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Deep State #1
Deep State, Vol. 1
They keep the government's secret.. secret.
John Harrow doesn't exist, & his job is to make sure that other things don’t exist, too. At any given time, the government is running dozens of black book operations, experiments that aren't on any official record & are never acknowledged to exist. Some of these are innocuous. Some of them are monstrous beyond reason. & most of the time, they go as expected & the public is never the wiser. Most of the time. John Harrow’s job is to handle them when things go wrong, & do anything to make sure the government’s secrets stay just that—secret.
With Luther Strode, Dead Body Road, & Spread, Justin Jordan has become one of the eminent voices in hard-hitting, intelligent, original comics, & Ariela Kristantina (Death of Wolverine) brings her unique, idiosyncratic style that has made her a breakout talent. If you’re even remotely interested in conspiracy theory stories from comics like Detective Comics & X-Files to films like Enemy of the State, & Three Days of the Condor, you’ll be gripped by Deep State!
Collecting: Deep State 1-4
John Harrow doesn't exist, & his job is to make sure that other things don’t exist, too. At any given time, the government is running dozens of black book operations, experiments that aren't on any official record & are never acknowledged to exist. Some of these are innocuous. Some of them are monstrous beyond reason. & most of the time, they go as expected & the public is never the wiser. Most of the time. John Harrow’s job is to handle them when things go wrong, & do anything to make sure the government’s secrets stay just that—secret.
With Luther Strode, Dead Body Road, & Spread, Justin Jordan has become one of the eminent voices in hard-hitting, intelligent, original comics, & Ariela Kristantina (Death of Wolverine) brings her unique, idiosyncratic style that has made her a breakout talent. If you’re even remotely interested in conspiracy theory stories from comics like Detective Comics & X-Files to films like Enemy of the State, & Three Days of the Condor, you’ll be gripped by Deep State!
Collecting: Deep State 1-4
112 pages, Paperback
First published March 10, 2015
15 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Justin Jordan
524 books100 followersJustin Jordan is an American comic book writer. He is known for writing and co-creating The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Spread, Dead Body Road, Deep State, Dark Gods and Savage Things. He has also written Green Lantern: New Guardians, Superboy, Deathstroke and Team 7 for DC Comics and the relaunch of Shadowman for Valiant Entertainment.
In 2012, he was nominated for the Harvey Award for Most Promising New Talent.
In 2012, he was nominated for the Harvey Award for Most Promising New Talent.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 7, 2015
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
This is what contemporary composers like to say to themselves to justify ripping off a melody here or a leitmotif there from the old masters. At least if one of classical guys did it, he’d say “variation of a theme by whomever.” Which brings me to this volume.
Justin Jordan at least references his source material overtly (Men in Black, The X-Files), which is thoughtful as it’s a pretty obvious “homage”. Note the quotation marks.
Agent Branch is recruited into a super-secret government agency by super-secret agent John Harrow, who may or may not have a mysterious past and or abilities. What enfolds is barely a cut above the scifi/conspiracy genre. The only thing holding this together is Jordan has a knack for dialogue and his characters are fairly well conceived and just interesting enough to keep the reader turning the pages. Just barely.
The art is on the smeary side.
This is what contemporary composers like to say to themselves to justify ripping off a melody here or a leitmotif there from the old masters. At least if one of classical guys did it, he’d say “variation of a theme by whomever.” Which brings me to this volume.
Justin Jordan at least references his source material overtly (Men in Black, The X-Files), which is thoughtful as it’s a pretty obvious “homage”. Note the quotation marks.
Agent Branch is recruited into a super-secret government agency by super-secret agent John Harrow, who may or may not have a mysterious past and or abilities. What enfolds is barely a cut above the scifi/conspiracy genre. The only thing holding this together is Jordan has a knack for dialogue and his characters are fairly well conceived and just interesting enough to keep the reader turning the pages. Just barely.
The art is on the smeary side.
March 6, 2015
Agent John Harrow works for a covert government organisation that makes sure secrets stay secret. And what better hiding place than in plain sight? Like the conspiracy theory of the moon landings: we did land on the moon in 1969 – but it wasn’t our first time there. Back in 1964 man landed on the moon for the first time only to discover something hostile living in what we once thought was an uninhabited rock. Today that… thing… has finally made it to Earth and it’s up to Harrow, along with his newest recruit Branch, to neutralise it and hush everything up again.
