The Department of Truth #20 // Review
Cole’s husband has been contacted by an organization known as the Black Hat. Exactly who they are and exactly what it is they’re trying to do is a bit of a mystery. Certainly, they’re looking to influence Cole’s husband in hopes of influencing Cole, but nothing’s certain in The Department of Truth #20. Writer James Tynion IV continues to lovingly distort the world around us with the aid of visuals that are brought to a shadowy light by artist Martin Simmonds. Lettering adds some mystery to Tynion’s text courtesy of letterer Aditya Bidikar. The issue is called “The Rabbit Hole.” It’s a weird, little funhouse that plays with everything that’s been cast out in the world of the series over the course of the past 19 issues.
The man with the upside-down flag on his hat is leading Cole’s husband to a strange location. It looks like a hotel lobby. There’s a sign on the hotel door that says that it’s closed. Cole’s husband is trying to remember if it ever even WAS a hotel. It’s all a bit of a mystery. Then Dick Cheney walks in and turns out to be a lizard person. Cole’s husband throws up. (Naturally.) Then there’s the flying saucer and the little gray aliens who are talking with men in suits. Cole’s husband was just told that Cole is a murderer. And that he’s working for Lee Harvey Oswald. Things get a little bit weird from there.
Tynion dives into the mythology of the world that he’s been playing with for the past 19 issues. In a way, it feels kind of repetitious. Honestly, it would probably be a pretty good place for new readers to start. It would be kind of a tedious exercise for readers who have been following along diligently the past couple of years or so...were it not for the fact that Tynion is playing with the very substance of truth. Given the cloak-and-dagger nature of the series and the fact that disinformation is part of the very fabric of the series, the overview of the backstory adds a whole new weird layer to the weird historical fiction that Tynion is working with. It’s pleasantly disorienting fun.
Simmonds is given the opportunity to work with big, overarching poster-like images that summarize big aspects of the series so far. He’s been working with Tynion for long enough to know what works and what doesn’t work in the context of the series, and he REALLY amps it up for some strikingly simple bits of work. Bidikar has found the perfect blend of lettering to work with the visuals. Early on, the text takes the form of something that looks a lot like handwriting. As the narrative gets heavier towards the end of the issue, white text asserts itself with an official kind of authority from boxes with black backgrounds.
The weirdness of the series twists. It says a lot about The Department of Truth that even the most direct description of the plot ends up feeling like a smokescreen for what’s actually going on in the series. Enterprising fans of the series could point out a million ways that Cole’s husband is being lied to, even if it IS meant to be a straightforward review of what’s been revealed so far. This is strange, strange stuff.
