The opening splash page is the large, grotesque face of an enraged Alex Jones. He’s not identified by name, but there’s no mistaking it. It’s the story of a woman who lost a son in a school shooting. She knows that the school shooting really happened. There are so many others who know that it didn’t happen. This is not a story of who is right. This is the third issue of The Department of Truth. Writer James Tynion IV moves into dark, horrifying territory with the third issue drawn with a lushly surreal amplification by artist Martin Simmonds. After spending a couple of issues establishing the premise, Tynion IV dives into the deep, deep darkness of contemporary consciousness.

The Department of Truth is encountering a woman. Her child has died in a school shooting. Elements in the fringe media seem to think that the shooting was a fake media event instigated by sinister people operating in the shadows. At first, she shrugs it off. Before long, she finds that she is unable to do so. She gets a USB drive on her doorstep. There’s video footage of her and her late son on that drive. Now she’s confronting the Department. She’s asking them to see her son...the son that could not have been killed in a mass shooting that never happened. 

Tynion IV alternates between the story of the mother and the story of the agents of the DOT. The narrative feeding through the mother’s story is delivered in blocks of seriffed text. There’s some remarkably poetic darkness in the mother’s story. Her plight is contrasted against Ruby and Cole as they confront the woman. Cole’s still learning the ropes. Ruby’s trying to be patient with him. Their dynamic is contrasted against the story of one mother looking for the truth. It’s profoundly engaging, well-articulated drama. There’s tragedy enough in Sandy Hook shooting and the effect that Alex Jones and Infowars had on the lives of the survivors. Tynion IV uses that tragedy to sharply explore the emotionality of the conflict between conspiracy and human life.

Simmonds alternates between beautifully dark graphically surreal thematic renderings of the mother’s story and the moody, dramatic shadows of the waking world in which her nightmare exists. He’s handling both with a clarity that hits with a sometimes stunning feeling of emotional impact. There’s a lurid bleariness about it all. Even the scenes between Ruby and Cole seem to aspire towards clarity around the edges as passionate focal points slam into the page on every panel. The emotional imagery that Simmonds draws to the page in the more surreal amplifications reaches its own garish darkness. Once again, Simmonds brings the horror out in a stunning visual package.

The first couple of establishing issues were a nice introduction into the world of The Department of Truth. With that firmly in place, Tynion IV and Simmonds can start to explore how different specific events involving conspiracy theories relate to this world. This issue shows a willingness to get into the deeper emotional aspects of how and why people believe what they do. It’s remarkably compelling stuff.

Grade: A+