Matt Kindt is a writer’s writer. I really don’t know what that means, except that I’m a writer and to speak in a voice as unique as his own is what every writer aspires to do. To have every comic he puts into the world be a fully formed and authentic vision is a staggering achievement.

With Dept.H, I have no idea where he’s going to go; from issue to issue, it’s a maze of psychological profiling and bad luck. How have any of these characters persevered, much less Mia who is the daughter of the murdered head scientist, has come 6 miles below the surface of the ocean to find the murderer, and has been met with the worst situation I would ever imagine finding myself in: being trapped under the ocean in a station supposedly being kept together by tape and string. I hate thinking about the ocean. My imagination takes over. There’s too much open space, too much we can’t control.

I digress . . . with Issue #12, I found myself leaning closer and closer to the glowing screen of my laptop. Storylines are merging, and fireworks are going off. I began this series wanting to follow the trail of clues, wanting to figure out who the murderer was, but I can’t think about it. I just want Kindt to tell me what’s going to happen next. I need to know.

Dept.H is thrilling in a way very few other comic books are. Visually, it’s cinematic. The colors help to tell the story. In this issue in particular, but in every issue so far, flashbacks are used to beautiful effect. One in this issue made me tear up a bit.

Listen up: If you haven’t been reading Dept.H, you should.