By Zack Quaintance —Two comics series that were first released digitally via the gated email newsletter platform Substack are slated to get physical releases this summer via Image Comics. Those series are Public Domain by Chip Zdarsky and The Closet by the team of writer James Tynion IV, artist Gavin Fullerton, colorist Chris O’Halloran, and letterer Tom Napolitano.

If you have somehow missed this, Substack first made big headlines last year when it announced that some of the biggest writers in all of Big 2 comics would be releasing new work via email on the platform. That first batch of announcements included both Tynion and Zdarsky, as well as Jonathan Hickman. Tynion announced on the same day that he would be leaving the main Batman title, and soon thereafter it became clear that Hickman would be leaving X-Men. Substack, it was reported, had offered them absurd amounts of money to make new comics — think $500,000 — while allowing them to retain the rights, even those for eventually physical publication.

Here’s what I said about it all at the time…

thought about it…already looking forward to vaguely remembering substack in a few years while image or somebody publishes collections of the comics from these deals
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) August 11, 2021

Well folks, the time has now come for me to get excited about these books, now that they’re already as I predicted coming to us through Image Comics. I’m very excited to check out both of these in ways that are familiar to me (which usually means first reading a low-res review copy on my tablet and then later buying it in trade to keep on my shelf for easy re-reading, but I digress…). Anyway, check out synopsis from Image’s press releases, along with covers and interior artwork from both comics below…enjoy!

Public Domain #1 by Chip Zdarsky Preview

From Image…

Public Domain follows Syd Dallas, the legendary comic book artist 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?

This thought provoking series shines a light on the all-too-common battle between creators and corporations in a world where the billion-dollar creations dominate the cultural landscape. It also marks Zdarsky’s return to fully illustrating a series since the end of the beloved Image Comics title Sex Criminals.

Public Domain #1 is out June 29.

The Closet #1 by James Tynion IV, Gavin Fullerton, and Team Preview

From Image…

In The Closet, Thom is moving cross-country with his family and dragging the past along with them. His son, Jamie, is seeing monsters in the bedroom closet and will not let them go.

The Closet #1 is due out June 1.

Now if only we could get similar announcements for the Tom King/Elsa Charretier book and the BKV/Niko Henrichon books. I suppose patience is a virtue here.

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He has written about comics for The Beat and NPR Books, among others. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.