Public Domain #9

Chip Zdarsky's one-man-show series arrives at its ninth chapter with a cover that perfectly captures the series' comics-industry heart: a cascade of San Diego Comic Expo lanyards and badges fills the frame, featuring a stoic superhero with a glowing chest symbol on the prominent Saturday pass, a wide-eyed young blonde character on another, and a dark-skinned heroine alongside a wonderfully grotesque zombie-like figure rounding out the pile. It's a clever, affectionate nod to convention culture that suggests "The Spotlight" is about to put its characters squarely in the public eye. With Zdarsky handling every single creative role — writing, pencils, inks, colors, and letters — this remains one of 2024's most personal and sharply observed books about the comics industry itself.