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? Find out in Public Domain #1, written, drawn, catered and key gripped by Chip Zdarsky via Substack and debuting in print June 29 through Image.
In 1939, Bob Kane was trying to rip off Superman and came up with the name Batman. Bill Finger then proceeded to come up with all the things we think about when we think about Batman. Kane negotiated that he would get sole credit for the character, a policy at DC that would last until 2015, when the company finally found a loophole claiming the character was created “by Bob Kane with Bill Finger.” Kane lived a life of luxury, Finger died in poverty.
If there is one constant in the origins of the superhero it is this: Someone was fucked over.
Upcoming Batman writer Chip Zdarsky approaches this head on with Public Domain. Miles Dallas is the son of a retired cartoonist, frustrated with how the vampires in the industry sucked his dad dry with not but $5,000 and a ticket to the premiere of a big budget superhero movie. It’s a look at the immoral core of our “modern mythology” that doesn’t exactly pull any punches.
That the comic was originally published on Substack is telling. About a year ago, the comics world was shaken up when Substack handed a handful of creators bags of cash and said “go nuts.” By all accounts, this was a truly insane amount of money for the comics field and the only strings attached were to write a newsletter? For creators who are vividly aware of how disposable they are, it was a hard offer to say no to. They could get paid up front, fully own the sweat of their brow and then cash in again by releasing the printed book through Image or Zoop and then maybe get an option and then maybe a movie.
But even then, Public Domain understands who gets these kinds of opportunities. In the original round of recipients for the “Substack grant,” it was the writers who largely got the bag. Syd Dallas wouldn’t be the one Substack was handing money to, Jerry Jasper would. Even when there’s a windfall in comics, someone is left out.
That’s the thing about Public Domain, it feels like a book that gets the reality it lives in. It’s Zdarsky’s day to day. It’s that nagging annoyance that someday there will be another Howard the Duck movie that uses Tara Tam and all Zdarsky will have to show for it is a pitiful $5,000 thank you for a project that will break box office records.
Or maybe it doesn’t annoy him; dangerous to try and psychoanalyze a dude from a comic.
So what we have is a beautiful book about the ugly truth behind Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Image Comics, Sex Criminals and damn near every funnybook anyone has ever given a damn about. Comics and the IP craze they are at the center of are a zero-sum game. Somewhere, there’s a fellow creator or company looking to screw over someone for a bigger slice of the pie. Maybe that’s why Chip flew this one solo.
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
