Posted in: Comics, Review | Tagged: animal, Comics, entertainment, matt hawkins, Rahsan Ekedal, think tank, top cow

Think Tank: Animal #1 – Cutting Edge Technology Gets Scarier And Scarier

Published Tue, 28 Feb 2017 16:30:44 -0600

Think Tank is a Top Cow title created by Matt Hawkins and Rahsan Ekedal. It focuses on Doctor David Loren, a genius who was recruited by DARPA at the age of 14 to build weapons for the government. Loren to feel the guilt from his actions and refused to build any more killing machines, acting up against his handlers and causing a lot of problems for the government. After some international incidents, Loren was put into a different DARPA group, away from his friends and girlfriend until he became depressed and tried to kill himself.

That's where Think Tank: Animal #1 picks up.

There is a lot going on in this first issue. We get caught up on Loren and then we learned that some of his technology… a surface-thought reader, that is being used to turn animals into assassins. But its who is being killed that is important, pro-Russian European officials, and it's being made to look like the U.S. is behind the killings. This is why the government wanted Loren back to work so quickly after his attempted suicide.

I've been a fan of the Think Tank series since the first issue years ago. Hawkins is constantly researching and keeping up on the cutting edge of technology and it seems politics. He even works in the term "alternative facts" and the whole Russia / United States relationship standing. The series is a mix of spy novel, science fiction novel with a dash of sarcastic wit that makes for a really enjoyable read. The new series picks up where the fourth volume left off, giving the genius mind of Dr. Loren a new enemy to pit his intellect against.

And we get introduced to an important character from Loren's past at the very end of the issue… someone who will likely be a very different influence on him.

Ekedal has been on this series since day one and his art continues to grow and improve with each issue. He does a great job of not only telling the story, but visualizing cutting edge technology that he may have no reference for whatsoever, but looks like it might work.

Think Tank: Animal #1 is worth picking up… and it may make you look at crows, hogs and horses in a new, more deadly way.