Villordsutch reviews Think Tank #11…
“World War III is imminent! And the only person stepping forward to prevent it is the slacker genius Dr. David Loren! Can a lab rat who has never even fired a handgun stop a weapon of mass destruction?”
If I was held against a wall in front of a firing squad and was made to describe Think Tank#11 in one easy sentence (that every layman in the world could understand) in amongst my sobs and begging I’d probably blurt out, “Holy Christ that was amazing!” Then I’d resume the sobbing and hopefully thank the South American General as he untied my hands. Imagined executions aside, my sentence still stands as issue #11 of Think Tank is that damned good.
Our story starts in the future (only by a few hours) with an huge stand-off between the US Navy and the Chinese Navy as numerous unmanned drones buzz around. Falling back a few hours we see live on Chinese television the death of the American President (suspected poisoning). Backing up a few hours more we catch up with our protagonist Dr David Loren who, at the time we arrive, is very easily escaping his captors and finds himself in China, which is not a good place to be unwashed, in torn clothes and without any money or technology to play with. For the next few pages you’re smiling at the ease Dr. Loren gathers possession (Black Ops Slush Funds made me bark involuntarily with laughter) and it’s all rather nerd fun, however the unravelling tale quickly brings this entire issue to its rather dark reality and you’re left whispering, “Jesus Christ!” on the final page.
The work by Matt Hawkins and Rashan Ekedal here is just sheer genius and both co-creators (as well as writer and artist respectively) have made one outstanding issue here (as well as the entire series) and you can’t help but want to know more of what is going to happen. It’s clear that this opening hand of the dark side of power is designed not to start peace rallies, but to bring on a money-earning war at the expense of billions of lives across the world.
Think Tank is going to be a comic in which people hunt for back issues in the coming few years’ time and reading the interview (linked in the comic to Bleeding Cool), newcomers may be lucky if the colour re-issues make an appearance. Yes, that’s right – both Matt and Rahsan are looking to add a little rainbow to what has been before. This may bring a smile to a few faces but that smile will turn upside down to a frown with the knowledge that issue #12 will be the final issue of what could be classed as season one of Think Tank. Our current story of Dr. Loren is coming to an end with a one shot to follow and then who knows what is coming for our T-Shirt wearing hero?
You need Think Tank in your comic collection, and your life!
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published December 10, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
