The Department of Truth #1 launched with an unusually broad cover program. Image Comics’ official checklist identifies standard covers, incentive and retailer editions, a sequence of alphabetic designations, a ZZ cover, and a mystery cover. The records below preserve the publisher’s artist and store information without adding unsupported claims about scarcity or market value.
The issue’s cover history is part of the publication history, not the fictional canon. Cover art can echo the story’s imagery, but an exclusive designation does not establish a new plot event or character appearance.
Image Comics identifies the cover designations, artists, Diamond codes, and retailer associations.
The records describe physical publication variants, not story continuity.
Scarcity, print runs, resale value, and grading are not inferred from a cover designation alone.
Standard and incentive covers
Cover A is by Martin Simmonds and Cover B is by Jenny Frison. Image’s release page identifies both as standard covers associated with the issue. Covers C through F are credited to Declan Shalvey, InHyuk Lee, Mirka Andolfo, and Werther Dell’edera.
Image’s press material identifies the Mirka Andolfo edition as a 1:50 incentive variant and gives it the Diamond code JUL208815. The incentive ratio is a publication specification; it is not a guarantee of present-day scarcity.
Retailer and store editions
The official checklist associates additional covers with Comics Corp. Promotions, Scott’s Collectibles UK, Sanctum Sanctorum, Slab City Comics, Third Eye Comics, Comic Hero University, One Stop Shop, Sad Lemon, 616 Comics, Comic Kingdom of Canada, OASAS, Gotham Central, Big Country Comics, and Wanted Comix.
Several artists appear across multiple retailer records, including Peach Momoko, Jenny Frison, Ben Templesmith, Werther Dell’edera, Mirka Andolfo, InHyuk Lee, and Declan Shalvey. The checklist preserves those repeated artist-store relationships rather than treating the covers as interchangeable.
The complete designation sequence
The Image checklist records Covers A through Z, then ZZ, followed by a Mystery Cover entry. The sequence includes Tyler Kirkham, Alan Quah, Megan Hutchinson, Sheldon Bueckert, Jae Lee, Paul Limgenco, Hugh Rookwood, and Martin Simmonds among the listed artists.
The mystery designation is retained because the publisher lists it. Its presence does not authorize a guessed artist, cover image, or print quantity.
Collector’s notes
A responsible checklist records the source, artist, retailer, designation, Diamond code where supplied, and any explicit ratio or format. It does not call a cover rare, valuable, exclusive, or difficult to obtain without evidence from a documented print run or market record.
The cover program demonstrates how the series’ publication history extends beyond the standard issue. It should be studied alongside the story’s visual language while remaining separate from the events depicted in the comic.
References
- Image Comics, The Department of Truth #1 Cover ChecklistOfficial designation, artist, retailer, and Diamond-code records.
- Image Comics, Mirka Andolfo Variant AnnouncementOfficial 1:50 incentive information for the Mirka Andolfo variant.