I think Justin Jordan saw Men in Black and The X Files and said “me too!” because almost nothing about this series feels original in the slightest. For example, male and female government agents chasing aliens and conspiracies – sound familiar? Granted, unlike Fox Mulder, they know that aliens exist because they’re trying to stop that information from getting out to protect the world – which is what Men in Black is!
Story-wise, it’s nothing most horror fans haven’t already seen before: evil thingy possesses people turning them into mindless puppets. Seeing the horror in the vintage Russian spacesuit reminded me of at least a dozen BPRD issues where the same thing has been done - better – by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie.
I suppose there is some mild variation in Harrow’s mysterious past and generally Ariela Kristantina’s art is quite nice to look at, but it’s basically a very shallow storyline that’s been done a thousand times already. It’s disappointing, not least because this is coming from the writer of the excellent Luther Strode series at Image, but because the story starts so promisingly before descending into tedious generic schlock.
Though I’m amazed at how consistently bad Boom’s catalogue is, I have to say kudos to Jordan/Kristantina – Deep State is going to be a TV series! Which studio picked it up? 20th Century Fox – the same one that produced The X Files!
I think Justin Jordan saw Men in Black and The X Files and said “me too!” because almost nothing about this series feels original in the slightest. For example, male and female government agents chasing aliens and conspiracies – sound familiar? Granted, unlike Fox Mulder, they know that aliens exist because they’re trying to stop that information from getting out to protect the world – which is what Men in Black is!
Story-wise, it’s nothing most horror fans haven’t already seen before: evil thingy possesses people turning them into mindless puppets. Seeing the horror in the vintage Russian spacesuit reminded me of at least a dozen BPRD issues where the same thing has been done - better – by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie.
I suppose there is some mild variation in Harrow’s mysterious past and generally Ariela Kristantina’s art is quite nice to look at, but it’s basically a very shallow storyline that’s been done a thousand times already. It’s disappointing, not least because this is coming from the writer of the excellent Luther Strode series at Image, but because the story starts so promisingly before descending into tedious generic schlock.
Though I’m amazed at how consistently bad Boom’s catalogue is, I have to say kudos to Jordan/Kristantina – Deep State is going to be a TV series! Which studio picked it up? 20th Century Fox – the same one that produced The X Files!
March 15, 2016
This is a review for Issue #1 and #2, but will be updated as I progress.
After not understanding (a.k.a highly disliking) BOOM!'s publication of God Hates Astronauts, Vol. 1, I retreated to the my safe alcove of Image and Vertigo comics. Recently at the comic book store, which is admittedly one of the best places to spend my Wednesday mornings, I heard praise for Deep State Vol. 1. I then saw the last copies of issues #1 and #2 sitting on the new series rack and since they looked like they needed a home, and the art looked fucking awesome, I decided to give BOOM! another shot.
I am so happy I did.
The first issue is gripping, well drawn, well colored, and damn-well written. This is going to be a big story among those of us who love mature content and superheroless comic books.
From Issue #1:
"The problem with secrets is that they don't want to stay that way. They say information wants to be free.
And maybe that's the case.
But what I do know is that every story wants to be told.
You can bury them as deep as you want. You can hide them. You can toss them into the darkest places you can imagine, but sooner or later...
They always come back."
From Issue #2:
" You have a secret government widget that gives you the layout of the area?
I have Google Maps.
Is that a joke?
Of course not."
After not understanding (a.k.a highly disliking) BOOM!'s publication of God Hates Astronauts, Vol. 1, I retreated to the my safe alcove of Image and Vertigo comics. Recently at the comic book store, which is admittedly one of the best places to spend my Wednesday mornings, I heard praise for Deep State Vol. 1. I then saw the last copies of issues #1 and #2 sitting on the new series rack and since they looked like they needed a home, and the art looked fucking awesome, I decided to give BOOM! another shot.
I am so happy I did.
The first issue is gripping, well drawn, well colored, and damn-well written. This is going to be a big story among those of us who love mature content and superheroless comic books.
From Issue #1:
"The problem with secrets is that they don't want to stay that way. They say information wants to be free.
