Is Ted OK (2025)

This is a story about Ted and Sarah. Ted, isolated and paranoid, works for a mega-corporation owned by the world’s only trillionaire. He suffers from night terrors, obsessively draws the same mysterious figures again and again, all while listening to one track of music on repeat–oh, and the only “person” he ever talks to is a stray cat. His humanity is hanging by a thread. Sarah is a new arrival to the city, fighting her own demons, and her job is to remotely spy on Ted to ensure he doesn’t hurt anyone…or himself. When Ted’s mental state begins to crack, Sarah compassionately intervenes to help, and things go catastrophically wrong. IS TED OK? mashes up the paranoid existentialism of SEVERANCE with the cosmic sci-fi of AKIRA while exploring what happens when the act of help goes horribly wrong. From creator Dave Chisholm (SPECTRUM, MILES DAVIS & THE SEARCH FOR THE SOUND), Is Ted OK? is a spectacularly unpredictable yarn–each successive issue shatters the scope of the previous, all without losing its core: a search for human connection in an oppressive, paranoid world.

After the explosive conclusion to issue 1, Ted confronts Sarah and confesses that he believes his workplace, Ayn-Styne, is overrun with aliens engaged in a nefarious plot. Seeing that he needs friendly support, she commits to helping him investigate…without confessing that her job is, in fact, to spy on him. Her interest is piqued, however, as Ted unexpectedly uncovers evidence of a massive conspiracy deep within the bowels of the massive Ayn-Styne building. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, journalist Kyle begins to interview the mysterious trillionaire–and Ayn-Styne founder–Noah™.

It’s time for a party! Overwhelmed with paranoia, Ted attends the Ayn-Styne gala, at which Noah™ makes a shocking announcement. Circumstances lead to Ted coming to a soul-crushing revelation, and Ted, already teetering on the edge of sanity, begins to topple spectacularly. A confrontation ensues and the result proves to be deadly–and someone we know and love is sent on a wild trip to a strange dimension. Meanwhile, Kyle confronts Noah™ with a shocking and incredibly stupid truth about the origins of the conflict stirring at The Dome–the mysterious object looming over the future of humanity like a sphinx.

Riding in the van of their new friend Dr. Christina Paganini, Ted and Sarah are on the run from an army of mechs courtesy of Ayn-Styne! How rude–don’t they know that Ted is experiencing a major crisis of identity? After all, given the conclusion of the previous chapter, Ted wonders if he is even human at all. Meanwhile, Noah™ unveils the shocking truth about The Dome. Does the trillionaire want to lead humanity–or enslave it? Well, what would YOU do if you had a trillion dollars?

Safe and sound at Christina’s secluded cabin, Ted and Sarah finally learn the story of Noah™, of Ayn-Styne, of The Dome – of it all, really. This is it, dear readers. The cards are all on the table. The gravity of the enormous truth bomb leaves Ted feeling utterly crushed, hollowed-out, thoroughly bewildered. As Sarah again tries to help Ted, everything explodes, their reality is upended, and the tables are set for the massive finale in issue 6!

OK, readers, this issue is an absolutely jam-packed 40 pages! It’s trippy, cosmic, beautiful, and emotional on a deep, personal level. It finishes the story. It satisfies. Do you want specifics? Stop reading right now if you don’t want any spoilers, OK? We're serious. Are you still reading? OK, then–Ted awakens thousands of feet in the air. He, along with Sarah and Christina, has to figure out how to get back down to Earth, down to the place where everything is happening, down to The Dome, where Noah™’s mask has fully come off. Interdimensional chaos ensues. Possibly unrelated question: how many pieces can a person split into before they stop being a person? Find out in this oversized finale!