Billed as being in the same vein as Black Mirror, NewThink #1 definitely hits those same dystopian futuristic beats. Yet somehow, it feels far more eerie in a written form.
There is no doubt that screens, or as they are called in NewThink “Skreens,” have drastically changed society as a whole. NewThink takes this idea one step deeper by making them seem like living breathing things. Making the Skreens aliens that have invaded and subjugated the human race.
Each word penned by Gregg Hurwitz turns humans into the slaves to a species of Skreens, and you don’t have to even look with a cynical eye to prove that to be more true than not. If you lifted your head up and looked around you, there’s a good chance that you can find at least three screens within eyesight.
The art (Mike Deodato Jr.) and colors (Lee Loughridge) perfectly encapsulate the unmistakable screen glow on each and every face. The colors are muted in such a way to further juxtapose the real world and that of which we find on a screen. Andworld Design using jagged speech bubbles for notification noises from the Skreens really allows the overarching dialogue to weave through each and every panel.
This issue really forces you to think about how screens being literally everywhere impacts your life. The panel with notifications going off in a yoga class really stuck out to me because there are signs at my studio that encourage you to silence your phone. The only reason that sign exists is because someone’s phone previously interrupted a class. Technology has provided massive improvements to our lives, but issue #1 pushes you to see at what cost?
I’ll be interested to see how NewThink evolves as it is an anthology comic with a different art team for each of the five issues. “The Skreenz was a great way to kick off the anthology series, so expectations are high for future issues.
NewThink takes a well-known idea and bends it to its will. It’s a pretty frightening comic, without needing the use of a single image that could be considered such.
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Illustrator: Mike Deodato
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letter: Andworld Design
