QUICK REVIEW: 'Public Domain' #1 by Chip Zdarsky

 

PUBLIC DOMAIN #1

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Chip Zdarsky

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: June 29, 2022

Cover Price: $3.99

Syd Dallas is responsible for pop culture's greatest hero: THE DOMAIN! But his sons Miles and David have a complicated relationship with both the creation and their creator. Can they convince their dad to fight for their family's legacy?

This fun and heartfelt series written and illustrated by Eisner winner CHIP ZDARSKY (SEX CRIMINALS, Daredevil) explores a WILD ALTERNATE WORLD where comic book creators aren't properly acknowledged or compensated for their creations!! Crazy, I know!!

Hi, it's me, CHIP! I'm writing this solicitation!

Score:

★★★★★ (5/5)

QUICK REVIEW: Despite comic book films generating billions for the huge corporations that own the IP, the comic book creators themselves are largely uncompensated or meagerly so. Some creators become high-profile pop culture figures driven by ego while leaving their creative partners behind. There are numerous and infamous instances of one co-creator taking all the credit while leaving the other penniless. It's one of the darkest truths of comic book publishing history and Chip Zdarsky has mined it as the basis for the wildly entertaining 'Public Domain.' Not as dark as 'The Player' but as much as that iconic film was an indictment of the film industry, 'Public Domain' is about the comic ecosystem and the people it chews up and leaves behind. Told from the perspective of the sons of one such creator, Zdarsky finds the heart of an underdog story while exposing the IP machine he's seen firsthand. 'Public Domain' is a revealing satire that is all too real but hugely entertaining and brilliantly executed on every level.