Writers: James Tynion IV
Artists: Martin Simmonds & Joshua Hixson
Colorists: Martin Simmonds & Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Cover Artists: Martin Simmonds, Joshua Hixson, Tom Muller
& Tyler Boss
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: September 24, 2025
Like Janie, Hunter’s got a gun. It's an impressive rifle.
Still, Stevie prefers customers to order a large pepperoni rather than discharge
a firearm inside Pizza Gogo. Hunter insinuates Stevie is doing something
sinister. When the rifle-toting customer points to a door, Stevie wonders why
he hasn't noticed it before. And when Steve opens it and hears children crying,
why does it hurt to peer into the darkness? Let's grab a flashlight, leap into
The Department of Truth #0, and see!
Story
While Hunter's story begins in 2016, time passes quickly in
prison. Still, it's a surprise when the guard leaves Hunter with government
spooks. A kid eating a candy bar waxes lyrical about his vision of America. Chuckie
claims that Hunter is a hero and fits in with what he's trying to do for their
country. But Chuckie is a teenager. Years ago, he could have been one of the
kids Hunter intended to rescue from Pizza Gogo.
In The Department of Truth #0, Charity Sinclair realizes her
colleague isn't connecting with Hunter. She explains how her government
department faltered under poor leadership. Now, the administration shares
Charity's vision. Like the door that Stevie had never seen before, Charity
believes that Hunter can help make her vision of America a reality. Her
department is on a recruiting drive, and she wants Hunter to be a part of it.
All this strange talk mystifies Hunter. And when he gets
confused, he gets angry. Hunter cares about others. But he tries to see the
world objectively. The government has given him time to reconsider his actions.
How did his threatening and menacing crimes become heroism? James Tynion IV’s
story is all about the truth we perceive, and the passion and work necessary to
help others embrace your worldview.
Art
As Hunter points his rifle at Stevie, the restaurant mascot
on the wall behind the bald, muscular man evokes Eddie Valiant's investigation
for Roger Rabbit. Customers watch the standoff as the room skews around them. The
stairs descending into darkness recall Bilbo sneaking into Smaug's domain. Martin
Simmonds intersperses the action with frequent close-ups of Hunter and Stevie.
Then the two men resemble figures at a crime scene, as a pistol-wielding woman
in a black suit studies them.
Colors swirl, spin, and surround the characters in The
Department of Truth #0. Martin Simmonds often adorns people and places with
contrasting colors, such as red and green, to suggest texture, patterns, and
energy. Red drifts from Hunter’s rifle to bathe Stevie. The same white speckles
that hover around Hunter also surround the magical door. Outside Pizza Gogo,
the restaurant lights and the roof lights on the patrol car and ambulance blur
amid a white ground fog. Later, a greenish haze surrounds Chuckie, Charity, and
Hunter, while a yellow-and-red children’s drawing portrays how Charity views
her department liaison.
Suspicious Minds Pt 1: Story
Hank remembers how seeing Elvis Presley in a parade affected
him. Now, he must assess the King's impact on national security. In Scott
Snyder’s story, Hank has failed the bureau once. He feels out of his depth. But
Hank has something to prove to his director and himself.
This short serial installment concerns how stories influence
us. These may be the stories we tell. Or they may be stories that others create
about us. Stories sustained Hank during his childhood. His time as an agent has
taught him that some stories can hurt others. What Hank discovers when he
enters Graceland confounds everything he knows about how “truth” and “fiction”
change us.
Suspicious Minds Pt 1: Art
Joshua Hixson shows Hank walking through the throng lining
the street. Beside him, his mother uses a handkerchief amid her distress. But
she waves at people she admires. Unlike the celebrities perched atop the back
seats of convertibles, the King reclines on the trunk of a car with a hard top.
Elvis smiles and winks at Hank's stoicism.
Jordie Bellaire applies beige, red, and gray to Joshua
Hixson’s precision drawings in The Department of Truth #0. Inking portrays
darkness and shadows as Hank slows before the wrought iron gates in his
big-bodied, OAPEC-defying sedan. People merge with symbols and mythological
creatures as Hank ponders his discoveries and enters the colonial revival
mansion.
Lettering
Aditya Bidikar adorns characters with white balloons
featuring straight lines and sharp edges. Large black uppercase words reveal
dialogue, while small lowercase letters in narrative boxes adorn art
illustrating the characters' worldviews. Small uppercase letters fill rounded
white balloons in Suspicious Minds Pt 1, while small lowercase typed letters in
beige boxes convey Hank's thoughts. Thanks to Image Comics and Tiny Onion for
providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Countries have gone to war to promote their version of the
truth. Empires have crumbled because they lacked a unifying story. In The
Department of Truth #0, people who believe in objective truth falter, while
those who live the lie until it becomes truth gain momentum in their bid for
power.
Rating 9/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