And maybe that's the case.
But what I do know is that every story wants to be told.
You can bury them as deep as you want. You can hide them. You can toss them into the darkest places you can imagine, but sooner or later...
They always come back."
From Issue #2:
" You have a secret government widget that gives you the layout of the area?
I have Google Maps.
Is that a joke?
Of course not."
November 26, 2018
This was pretty decent. Yes it is definitely an X-Files rip-off but Jordan is a pretty good writer and he holds it well. I would recommend this and the Proof comic series for people who like those types of books
June 23, 2016
I like the whole X-Files vibe going here, but I have to say, I think this book totally blows its own biggest surprise way too early. Maybe it reads a lot differently in monthly issues, but damn did we find out a little too much a lot too soon.
I don't remember a ton of X-Files other than it being a show I tried to watch as a kid and kinda loved but was also entirely too scared of.
What are my memories?
The Episode Where The Kid Was Watching TV Static And Writing 1's and 0's That Turned Out To Make A Giant Picture: A really unfortunate thing to be terrified by in the 90's was TV static. That shit was everywhere. And why was the static always so fucking loud? A movie would end, you'd toggle whatever WWII-era cockpit toggles you had to switch channels on the TV, and the static would come blaring out, loud as hell.
The Fluke Man: Mostly because he ends up in a porta-potty, and as if there needed to be another reason to be averse to porta-potty use...
The Stretchy Guy Who Goes Down A Pipe: Scariest shit ever. Why? I dunno. Because he can be in a pipe. That means he could be anywhere. I suppose if you saw him coming, you could probably mash him with your foot and make a run for it. But who knows?
The Computer System That Comes To Life: Like all things of this type from the 90's, probably woefully dated and ripe for an A.V. Club write-up about how this dystopian vision has come true blah blah blah.
The One That Was Just Like John Carpenter's The Thing: Which was still pretty awesome because The Thing is awesome, so the same story in the same setting with the X-Files theme song in front of it is a solid 8.5.
I don't remember a ton of X-Files other than it being a show I tried to watch as a kid and kinda loved but was also entirely too scared of.
What are my memories?
The Episode Where The Kid Was Watching TV Static And Writing 1's and 0's That Turned Out To Make A Giant Picture: A really unfortunate thing to be terrified by in the 90's was TV static. That shit was everywhere. And why was the static always so fucking loud? A movie would end, you'd toggle whatever WWII-era cockpit toggles you had to switch channels on the TV, and the static would come blaring out, loud as hell.
The Fluke Man: Mostly because he ends up in a porta-potty, and as if there needed to be another reason to be averse to porta-potty use...
The Stretchy Guy Who Goes Down A Pipe: Scariest shit ever. Why? I dunno. Because he can be in a pipe. That means he could be anywhere. I suppose if you saw him coming, you could probably mash him with your foot and make a run for it. But who knows?
The Computer System That Comes To Life: Like all things of this type from the 90's, probably woefully dated and ripe for an A.V. Club write-up about how this dystopian vision has come true blah blah blah.
The One That Was Just Like John Carpenter's The Thing: Which was still pretty awesome because The Thing is awesome, so the same story in the same setting with the X-Files theme song in front of it is a solid 8.5.
November 27, 2020
Reminiscent and derivative of Men in Black, the X-files and every zombie movie ever Deep State is a fast action packed romp. This book has pretty much everything you would expect in a B-movie inspired tale of secret government operatives.
A shadowy and sinister government agency, - Check!
An evil force from space bent on world domination, - Check!
Horny, slasher ready teeneagers , - Check!
A local sheriff with a chip on his shoulder about the arrogant Feds in his jurisdiction, - Check!
Arrogant Feds, - Check!
A set of Mulder and Scully analogs, - Check!
A town turned into violent zombies, - Check!
A totally expected, unexpected twist on the last page, - Check!
Not particularly original, but definitely a lot of fun.
A shadowy and sinister government agency, - Check!
An evil force from space bent on world domination, - Check!
Horny, slasher ready teeneagers , - Check!
A local sheriff with a chip on his shoulder about the arrogant Feds in his jurisdiction, - Check!
Arrogant Feds, - Check!
A set of Mulder and Scully analogs, - Check!
