The Department of Truth vol. 6: Twilight’s Last Gleaming

*sigh*

There’s a certain kind of person who’s going to get to the last page of the first half of this volume and think it’s a real fist-pumping, “HELL YEAH!!!” kind of moment.  The kind of moment where it shows that the momentum is tipping in the good guys’ favor and the fightback can now really begin in earnest.  I even think that they’re going to be in for a good time for however long this series lasts because things are just going to keep going their way until the end of the series when writer James Tynion IV yanks the rug out from under them to make the point we knew he was going to make all along:  That the Department of Truth is a bad thing and no one – not even the good guys – should be in charge of determining what reality is for everyone.

Meanwhile, those on the other side of the fence, are likely going to see things continue to go downhill for those they think are fighting for the good of the people as they just won’t be able to get their act together.  Maybe Tynion thinks that by writing it this way he’s reflecting our current reality.  Maybe he thinks that he’s writing something dramatically satisfying.  Or maybe he just doesn’t know how to write a story where both sides struggle for their goal.  My money is on the last one and nothing I’ve read so far in this series indicates that I should expect otherwise.

So if I’m this down on the series’ current direction, and not expecting it to get any better or end in a satisfying way, why keep reading?  Well, the sunk cost fallacy is certainly a factor here; but, as longtime readers know, it takes a combination of a series going right off a cliff with no end in sight, or just chucking everything I liked about a series to focus on what I didn’t, for me to stop reading about it.  Right now “The Department of Truth” feels like it’s in the same space as “Blood on the Tracks” where I’ll keep writing about it because it’s interesting fodder for this blog, but it’s likely headed for the nearest Book-Off when I’m done with it.

Oh, and there’s also a story about a queer hacker exploring a Slenderman-esque internet character who winds up being questioned by the DoT.  When they start the process, she says, “You’re the ‘X-Files.’”  Man, that was a great show.  Right up until the time it became clear the mytharc was never going to pay off and the show disappeared up its own ass.  Which sounds kinda familiar (uncomfortably so, even) now that I think about it…