public domain vol 1 by chip zdarsky

Vol 1: Past Mistakes, written and illustrated by Zdarsky.

​Miles Dallas can't stand anything to do with The Domain and the whole superhero universe run by Singular, a mega corporation that screwed his dad, Syd, out of all rights to the character he created decades ago. Miles thinks Syd should fight for some more of the profits that are coming out of these mega-movies and all the merchandising. When an older copy of the rights paperwork is found by a Singular worker, they learn that Syd might actually have more of a stake in his creations than he originally thought! Meanwhile, Miles is trying to climb out from under loan sharks and find another writing job since he's been kicked to the curb. Getting what the family is owed is going to take all of them working together - something the Dallases haven't been great at!

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There's a lot of tongue-in-cheekness to this story that is clearly a commentary on one, if not both, of the major superhero comicbook publishers. In the real world, there has been a lot of back-and-forth with Marvel and DC about rights to characters and payouts to creators, and their children, who are fighting for family legacy and ownership over characters that are now being feature in movies and TV shows every other month. With plenty of fodder from the past few decades, Zdarsky puts his knowledge of the comicbook industry to use in creating this story. Zdarsky's sarcasm and dry humor are present throughout the book, so fans of his won't be disappointed to see plenty of his personality and snark shine through in these characters. The ending leaves the family on a hopeful note with plenty of work to be done, so I'm looking forward to what the Dallases accomplish in the next volume.

There is some cussing, minor violence, and some characters partaking in alcoholic beverages. Otherwise, there is nothing in here for a discerning teen reader who wants a commentary on the current superhero climate, or just for fans of Zdarsky.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: January 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781534324572 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Comicbooks, Family, Superheroes, ​Image Comics