“I really dig the Butcher’s vibe; she’s a stoic, gun-toting badass. She feels like Linda Hamilton crossed with Clint Eastwood. I wanted to capture her stillness. Surrounded by chaos, she’s the last woman standing.”
Damion Scott
You can view some of the variant Redemption covers below…
Redemption Issue #1 launches February 3rd.
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