The Domain #2 // Review
Jim is at Liz’s door. It’s not a good time Liz has a couple of friends over and things are kind of complicated. When Jim leaves Liz spills her guts about cheating on Jim after mid-terms. They’re really not all that interested, which upsets Liz. It’s understandable, though. They DO have a space alien tied-up in Liz’s bed. They’re about to learn a bit more bit him in The Domain #2. Writer Chip Zdarsky plays with superhero tropes in fun ways in another issue drawn to the page by Rachael Stott with the coloring work of Eren Angiolini.
The alien in question seems perfectly fine and perfectly passed-out. No major issues to concerns there. There IS the small matter of the tech they all share now. They all share it, but not all at the same time. The power can only be used by one of them at a time and it instantly engages from one of them when another activates it. This causes all kinds of problems. One of them is using the tech to pull procedural memory from various people. Another is using the tech to intimidate a landlord. Another is using it in a way that gets tangled-up in an argument that could turn ugly.
On the whole, Zdarsky isn’t working with anything that is terribly new in the run of the series. The idea that people presented with great power might initially use it for personal gain is one that goes back to the early Silver Age and beyond. A lot of the specifics of the plot feels more or less familiar to anyone familiar with the superhero genre...but Zdarsky is wise to focus much of the story on the interpersonal details of the group of friends in question. The more Zdarsky makes it about the characters, the more engaging The Domain feels.
Stott is a perfect pairing for Zdarsky on a character-based superhero drama. Stott delivers subtlty and nuance to the faces of the characters and even manages to make a few distinctly non-human aliens look deeply emotive in a variety of different shades of drama. Angiolini dos a beautiful job with gorgeously simple colors tat amplify the appeal of Stott’s work immeasurably. There’s. Scenes are immersed in mood and tone with some gorgeous-looking visuals that only occasionally delve into realms of the fantastic. The earthbound mundane angle of life in The Domain makes it to the page with clever work on the part of Stott and Angiolini.
Zdarsky’s work isn’t terribly original, but it would really thrive if it was a part of a larger universe. Similar alien tech heroes like Green Lantern, Star Brand, Power Pack have done quite well in the context of larger universes with much more going on. As it is...just having this particular group of heroes being chased-down by various people looking to wield the power is...lacking in a whole lot of momentum. Two issues in and it already feels a bit weak moving into the third issue.
