| Issue |
Title |
Written by |
Drawn by |
Colored by |
Publication date |
|---|
| #1 |
"Kids Love Chains: Part One" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
November 4, 2020 |
| In 2017, the city of Denver was invaded by fictional superheroes and supervillains fighting each other, causing destruction and death, until a superhero created a force field around the city. Five years later, most of society has rejected those characters, but Ellie Howell is one of the few people who still believes in them. She works for a comic book store located in Provo, until one day, her boss Otto spots Ava, a fictional character who somehow got evacuated from Denver. This alarms a mob of fanatical Protestants led by Father Lowe, who forces his son Ryan to toss a Molotov cocktail against the shop, causing it to explode. Ava reveals a figure helped them escape.[9]
|
|
| #2 |
"Kids Love Chains: Part Two" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
December 9, 2020 |
| Following the burnout of their comic book shop, Ellie is given asylum by Otto. She offers herself to return Ava to her parents, unaware she has superpowers of her own. During his temporary imprisonment, Ryan is secretly recruited by Nathaniel Abrams Pendleton, Special Director of the Powerhouse, as he reveals that Ryan would play a major role in ending the Event in Denver. In the meantime, there are murders against comic book writers and artists, like Brian K. Vaughan.[10] |
|
| #3 |
"Kids Love Chains: Part Three" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
January 6, 2021 |
| While Ellie, Otto and Ava travel to Denver, they meet Ryan, who decided to escape from his father. At the same time, a Gundam is fighting a kaiju, but the group is rescued by the Paybacks, who were sent by Madman, the figure that helped Ava and several others to escape the dome.[11] |
|
| #4 |
"Kids Love Chains: Part Four" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
February 24, 2021 |
| Madman reveals that Ava's parents are back in the fictional world through a portal inside Denver, and Payback member Doctor Blaqk reveals he was the one that put the dome over the city, but as long as the characters stay away from it, their powers weaken. The group travels to the National Event Memorial and Museum Center, where they meet Deanna Quinlan, granddaughter of Emmet Quinlan and keeper of the sword Valofax. Meanwhile, Father Lowe keeps a prisoner inside his ministry compound, while Director Pendleton receives orders to advance the experiments of the "Amalgam Program".[12] |
|
| #5 |
"Kids Love Chains: Part Five" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
March 31, 2021 |
| Father Lowe uses his prisoner as a suicide bomb inside the Powerhouse, as part of his plan to start a war against the characters. The group travels inside the dome in Denver, where they are confronted by an army of Amalgams sent by the government, but as an army of planes begin to launch missiles, Ava unleashes her powers to destroy them. As Madman fails to convince her to stop, Ryan has no choice but to shoot Ava with the same special gun that he was given by Pendleton.[13] |
|
| #6 |
"Kids Love Chains: Conclusion" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
April 28, 2021 |
| After Ellie prevents Ryan from shooting Ava, the group reunites to find the portal. However, many characters still fight each other after years. The team succeeds in finding the portal and Ava returns to her world with her parents. Ellie and Ryan escape from the dome, but Otto gets injured and left behind in the process. Inside an apartment, Ellie reveals to Ryan that she is not a real human, but a character from the fictional world.[14] |
|
| #7 |
— |
Chip Zdarsky |
Phil Hester and Ande Parks |
Dee Cunniffe |
June 30, 2021 |
| In the wake of the murders against comic book celebrities, Steve Murray is on the run when he meets his alter ego "Chip Zdarsky". While trying to escape by car, they have a crash, and when Chip is killed by an assailant, Steve escapes and reports what happened to detectives Christian Walker and Denna Pilgrim from the Powers Division.[15] |
|
| #8 |
"Meanwhile: Part One" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
September 29, 2021 |
| While Ellie and Ryan deal with their issues, they are taken to the Powerhouse by the Powers Division. Pendleton informs Ryan about the recent murders against comic book celebrities, and that he has Father Lowe in custody for the previous bombing. In the meantime, the mysterious prisoner gets upset for how the order of events has been changed due to Ellie's actions.[16] |
|
| #9 |
"Meanwhile: Part Two" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
November 3, 2021 |
| When Walker and Pilgrim interrogate Ellie about the murders, Father Lowe reveals to Ryan that he knows the killer's identity and intentions. Walker and Pilgrim then investigate a crime scene, where the victim is Scott Snyder and the murder weapon is a Batarang.[17] |
|
| #10 |
"Meanwhile: Part Three" |
Brian Michael Bendis and Donny Cates |
Michael Avon Oeming and Geoff Shaw |
Nick Filardi and Dee Cunniffe |
December 8, 2021 |
| Pendleton reveals most of his past as a family man who got widowed after the Event, and decided to solve the mystery behind what happened. He also knows the mysterious prisoner inside the Powerhouse is in fact Donny Cates himself.[18] |
|
| #11 |
"Meanwhile: Part Four" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
February 2, 2022 |
| In a previous interrogation, Cates reveals to Pendleton he only wanted to make a love story, but the idea was cancelled before the Event happened. Pendleton forces Cates to remain as a prisoner in the Powerhouse until an "ending" is made. In the present, when Ellie initially does not believe in Cates' words, he secretly gives her a letter detailing the coming events. When Walker and Pilgrim take Father Love to a baseball stadium in search for the killer, it was revealed that Negan was the material author, but it was Lowe who orchestrated those killings.[19] |
|
| #12 |
"Meanwhile: Part Five" |
Robert Kirkman and Donny Cates |
Phil Hester and Geoff Shaw |
Klaus Janson and Dee Cunniffe |
March 2, 2022 |
| Sometime after the Event, Negan met and killed his creator, Robert Kirkman, as revenge for the life he gave him. Back in the present, Negan reveals to Walker and Pilgrim about why he joined Father Lowe, as they both share the same interest of freeing the real world from all fictional characters. Besides, he met another person more powerful than Cates. Within the Powerhouse, Cates manages to use his powers to lock Pendleton in his own room, while freeing Ellie (reunited by Valofax) and Ryan (armed with a lightsaber) to save Walker and Pilgrim.[20] |
|
| #13 |
"Meanwhile: Conclusion" |
Donny Cates |
Geoff Shaw |
Dee Cunniffe |
May 11, 2022 |
| The humans and characters go into an all-out war, as Negan takes Donny hostage, but Ellie uses Valofax to impale them both. When Father Lowe tries to become a suicide bomb, Ryan tries to reason with him, but Pendleton kills him by using a special armor. In his dying moment, Donny reveals to Ellie and Ryan that they must kill artist Geoff Shaw in order to put an end to the Event in Denver.[21] |
|
| #1 |
3D Special side story |
Donny Cates and Matthew Rosenberg |
Megan Hutchison |
Dee Cunniffe |
August 18, 2022 |
