Villordsutch reviews Think Tank #10…
“Slacker genius Dr. David Loren made a calculated gamble that the US government would never allow his latest DNA-targeting virus to go airborne — and lost. Can he mitigate the collateral damage triggered by his deadly invention? Or will he lose everyone he loves?“
I can sum up this comic with a very easy to understand analogy. Think Tank is like knocking down that old shed in your garden and finding a seam of gold running down for a mile and in the core of this seam is a string of diamonds which runs all the way through it. Yes, I am more than aware that that it is geologically impossible but that is Think Tank to me and I believe you would agree.
Both Matt Hawkins and Rahsan Ekedal have achieved, in my humble opinion, the perfect mix of a spiralling thriller, ruthless espionage, political corruption, dark humour and secret spy gadgets in this issue. All of those elements combine to deliver the comic to you with such brilliance and without, at any moment, dragging it down to the levels of knuckle-dragging for the sake of those that can be arsed with those word things on the page.
Dr. David Larson is dead (not a spoiler) or so the world which new Dr. Larson is led to believe – the rest of the world just believes it to be a civilian contractor who died with the Navy SEALs. The very much alive Dr. Larson awakes to discover he is now strapped down to a bed and only the Gods know where in the world he is. After not complying with the requests to assist in the vast black ops/secret government 100 year plan he is moved to an isolation cell and White Torture is applied to his incarceration. I would like to say here that there is so much more going on in this issue than I’ve mentioned and I gave you this brief flash with the wish to not spoil it for you, though I will tell you we meet David’s Spirit Guide.
Like I have already gushed from the beginning of this review Think Tank #10 is fantastic. It fills you with excitement and interest and when you get to the end it gives you a lesson in the world we live in. This is all tied together with the art work of Rahsan Ekedal which looks perfect for this tale of shadows and cloaks with daggers, as his panels are filled with detail but not so much that it would clutter it up making the art seem like fog on the pages; just enough to give this comic more of a sense of realism to it. Then added to this the words and thoughts of Matt Hawkins making this issue (and the series of course) one that should be on your list labelled “must buy”.
Missing this comic is like not knocking down that old shed, i.e. you’re missing out.
Villordsutch is married with kids and pets. He looks like a tubby Viking and enjoys science fiction. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published October 10, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
