fisherwrites's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
zanish's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
justgraceanne's review
2.0
2.5 stars?
It's not my favorite Tynion.
I really enjoy "Something Is Killing the Children," and "The Nice House on the Lake," but this story is so disjointed and confusing. It reads like you're listening to someone spout their political beliefs for four and a half issues, and then the the fifth issue is bit more layers and confusion and then a little backstory. I did enjoy the backstory! I just feel like a lot of this story was very disjointed, compared to his other works.
I'm sure I'm not the target audience, either, but I enjoy a good conspiracy as much as the next person.
And I generally love Tynion's work, so this was disappointing.
I may try to continue the series, and see if my opinion improves, but it's not looking great right now.
I also think, if I had read a physical copy instead of a digital one, that might have helped, but I don't know. I nearly DNF-ed it, half a dozen times.
It's not my favorite Tynion.
I really enjoy "Something Is Killing the Children," and "The Nice House on the Lake," but this story is so disjointed and confusing. It reads like you're listening to someone spout their political beliefs for four and a half issues, and then the the fifth issue is bit more layers and confusion and then a little backstory. I did enjoy the backstory! I just feel like a lot of this story was very disjointed, compared to his other works.
I'm sure I'm not the target audience, either, but I enjoy a good conspiracy as much as the next person.
And I generally love Tynion's work, so this was disappointing.
I may try to continue the series, and see if my opinion improves, but it's not looking great right now.
I also think, if I had read a physical copy instead of a digital one, that might have helped, but I don't know. I nearly DNF-ed it, half a dozen times.
cesspool_princess's review
4.0
3.5 rly promising premise that has the potential to explore a lot of good shit but could just as easily be rly annoying in how it treats conspiracy theories, post truth, "alternative history" etc. It feels like the book is rly toeing a line but i will say in the first volume its walking the tightrope pretty successfully. The art style is sick and the moments that are supposed to be creepy or scary are so so striking, like the star faced man is truly haunting and also just very well designed. I'm glad that they are calling into question which of the dualing organizations are the "good guys" and I think through the performance of their rivalry some rly interesting themes and ideas can be teased out. Its rly hard to rate at this point bc it ALL depends on what general stance the text ends up taking, whether it ends up ultimately being kind of libby or whether it digs further in and calls more shit into question OR whether it maintains a kind of delicate balance that constantly has the reader wondering what is actually "true". I think this has the potential to rly express something we talk about so much which is that conspiracy theories take a basic premise that is partially if not mostly true and then throw a bunch of batshit stuff in with it to discredit it and distance "rational" ppl from it. It already sort of started to express this when they were talking about how convolution is good for the department of truth etc etc. Also this is rly reveling in the aesthetic of "conspiracy" we all know that conspiracy media has a sort of shared aesthetic/ design sensibility and sometimes its unfortunate when books that are about legitimate shit like CIA destabilizing governments in the Global South but then bc the literal visual design of the book leans too far in the direction of conspiracy that thing is already pre-discredited bc of that. I like how this series is going to revel in that aesthetic bc its what the series is actually about lol so in this case it is a plus and we are allowed to enjoy it (bc truthfully conspiracy aesthetic can be v strong if we look at it without the associative baggage)
ALSO: reading this after watching mysterious skin was so strange there are some similarities in Cole and Brian Lackey's stories are rly interesting, something (potentially in Cole's case as we dont know if the baby eating had a real life analogue event or was completely "fictitious") horrible happening to them when they were kids but having that thing cloaked by a self protective amnesia and then taking on fantastical form that is associated with media and other experiences that the young boys had (the satanic panic and the UFO encounter respectively) and they even look alike, both being blonds who wear thick frame glasses. anyway that was just a weird coincidence
ALSO: reading this after watching mysterious skin was so strange there are some similarities in Cole and Brian Lackey's stories are rly interesting, something (potentially in Cole's case as we dont know if the baby eating had a real life analogue event or was completely "fictitious") horrible happening to them when they were kids but having that thing cloaked by a self protective amnesia and then taking on fantastical form that is associated with media and other experiences that the young boys had (the satanic panic and the UFO encounter respectively) and they even look alike, both being blonds who wear thick frame glasses. anyway that was just a weird coincidence
