review: the department of truth
Title: The Department of Truth: The Complete Conspiracy Deluxe Hardcover, Volume One
Series: The Department of Truth
Author: James Tynion IV
Illustrators: Martin Simmonds, Elsa Charretier, David Romero, Alison Sampson, Jorge Fornés, & Tyler Boss
Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Graphic Novel
Publishing Date: 3 May 2023
Original Language: English
Pages: ~481
CW: Homophobia, Gore, Death, Murder, Gun Violence
My Rating: 3.5 / 5
Read if you’re looking for:
A horror graphic novel with gorgeous and disturbing art
Conspiracy theories physically manifest if enough people believe in them
Lots of cryptids, and the creepy bowels of the Denver Airport
Heavy commentary on American culture and society
This is a bind up of the first 17 issues of the horror graphic novel series The Department of Truth. This has a really fun concept. The author is playing with the buddhist idea of a tulpa, which is a materialized being or thought-form, typically in human form, that is created through spiritual practice and intense concentration. In this universe, conspiracy theories can be manifested if enough people believe in them. In response to this, the U.S. government has established the Department of Truth in order to search out these manifestations and eliminate them. This opens up a lot of interesting avenues for the story to follow, including a lot of the cryptids and conspiracy theories of the last 50 years, such as mothman, bigfoot, flat earth, satanic panic, and weird happenings at the Denver airport.
I loved the art style in this volume. Some of it looks almost like collage art, incorporating part of old photographs of famous people and newsprint, in a very graphic and abstract way. Other parts are more like paintings, with broad brush strokes and a lot of movement. It has so much visual interest, I could look at the illustrations all day. The artists did an amazing job. I’m a very visual person, so this really appealed to me.
While I really enjoyed the concept and the possibilities of where the story could be going, there were some parts that, I felt, bogged the story down. There is a main story arc where the department members are trying to figure out who or what is causing these “tulpas” to occur, which I was very interested in. There are also these “side quests” where the main characters have to go hunt bigfoot or mothman, or other cryptids or smaller conspiracies. Some of those lasted a little bit too long for me, and kept us away from the main story for longer than I wanted. But, this could be due to the fact that this is released in issues as a comic book, so the story structure and pacing is going to be different than with a novel. Overall I had a really good time with it, and if you enjoy horror or conspiracy theories, you’ll definitely enjoy this. And, the story isn’t finished yet, so there is more to look forward to in the future!