Comic Book Review - A Thing Called Truth #1

Rob reviews A Thing Called Truth #1...

Fresh from the brilliant Alice In Leatherland, Lolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli are back with A Thing Called Truth. An LGBTQ+ road trip that's full of twists and turns, great characters, and some truly stunning art. 

A Thing Called Truth starts in a spectacular fashion that involves a high-speed police chase, and a rapidly opening bridge. It's all Thelma and Louise, then suddenly everything changes and we're in the past. We then meet Dr Magdalene Traumer as she sits within her lab. We get a bit of exposition as the Doctor monologues her latest vlog. It soon transpires that she's close to developing a way to cut the costs of medical applications around the globe - which is quite a big deal. Anyway, it's taken her 7-years (2136 days to be exact) to get to this point, and it's cost her quite a lot of her personal life to get here. 

This is all shown as Zanfardino and Romboli dive into Magdalene's life away from her lab. Her apartment is an unkempt mess. There's unopened mail and more than a few piles of laundry. It's certainly a far cry from the clean, sterile environment that introduced the character. We're then given more exposition as Mag receives a phone call from her estranged husband. The two soon start arguing over who's to blame for their marriage ending which brings up plenty of bad feelings and a lot of hurtful comments. 

It's from here where the story starts to progress further towards the opening car chase. As Mag heads to her lab she's refused access due to her apparent resignation. It soon turns out that this is all the work of her superiors who are stealing her intellectual property for their ends - everything always revolves around money. After a few choice words towards her (former) employers, Mag gets escorted away from the building. With the final conversation with her husband still fresh, she heads to the nearest bar. It's here where the issue takes a more playful, less serious tone as Dr Mag gets blind drunk whilst coming to terms with her unemployment. She soon passes out within the backseat of her car, to wake up a few hours later in Italy with a stranger driving. 

A Thing Called Truth sets off to a great start. There's plenty of exposition as Lolanda Zanfardino introduces us to Doctor Magdalene Traumer and her life. Mag is quite a relatable character who's grounded in reality. She's not a superhero and doesn't have any real powers per se. What she is...well ordinary. And that's what makes this story a great read. 

Away from Magdalene, Zanfardino does a brilliant job in setting up future events. Naturally, as the story progresses we will find these answers, but they're a tantalising tease for what's to come. 

Overall, A Thing Called Truth #1 is an expertly crafted opening. It's full of lighthearted moments, with a few serious tones underneath. Both the script and art accompany each other extremely well which all goes towards making this such a readable story. What we see within this issue is the tip of the A Thing Called Truth iceberg, and I can't wait to delve a little deeper! 

Rating 8.5/10

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev