The Department of Truth vol. 2: The City Upon a Hill

I was genuinely surprised by the first volume of this series.  Most of James Tynion IV’s superhero work had come off as by-the-numbers to me and his (and Werther Dell’edera’s) monster hit series “Something is Killing the Children” didn’t feel like it offered me anything new.  “The Department of Truth,” however, took a nightmarish look at the conspiracy theories that are gripping our nation and imagined a department of the government whose business it was to control them.  A department led by one Lee Harvey Oswald.  That revelation at the end of the first issue was so perfect that it sold me on the series right there – and the four issues that followed it solidified my opinion further.  Which is why I’m a little sad to say that vol. 2 isn’t quite on the same level as the first one.

We’re still following Department of Truth neophyte Cole Turner as he learns the ins and outs of the organization.  What it’s meant to do.  What it’s capable of doing.  What kind of people work for it.  The whole shebang.  Though Cole was partnered with veteran operative Ruby for most of the first volume, he has someone new to pal around with here.  That would be longtime DOT veteran Hawk Harrison.  A good ol’ boy who loves to call Lee “Patsy” and antagonize people who are offended by his upside-down-flag hat, Hawk sees something in Cole:  The future of the DOT.  Whether it’s to raise it up, or burn it down (regardless of which is actually the better choice) remains to be seen.

I wrote last time that Tynion’s straightforward style of storytelling was more of an asset here than it was on most of the other things I had read from him.  This was due to the fact that he was making some really weird and unconventional subject matter more accessible by laying it all out for the reader in an understandable way.  That remains true here as we read about things like Ruby telling us why people believe the headquarters of the New World Order is underneath the Denver International Airport, and Hawk breaking down the cryptozoology branch of the DOT.

The problem here is that the writer has his characters go on for far too long this time out.  I actually had to struggle to pay attention to some of Hawk’s longer sermons on things like magic, tulpas, black helicopters, and the Satanic panic of the 80’s.  The effect here is similar to what Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell did in  “From Hell” as they spent large sections of the graphic novel detailing the secret history of London.  They did so in ways that tried my patience before tying it back into the main plot and making me feel like it was worth it in the end.  Tynion and artist Martin Simonds are trying for the same effect here, they’re just not quite able to pull it off in as satisfying a fashion.

I am still involved with the story they’re telling, though.  Vol. 2 may not have the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle moment the Oswald reveal in the first one was, but we get some interesting twists here.  Particularly at the end as we find out what the “Third Option” for Cole is and the real reason he may not want to trust the director of the DOT.  Better still was the Bigfoot interlude in the middle of the volume.  While hearing about how monsters are formed in the real world was interesting, Tynion slips in a story of how one man’s close encounter with the creature came to dominate his life and drove him away from those he loved.  It was honestly kind of heartbreaking to read while providing a human showcase for a different kind of damage these fictions run rampant can cause.  That it was more affecting than the way the writer tries to tie Cole’s history to the McMartin Pre-School Scandal from the 80’s can hopefully be chalked up to the fact that it doesn’t have to move large parts of the plot around with it.

As for the art, Simonds’ style continues to impress.  I still love the way he’s channelling Bill Sienkiewicz’s style with its gritty, impressionistic look, and there’s more to appreciate about it here.  From the double-page spreads which showcase all sorts of fresh conspiracy horrors to the ones where characters walk across the monsters they’re tracking, you can tell that he’s always looking for ways to keep the exposition visually interesting.  Simonds also stretches his style to include more cartoonish segments, which is something I’d like to see more of in future volumes.  Oh, and there aren’t any gaffes like the first volume’s ice wall at the end of the world to distract from the experience.

While I appreciate Tynion’s efforts to make sure we all understand where the conspiracies he’s researched are coming from, the exposition he offers feels more overwrought than enjoyable.  There’s still entertainment to be had with the story he’s telling, and the smaller stories he’s able to tell within it, and Simonds art does a great job of tying it all together.  All this leaves me with a second volume that I didn’t enjoy quite as much as the first, but still enjoyed enough to want to know what happens next in this series.