A town turned into violent zombies, - Check!
A totally expected, unexpected twist on the last page, - Check!
Not particularly original, but definitely a lot of fun.
March 28, 2016
This is a solid introduction to the shadow organization dealing with bizarre paranormal and extraterrestrial events.
April 4, 2015
A bunch of clichés result in a story that never really takes off. A bit of alternate history (Russians landing on the moon), a bit of sci-fi (an alien invasion of sorts), a duo of agents that kinda don't get along and kinda do, someone with a disturbing but secret back history,...
It's not bad per se; it's just not good enough to care about.
It's not bad per se; it's just not good enough to care about.
July 27, 2016
Complete garbage. Derivative and unimaginative. Seriously, this book was a waste of time. Author Jordan takes any number of sci-fi/horror elements and tries to pass them off as something new wrapped up in an X-Files mystery, but fails on so many levels.
The art is pretty shitty, also.
The art is pretty shitty, also.
June 21, 2015
Interesting series from Justin Jordan. Quite a departure from the fantastic Luther Strode series. Can't give this more than 3 stars because it feels like I've read most of this before. Although it does hold the promise of something more which will make it worth reading the next instalment.
May 23, 2015
I did not like this.
August 12, 2017
Read the full review on Nerdophiles.com
While not terribly original in concept – two agents from a shadowy ill-defined to the uninitiated agency take on things the conspiracy theorists were right about all along – it is a fun read. The artwork alone drew me in from the first time I laid eyes on the cover and continued to lend itself beautifully to the story being told.
It does sound a little Men in Black and X-Files-y, but the comic is aware of that and makes cheeky nods to both franchises throughout the first story arc. From their introduction, the readers are thrown into the first conspiracy theory Deep State is going to tackle – the moon landing. The first official moon landing was actually the third and surprise! The Soviet Union actually made it to the moon first in 1964. The problem was that they never came back…
Check out Deep State Vol. 1 and embrace your inner conspiracy theorist today (you’re totally right about the moon landing by the way)! Issue #5 starts a new arc and theory to be tackled and I have high hopes for things to move in a more original way now that we’ve gotten the foundation laid.
While not terribly original in concept – two agents from a shadowy ill-defined to the uninitiated agency take on things the conspiracy theorists were right about all along – it is a fun read. The artwork alone drew me in from the first time I laid eyes on the cover and continued to lend itself beautifully to the story being told.
It does sound a little Men in Black and X-Files-y, but the comic is aware of that and makes cheeky nods to both franchises throughout the first story arc. From their introduction, the readers are thrown into the first conspiracy theory Deep State is going to tackle – the moon landing. The first official moon landing was actually the third and surprise! The Soviet Union actually made it to the moon first in 1964. The problem was that they never came back…
Check out Deep State Vol. 1 and embrace your inner conspiracy theorist today (you’re totally right about the moon landing by the way)! Issue #5 starts a new arc and theory to be tackled and I have high hopes for things to move in a more original way now that we’ve gotten the foundation laid.
April 5, 2020
As many reviewer already said this book is about the organization from the X-FIles. One ran by the Smoking Man.
It all starts with a space ship falling down to Earth and very soon two agents from the no-such-agency, one veteran and one newbie, find themselves in a middle of it, fighting for their very lives and for survival of the Earth.
Wit the above it is obvious that story is standard - one grizzled veteran and one newbie fighting horrors from the deep. This does not mean that story itself is bad. On the contrary, story is pretty well structured and approach our agents take is very much practical. There are no mushy scenes here, what needs to be done will be done. Lives do not get spared.
Art is little bit messy for my liking, some parts are smudgy and it takes a while to figure out what is going on. But overall it is good.
If you like X-Files,. Delta Green or even BPRD like stories give this one a shot. It is short story but I think you will like it.
It all starts with a space ship falling down to Earth and very soon two agents from the no-such-agency, one veteran and one newbie, find themselves in a middle of it, fighting for their very lives and for survival of the Earth.
Wit the above it is obvious that story is standard - one grizzled veteran and one newbie fighting horrors from the deep. This does not mean that story itself is bad. On the contrary, story is pretty well structured and approach our agents take is very much practical. There are no mushy scenes here, what needs to be done will be done. Lives do not get spared.
