The Department of Truth #9

Issue nine of James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds' unsettling conspiracy series delivers another striking visual statement, with Simmonds' painted cover presenting two faces in stark red and black — a grinning, masked figure with crossed-out eyes looming above a second face rendered in shadowy, distressed tones. The tension between those two presences, one theatrical and menacing, the other haunted and obscured, perfectly captures the series' atmosphere of hidden truths and fractured realities. "Chapter Seven: The Denver Working" promises that The Department of Truth continues to be one of 2021's most visually ambitious ongoing series.