There is no comic book being published right now that is more of the moment, and more important for understanding the fabric of America, than Image Comics‘s The Department of Truth. That’s clearly been the goal of writer James Tynion IV and artist Martin Simmonds for a while now. But as soon as the book returned last month with an arc revealing the “truth” behind the assassination of JFK Jr., it came into crystal clear focus — something that continues with this month’s The Department of Truth #24.
If you haven’t been reading the series, it depicts an ongoing war between the American Department of Truth and the Russian Ministry of Lies. Both know that the world can be changed by the stories we tell. Conspiracy theories, monsters, everything is fair game. The book has explored Bigfoot, aliens, and every cryptid under the sun. But the most pressing, current story it is crafting is charting the rise and downfall of America, pivoted around the death of JFK. Our “hero” in the arc? Lee Harvey Oswald.
That isn’t a shocker, Oswald has been a character for nearly the entire length of the book, the current head of the Department of Truth. But in this issue in particular we see how he was (at least in this fictional narrative) swept away by the flow of history. It’s not that he wants to kill JFK, and as he admits in this issue, sometimes his memory gets fuzzy based on all the narratives that swirled around him in the subsequent decades. But JFK is presented as a rogue element in history, one that was able to shift the narrative to himself based on the strength of his personality.
The reason this feels so pressing and important is that we are in the midst of a war of narratives right now in America. On one side is a group that seeks to push the idea that we are at the end of the American experiment, with the undertone that if you let them seek power, they’ll end it in the “right” way. No more voting, no more choice. On the other is the belief in the future, while looking to our sunny past. To them, America is, and has always been a beacon of hope, regardless of how true that is. These narratives, whether they come to bear or not, are the ones diverging parties seek to make into the truth, for us, for all Americans, and for the world.
This story isn’t about Oswald, though it is painting JFK’s death as a pivot point. It’s about what we’re experiencing now. The problem is that like Lee Harvey Oswald, we’re currently trapped in the flow of history. And unlike JFK, we’re not in a position to change it. That, more than Simmonds’ stunningly horrifying drawings, or Aditya Bidikar’s stand-out, scratchy lettering throughout the book is what’s scariest about Department of Truth. The truth is what we make it, but the “we” in question may be stuck with the narrative we’re fed.
The Department of Truth #24 is on sale now from Image Comics.
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