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True Colors 3-66: Rags to Riches
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Panel 1:
As the characters conduct the interview, black and white photographs are shown. In one, a younger and happier-looking Eloise Trueman stands in a classroom full of children a ruler pointed at the blackboard. A young L Surewater pops her head in the doorway, smiling brightly. In the second, L Surewater holds up a sign she has been writing that says "Integrate Schools NOW!". Eloise is also writing a sign, but turns in surprise at the sudden photograph. In the third, a newspaper clipping shows a slightly older L Surewater, Eloise Trueman, and Trueman Brothers in the same clothes as in the Trueman Corporation groundbreaking. L and Eloise both cut a ceremonial ribbon with a large pair of scissors. The newspaper, the Veridian Chronicle, has the headline "TRUEMAN UNIVERSITY OPENS. Student enrollment to begin for Fall 1963 semester. Some rejoice, whiole others condemn leadership for focus on integration and women's lib." A second headline further down the page reads "TRUEMAN CORPORATION COMPUTERS A HIT".
Tasha (offscreen): Your grandmother co-founded the university with Dean Surewater, right?
Sonia (offscreen): That's right! They've been close ever since they worked together as schoolteachers. Their passion for education is actually what inspired them to start a university. That, and wanting to create their own pathways to success as two single women in the 1960's.

Panel 2:
Dean Surewater in the present day has gone back to watching the Vera Tea with T. Vera stream on her computer. She is changing out of her usual outfit and raises an eyebrow at the screen.
Surewater: ...How did they even get those photos? ...We sure were lookers though...
Tasha (from the computer): Inspiring! Now, I'm hoping you can shed some light on one of the Truemans' bigger mysteries. Both the corporation and the university were founded around the same time, no?
Sonia (from the computer): Thats' right, both began in 1963!

Panel 3:
A view of the computer screen from Dean Surewater's perspective. Sonia swings her arm in a folksy can-do gesture, but looks nervous and uncertain.
Tasha (offscreen): How did they manage to pull THAT off?
Sonia: Um... lots of hard work and luck!
Tasha (offscreen): No, I mean OTHER than the folksy "rags to riches" tale they've peddled for decades.
Sonia: ...What do you mean?

Panel 4:
An exaggerated dramatic reenacment of the Trueman Brothers and their efforts to convince investors to invest in their new company. Abe Trueman gestures excitedly at his brother's inventions and is dressed like a showman, wearing a purple tophat, jacket with tails, and cane over his usual purple sweater. C Trueman wears his usual white button down, tie, and circular glasses, holding a raygun and looking nervous. Around them are several early technology prototypes from the Trueman Corporation's early days, such as a large supercomputer with the "Wizard" face, a toy rocketship, a boxy toy robot, a bulky early cellular phone, and a small portable television with antennae and the Wizard face on its screen. They stand on a large pile of moneybags as dollar bills rain from the sky. Behind them, Eloise and L watch proudly, L's arm on Eloise's shoulder.
Tasha (offscreen): As the story goes, a poor teacher and her brilliant teen sons founded a corporation AND a university in the exact same MONTH. With no money or connections to their name, the Trueman Bros dazzled every investor in the region with your father's charm and your uncle's prototypes, selling the promise of a bright new future. They were SO successful that they were then able to make their doting mother's dreams come true. Great PR, but highly unrealistic.
Sonia (offscreen): I mean... I've never...
Tasha (offscreen): There's also a BIZARRE lack of paper trail prior to 1963. All of the blueprints, loan applications, and paperwork begin in May 1963, but nothing on that scale gets built in a MONTH. So where did the money actually COME from? When did any of this get PLANNED?
Sonia (offscreen): Um...

Alt Text:
"The part of the story about money raining from the sky while they stood on a giant pile of moneybags seems particularly egregious, but who knows with trillionaires..."

Chapter 3 Page 66

January 6, 2026

If you've read CorpSet, some of those inventions may look a little familiar...

We are BACK, Happy New Year! Check out the most recent news post for a rundown of what the new year holds for Trueniverse Comics, but the short version is that True Colors updates are now back to every other Tuesday (Truesday) and I am going to be doing my damnedest to keep regular updates flowing. I also updated the Summary page if you need a refresher on the story so far!

Also, we are once again participating in the SpiderForest Webcomic Collective Comic of the Week! Check out these works by my fellow members of the collective:


Week One

Bring Me to Life

Whether resurrecting ancient relics from icebergs, or finding ways to live in the world, these comics explore how to make the best life with what you have. (Song Credits: Evanescence)


Gifts of Wandering Ice

Gifts of Wandering Ice

Gifts of Wandering Ice is a sci-fi webcomic about ancient things people find in melting icebergs.


The Bright Side

The Bright Side

The Bright Side follows the coming-of-age of two best friends: a self-assured human girl named Emily, and the eternal but naive Death. They navigate life and love together, expand each other's worlds, and only occasionally receive mysterious portents of doom from the future.

(I personally really loved this one!)




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