Advance Review: Chip Zdarksy Tells A Personal Story in `Public Domain’ #2

Finding the right work-life balance can be the challenge that last a lifetime. Finding the motivation to make that associated attitude change can be even more difficult.

Such is at the center of the struggle in this second installment in the series, which was first seen in creator Chip Zdarsky’s Substack newsletter. It’s a marked change in theme from the premiere issue, though the series still centers around the issue of creator rights in an era when comic book writers and artists are paid a pittance (if even acknowledged at all) when their work is repurposed and transformed into billion-dollar movie franchises.

Zdarsky writes and draws the series, which centers around dad Syd Dallas, who decades ago co-created a superhero named The Domain. The character has gone on to anchor the publisher’s multi-media empire, appearing in movies, on shirts and as action figures. When he discovers an old document that shows he – not the publisher – owns the rights to The Domain, he is forced to revisit the sins of his past. Syd left raising his children to his wife so he could focus on his comic book work. It was always work first, family second. Now, with his family struggling, he is forced to rethink that decision.

That is a familiar story to many professionals – and one that helps to establish an emotional connection to Syd and his story. It seems as though Zdarsky is channeling his personal demons through the story. Writers, after all, write what they know.

That’s not a bad thing. Making that poignant link is not what most readers likely expected with this series. While it doesn’t necessarily give Zdarsky much to show off visually – most of the scenes are of people talking – he’s able to exercise his creative demons through text. It’s a worthwhile exercise we should all consider.

Public Domain #2 will be available for purchase on July 27, 2022.