From the iconic James Tinion IV (A lovely house on the lake, something kills a child) and Martin Simmons (Undead Punk, Death is Easy), the Truth Division of the Unforgettable Conspiracy Series has become one of the most successful and rave reviewed thriller comics in history.
Emerald City Comic Con 2025 marks its fifth anniversary, and Tynion IV and Simmonds celebrate the panel diving deep into their bestselling series. The gorgeous comic features a secret government organization responsible for covering heart-bending conspiracy theories like flat earth and Bigfoot. In this world, collective human beliefs (as O, r places “consensus-based reality”, o, r) can turn conspiracy and cryptid into reality, and only the Ministry of Truth can stop the world from falling apart.
When Truth Ministry debuted five years ago, Tynion IV only planned on the comics, a limited series of 15 islands. The prolific horror writer quickly realized that the world of Truth Ministry was bigger than he had imagined, and transformed the book into a continuing series that had just debuted the 28th issue.
I was lucky enough to meet series artist Martin Simmonds at ECCC artist Alley. The department’s covers and interiors are both confused and beautiful. Most impressive is that Simmondo uses multimedia and looks like every page in the series should be hung in a contemporary art museum. Simmons said how the classic Vertigo comics inspired his art and that he got the job.
Tynion IV talks about the inspiration of the Ministry of Truth and reflects how he began researching the 2016 US election and the “mainstreaming” of fringe beliefs across the country. Tynion IV wanted to explore this new reality in which America lived.
He continues to study both actual conspiracy theories through the series’ publications, as he decides that creators do not want to create conspiracy theories that don’t exist yet.
The creators also discussed how the series includes the incredible world-building of Cole “falling into a rabbit hole,” but is a “human story” that focuses on the protagonist Cole Turner. Cole’s personal life, his experience as an important part of the devil’s panic in the 1980s, and his tension with his partner, remained central to the series a few years later, with Tynion IV saying that future issues will bring much of Cole’s personal tension to a turning point.
Tynion IV noted that many of the talks on this conspiracy theory can be summarised by Agent K of the quotes he says to Agent J before joining Black men.
“People are smart. People are stupid, panic, dangerous animals, and you know that. 1,500 years ago, everyone knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. 500 years ago, everyone knew that the Earth was flat, and 15 minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine knowing tomorrow.”
One of the favourite issues in the Tynion IV division is that the main character is lured into villain organization Black Hat, and talks about how much of the series is meant to “disappear your balance, attack you, and bring you back to Earth.” Simmons’ approach to his artwork in the series is intended to feel like a “follows” film that “keeps toe toe” while visualizing every page.
Tynion says, “The story that began with Cole Turner in issue one always comes to an end.” Their current vision is that the series will end with issue 50. They also revealed the Truth #0 division that will appear in September, describing it as the “evil version of Issue #1” celebrating its fifth anniversary.
Personally, I hope that the Ministry of Truth will not end because the possibilities are truly endless.
