The Domain #1 // Review
Chip Zdarsky’s Public Domain was a bit of a twisting narrative that ended up getting a bit strange.It gets all the more strange as Zdarsky adds another layer of narrative in The Domain #1. The new standalone mini-series opens with art by Rachel Stott and colorist Erin Angiolini. There’s real depth to what could have been a pretty superficial exercise in working on an expansion of Public Domain from a rather strange angle. Action drama and pulpy superhero sci-fi all mix in a satisfying package that opens a promising, new miniseries that works on quite a few levels.
Space Party. That’s what they call it. With a straight face and everything. They hang out at night amidst the stars tracing sightings with a laptop and exotic-sounding software. They’re all kind of at dead-ends early in life until they see the crash. Turns out it’s an actual downed spacecraft. It’s not friendly, though. They would be in over their heads completely were it not for the fact that the off-world weapons onboard are so completely easy to use. Too bad they have to take turns using the tech...each of them has access to it, but only one can use it at a time...
Zdarsky crams a whole bunch of sci-fi superhero tropes in the blender and grinds out something that’s surprisingly coherent without being terribly original. Zdarsky runs through a great many cliches that all collide together in different ways. Zdarsky’s real strength in writing the piece lies in his ability to render the emotions of the extended ensemble of characters in a way that feels remarkably natural. So often it is so tedious getting to know new characters in the genre. Zdarsky makes the get-to-know-you phase of an ensemble adventure a lot of fun with delicately contrasting personalities that are all quite relatable.
Stott’s art grabs hold of the emotional end of the narrative and plunges out into a great deal of atmosphere. Settings and locations all feel very well-rendered, but they are as nothing to the personalities that Stott is able to portray on the page. There’s SO much emotional depth found in the faces of everyone in the ensemble. Angiolini’s art does a breathtaking job of delivering the wonder of the atmosphere with its sharply atmospheric light coming through window blinds or the gorgeous atmosphere of a starry night far from city lights.
The actual story itself doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of momentum to it in spite of Zdarsky’s best efforts. The overall mix of early era Spider-Man and Star Brand and...the Captain Marvel family and so much more...it’s all kind of tedious in and of itself, but Zdarsky does such a good job of making the characters likable and relatable that it would be difficult not to feel emotionally invested in the characters. You almost kind of feel sorry for them having to worry about the government and the whole alien invasion thing that’s going to be coming next issue....