600bars's review
3.0
I started reading the first couple pages of this at work when I was packing it up for an order. It’s about a secret government agency called the Department of Truth. In the world of this book, if a conspiracy theory reaches a critical mass of belief, the theory will become true regardless of whether or not it was actually true. Basically belief will retcon history. This can have disastrous effects on time and space when something like Flat Earth Theory becomes true, because then all the physical rules of the universe are changed. The Department of Truth is run by Lee Harvey Oswald (lol) and their job is to tamp down conspiracy theory enthusiasts in order to keep the conspiracies from becoming truth….Or is it? The main character is a low level FBI agent whose usual beat is right wing meme groups. He gets recruited into the DoT and it dredges up memories of being a child who was abused during the Satanic Panic. But of course, he can’t remember if these are actual memories or not, and worries that if he believes in the memories they will begin to become true. It’s really early in the series for me to judge it. It seems like something I would like, but I’m still not sure what its general stance/angle is. The premise is very promising, about the murkiness of fact and the truth of belief. It has cheesy comic book writing, but I am the one who picked up a comic book so what can I expect? I like the art style that is very shadowy and spooky, but the pages were often a little confusing and illogical so I read things out of order and would have to go back. Idk, this has the potential to be Twin Peaksy and something I really like but it also could be very dumb. I can’t quite tell just yet.
grimondgalgmod's review
4.0
It's giving 90s Vertigo, but a little too...neat? I hope the later volumes lean more heavily into the chaos of books like The Invisibles or The Sandman because I want to see Martin Simmonds draw something REALLY weird.
stefan_lennemyr's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The story, pacing and artwork works together to create an eerie, crawling feeling. Different small stories ties in to the bigger picture, making that all the more difficult to interpret.
joshgauthier's review
4.0
Yo... what?
I'm not fully sure what to make of this one, and my feelings about the overall series will definitely depend on how some of these questions are answered.
That being said, this is a disturbing, gripping, and all-too immediate melding of contemporary society and fantasy-horror. If collective belief was enough to reshape reality, the war over information becomes vital to preserving the future. With conspiracy theories threatening to destabilize the known world, it's the job of the Department of Truth to maintain the fact. But with other powers at play and secrets piled on top of secrets, the lines blur easily and nothing is what it seems.
Tynion crafts a dark and unsettling tale that echoes back to present day America in ways that are sometimes uncomfortably close to reality. Wielding the central premise of the story, he and the team delve into a dark alternate world where the rules can be reshaped. The watercolors and abstractions of the art are sometimes a little unclear--but they fit perfectly with the tale being told and create a visual style that is as central to the story as the words on the page.
It's a bold undertaking and this creative team kicks off the first 5 issues with dramatic flair. Whatever comes next, it promises to be interesting.
I'm not fully sure what to make of this one, and my feelings about the overall series will definitely depend on how some of these questions are answered.
That being said, this is a disturbing, gripping, and all-too immediate melding of contemporary society and fantasy-horror. If collective belief was enough to reshape reality, the war over information becomes vital to preserving the future. With conspiracy theories threatening to destabilize the known world, it's the job of the Department of Truth to maintain the fact. But with other powers at play and secrets piled on top of secrets, the lines blur easily and nothing is what it seems.
Tynion crafts a dark and unsettling tale that echoes back to present day America in ways that are sometimes uncomfortably close to reality. Wielding the central premise of the story, he and the team delve into a dark alternate world where the rules can be reshaped. The watercolors and abstractions of the art are sometimes a little unclear--but they fit perfectly with the tale being told and create a visual style that is as central to the story as the words on the page.
It's a bold undertaking and this creative team kicks off the first 5 issues with dramatic flair. Whatever comes next, it promises to be interesting.