"Let Comics Be Comics." Dave Chisholm on Is Ted OK?

We chat with Dave Chisholm about his new Mad Cave Studios comic, Is Ted OK? And how to carry story in everything.

No one makes comics like Dave Chisholm, and we don’t allow him to make one without first making a stop at the podcast. His latest, Is Ted OK?, reveals an artist pushing himself to his very limit, built on an incredible run of 2025 books, our favorite Limited Series from last year, Spectrum, and the gnarly haunted horror, Plague House. Not to forget his work on High Strangeness, which is still in process. Chisholm learns something about himself and the medium every time he steps up to his drawing board, allowing the next project to always top the last.

Is Ted OK? The title answers itself, but certainly not in the way you expect. Chisholm imagines a dystopian world, where Ted drones away as a graphic designer for a megacorporation owned by the world’s first trillionaire. He’s disconnected from those around him, friendly only with a cat, and plagued by horrendous night terrors. He’s also being watched 24/7 by Sarah, another employee tasked with monitoring his suicidal and homicidal tendencies. She’s concerned, she wants to help, and her first attempt to do so makes Is Ted Ok?’s first issue climax.

This week, we welcome Dave Chisholm back on the podcast. We spent six months with him last year on the show, meticulously dissecting Spectrum with his collaborator Rick Quinn. It’s fun to catch up. We discuss how his past work brought him to Is Ted OK? We talk about allowing comics to be comics and making sure that every panel carries story. In fact, we discuss how every element of a comic is a chance to carry story.

FOC (Final Order Cutoff) for Is Ted OK? #1 is Monday, February 2nd. The comic will eventually be available at comic book shops on February 25th, thanks to Mad Cave Studios. Make sure you get your order in, and follow Dave Chisholm on Instagram and BlueSky.

This Week's Sponsors

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Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• The Stampies: Best Comics of 2025 (Part One)

• The Stampies: Best Comics of 2025 (Part Two)

• Read The Stampies on GlobalComix

• Previously on CBCC: Rick Quinn and Dave Chisholm on Spectrum

• Previously on CBCC: Dave Chisholm on Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound

• Comic Book Club: Black Arms to Hold You Up at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 2/1 at 3:30 PM

• Comic Book Film Club: The Phantom w/Billy Zane Virtual Intro at the Alamo Drafthouse Winchester on 1/25

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