Art is little bit messy for my liking, some parts are smudgy and it takes a while to figure out what is going on. But overall it is good.
If you like X-Files,. Delta Green or even BPRD like stories give this one a shot. It is short story but I think you will like it.
January 31, 2021
A decent but highly derivative SF/horror thriller with conspiracy overtones. The general vibe, with its black-suited government agents, is an even darker & more cynical X-FILES with notes of MEN IN BLACK and GLOBAL FREQUENCY. The threat — an infected astronaut possessed by an alien virus — is straight out of a QUATERMASS serial. The device of the infected humans hive-minding a transmission device out of junk parts was an episode of THE 4400. Not much to recommend here except the occasional flashes of brilliance in Ariel Kristantia’s expressive & colorful art — though at times it’s so abstract & sketchy that it’s hard to make sense of the action.
January 18, 2026
Not bad. Enjoyable. Maybe a bit...out of date? It feels like something from the 90s or early 2000s. Very "post-X-Files." A few intriguing ideas. I've owned this for what seems like forever, and finally got around to reading it. Not sure if there's a volume 2, but I probably won't be tracking it down. Still, if you're a fan of alien invasion/X-Files type stories, there's something here you might enjoy.
December 12, 2018
An interesting, if not overly original, tale of alien invasion and secret government agencies. The artwork was nicely done and some of the plot points were fun. Ultimately, however, I could have just watched reruns of X-Files. Definitely a read for the conspiracy/X-Files/MiB crowd who have Comixology Unlimited.
January 17, 2020
Boring, tired old zombie/alien-possession story tarted up in a government conspiracy set dressing. I started reading this three different times before I finally decided to just get it over with. I needn't have bothered.
October 13, 2020
Un inizio caotico ma interessante, un thriller misto a sci-fi che costringe il lettore in una spirale di complottismo e azione.
Disegni non eccelsi ma accompagnano bene la narrazione, non sarebbe male vedere un po' di precisione in più.
Sembra intrigante e continuerò la lettura del secondo volume.
Disegni non eccelsi ma accompagnano bene la narrazione, non sarebbe male vedere un po' di precisione in più.
Sembra intrigante e continuerò la lettura del secondo volume.
March 7, 2024
An intriguing concept with a solid storyline, the only thing that lets it down is some slightly rough artwork, but it’s not too much of an issue. Definitely worth a look, and I’ll be reading more in this series.
October 16, 2017
I'm a sucker for a good conspiracy/weird science book, and this delivers on that score... acceptably? May or may not pick up the next one if/when it comes out.
October 11, 2019
X-Files meets MIB meets Alien... and an interesting ending that hints at more twists. Like it!
November 3, 2020
X-files +men in black = deep state?? Not particularly original.
January 12, 2021
Enjoyed it, but docking a full star for the garbage artwork. I get what they were going for, but BOOM Studios could do so much better than they did.
August 3, 2022
Not wholly original, it’s kind of self aware about it, but who cares. I dig the tone of the book. I found the artwork to be expressive and moody.
January 26, 2024
Fast paced story.
I didn't quite understand the explanation in issue 4, but I understand what happened.
The end reveal was interesting. Keeps one hooked for volume 2.
Art was okay, not my taste.
I didn't quite understand the explanation in issue 4, but I understand what happened.
The end reveal was interesting. Keeps one hooked for volume 2.
Art was okay, not my taste.
January 14, 2025
El dibujo es abismal y la historia es lo suficientemente decente y ágil para que quieras leer más, pero es la versión Ali Express de El Departamento de la Verdad.
May 18, 2015
Meh. Conspiracy theories and men in black are hard to do well. There are way too many cliches to avoid and frankly, this book traffics in a few of them. It wasn't bad. The art was fine. The dialogue was okay. I just wasn't surprised by anything. Pick up Foucault's Pendulum. You'll be happier. Still, it was only $9.99, so I ain't too unhappy.
February 9, 2025
There's not much original here but at least it's done pretty well. Think the X-Files if they were working to keep conspiracies hidden instead of exposing them. In this one 1969 was actually not our first trip to the moon, it was the 3rd. Something evil was up there and now it's come to Earth. Our government agents must stop it from ever leaving the small town it landed in.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews