A review by cesspool_princess
The Department of Truth, Vol. 2: The City Upon a Hill by James Tynion IV

4.0

I actually liked this one better than the first volume. The art style, esp when it becomes a multi-media effort, is stunning and unsettling. The order of the panels can sometimes be counterintuitive and hard to follow. The exposition dumping was def a lot but bc it was ideas that I personally find interesting / have already thought through before, I didn't mind. So while I didn't feel like I was slogging through, I think many ppl might get turned off by that part. Honestly, I liked the big foot section. To me, it was refreshing to see big foot obsession portrayed not as the butt of a joke/ silly but as actually sad. I like that this addressed how stuff that is culturally seen as dumb or silly can genuinely take over ppls lives and destroy their relationships. I think about QAnon ppl in this regard. Like obviously everyone loves to dunk on and make fun of Q ppl bc esp liberals are terrified of that demographic and need to make themselves feel superior, rational, insulated and safe BUT there is little acknowledgement about how these obsessions, induction into these internet communities can genuinely destroy people's lives and their relationships with loved ones, how there is a deep sadness there. This is made more sad by the fact that these people are driven mad with fear and hatred by a world, a political and economic system that legitimately is a NIGHTMARE, that legitimately is controlled by a power elite, where people do get dissapeared, where governments are toppled, leaders assassinated and classes of people crushed under the weight of the machinery. They rightfully sense that something is wrong and so they are easily funneled into these insane communities with twisted and fucked up worldviews. But anyway, the bigfoot thing is also sad just bc of the extent to which it is just fully seen as a joke, to be made fun of. So while the handwritten letter got a lil melodramatic I still found them to be soulful and affecting (ngl I did almost tear up at the final part of the letter). And then Hawk and Cole's descent below the school was also well done imo and Hawk brought up something that has been coming up over and over lately (both Laura and Andres have both talked about this): conspiratorial thinking is all about this notion that all we need to do is REVEAL the truth, that once the truth is brought to light and people finally wake up to that horrific truth then everything else will fall into place, that people will take the necessary steps to slay the dragon, will come together and fight back against that horrible truth, but then there is the reality or the fear that revealing the truth is not enough, that consciousness is not enough, that even if everyone is watching the giant monster slowly lumber towards us, even if we all openly acknowledge to ourselves and each other that this monster is coming to annihilate us, to devour us, that we will still just watch as it approaches, filled with apathy and dread.