Is Ted OK?

Is Ted OK? #1-6

by Dave Chisholm

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.

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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comics

200 pages, Paperback

Expected publication September 29, 2026

About the author

Dave Chisholm is a graphic novelist and musician currently living in Rochester, NY where he received his doctorate in jazz trumpet from the Eastman School of Music in 2013. His expertise in music as well as his formal inventiveness within the comics medium has resulted in a string of critically-acclaimed music-centric graphic novels including Miles Davis & the Search for the Sound (2023, Z2 Comics), Enter the Blue (2022, Z2 Comics), and Chasin' the Bird: Charlie Parker in California (2020, Z2 Comics). His most recent releases SPECTRUM (Mad Cave Studios)--a trippy exploration of a funhouse-mirror version of 20th-century music history framed by an eternal battle in the realm of music and sound made in collaboration with writer Rick Quinn--and PLAGUE HOUSE (Oni Press)--an inventive rethinking of the haunted house genre made in collaboration with writer Michael W Conrad--demonstrate his breadth.

Hailed by ComicsBeat as "one of the most exciting comic auteurs working in comics today," Chisholm also has a passion for education and teaches comics and music at the Hochstein School and the Rochester Institute of Technology. 

In his free time, Dave enjoys spending time with his wife, son, and cats.

Reviews

[PebbleInTheBrook1794]

(Read in single issues). Now this is why I read comics!! A great story that I thought at first was a story about a more-or-less typical worker's (Ted's) alienation, depression and paranoia, in a fairly morbid but real setting. However, as you go deeper in and the conspiracies are revealed, those feelings are more than just relatable to the reader but have their own significance. It's not a million miles away from Neo in the Matrix TBH, but there's a lot more going on for and around Ted than just the contents of that movie.

If I was looking for a comparison point to Dave Chisolm's great achievement with ITO?, it would be Warren Ellis at his prime, and I'm thinking Transmetropolian, or the level of creativity that went into creating Jenny Sparks and The Authority. That sci-fi, drab worldbuilding that is dystopic and satirical, but says something real about humans. Just, yes please!! It's rare to have this developed so well in a book as what Chisolm achives here in ITO?.

It occurs to me that ITO? is a democratic book at heart, in that it's anti-whatever the hell Elon Musk is and represents, and affirms people instead. The book ultimately, despite its bleakness, has an optimistic note about empathic connection with another person. It so happens that it is the person who is tasked with surveilling Ted, who becomes his good friend. She is the book's narrator, so you get a lot of her POV, and she's very human, and believable, and relatable. She, and the book, are so good to read!

Dave Chisolm's art is distinct, and it depicts the slightly dystopian-but-real/bleak urban setting well. The people are admirably drawn with believably realistic body and facial types, and it is miles away from superheroe figures. The art goes really well with the writing, what more can I say?

There's lots of really great comics being published recently and this is one of them. An instant classic, for me, and up there with the best comics on offer. I love its story, what it has to say and how it says it.

[Tyler H]

Dave Chisholm delivers a mind-bending, intensely atmospheric sci-fi mystery in Is Ted OK?. The story masterfully blends corporate surveillance, existential dread, and cosmic scale—feeling like a wildly imaginative mix of Severance and classic paranoid thrillers. Following Ted, an isolated corporate employee spiraling into paranoia, and Sarah, the worker tasked with monitoring him, the narrative builds a slow, claustrophobic tension that explodes when Sarah tries to intervene.

The visual storytelling is easily one of the book’s biggest strengths. Chisholm handles writing, art, and lettering himself, creating a raw, highly expressive aesthetic with textured linework and inventive panel structures that mirror Ted's unravelling mental state. The narrative takes bold, completely unpredictable shifts as the scope expands, and while the sheer volume of wild twists and lingering questions might feel a bit dizzying at times, the underlying core about human connection keeps it firmly grounded.

A visually striking, wonderfully weird sci-fi thriller that will keep you guessing from start to finish.

Thank you to Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Nick Padula]

Chisholm crafted a fascinating dystopia here that still found plenty of room for humor? Having this corrupt future government offer pregnant mothers a big bonus to enlist their fetuses into the military was an inspired choice. The mixture of corporate satire with sci-fi thriller vibes was a potent blend.

It always manages to impress me when an author can balance great writing with their own art in comic books. I can just manage to do solid writing, my drawings at best look like Simpsons fan fiction! So, good on Dave Chisholm for succeeding in multiple mediums simultaneously!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and Dave Chisholm for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[cardulelia carduelis]

Is Ted Ok? So.. yeah, he's really not.
The 6th and final issue of this new run from Chisholm just came out and the story is complete.

Ayn Styne are the company that saved the world. And now they continue working to make sure it's safe: one surveillance camera at a time. Ted is one of their elite propaganda artists, who is watched day and night by Sarah. Ted is isolated, quiet, hardworking: the ideal Ayn Styne employee. Except Sarah's noticed that Ted's been going somewhere every night..

I really enjoyed this. The art is sketchy and character designs feel new. The sets are what really stand out. The story is neat and tidy and a great standalone, dystopian run. It's at it's best in the strange office setting, focusing on character interactions.
No complaints! Will look out for more from Chisholm.

[Hank Wu]

I received an advance reader copy of this book and am voluntarily providing an honest review.

Premise
At the biggest corporation in the world, a woman secretly monitoring a lonely, paranoid man discovers the truth behind the world’s richest man.

Liked
* Propulsive story filled with action and humanity
* Technicolor artwork dazzles
* Sarah’s backstory completes a satisfying arc from beginning to end
* Sympathetic hero who faces down bad news and insane conspiracies with heart
* Jonny the cat
* Happyish ending

Not for Me
* Very cartoonish villain and motivation

Closing Comment
Akira for the modern age. The graphic novel successfully marries humanity at a personal scale and stakes at a planetary level. Both enthralling and heartfelt.

[J. Lurie]

Basing review on all six issues. Excellent book, very original, very topical. Great art and characters.