Synopsis / Summary / Plot
At the end of last issue Sleepwalker's host Rick Sheridan vanished. (We know it was because Thanos caused half the population of the universe to cease to exist in Infinity Gauntlet #1.) The hero from the Mindscape is normally only able to physically manifest when Rick is asleep. (He wasn't taken along with Rick because Rick was asleep at the time and Sleepwalker was out.) Now it seems the hero is still around because he has no awake Rick's mind to go back into.
Anyway he's taking his responsibilities seriously and taking Rick's dog Rambo for a morning walk in the streets of Brooklyn. But the locals blame this strange being for the disappearance of their loved ones, and don't believe him when he professes his innocence and ignorance. Back at the apartment Rick's parents also blame him for their son's absence, because of course they know nothing of the connection between Rick and Sleepwalker. Sleepy vows to find out what happened to Rick and get him back.
Our attention is drawn to 4 convicts in a chain gang. The prison is in chaos after half the prisoners and guards vanished, but they've still been taken outside to break some rocks. Suddenly an earthquake swallows the nearest guard and the quartet KO another 1 and leg it. (The quakes are caused by Thanos' anger in IG#2.)
Redneck Ernie Mills doesn't like being chained to black Willis Hayforth. Hispanic Hector Fuentes tries to keep the peace, and nerd Ray Morgan tries to stay out of trouble. They run across a (deserted?) energy research place and they break in looking for something to break their chains. Another quake causes them to be hit by a ray which makes them feel stronger.
Police are on their way to answer an alarm call and Hector somehow hears their radio messages. When the cops order them to surrender Ray rushes forward to talk to them but they shoot at him. However he automatically teleports out of the path of the bullets. Willis tears a door out of its frame and uses it as a shield to slam into the cops and their car. Ernie grabs 1 of the patrolmen who withers away at his touch, and the villain absorbs his lifeforce.
Hayworth takes a piece of metal debris and twists it into a lockpick to open their shackles. But then they notice that they don't feel powerful anymore, and Morgan figures that they will only retain their powers when they're chained together.
Sleepwalker has been diverted from his quest to find Rick into saving people from the effects of the ongoing earthquakes, including an obligatory baby and a pet dog. After several hours of this he is contacted by the astral body of Dr Strange who tells him how Thanos has gained godlike power (via the Infinity Gems) and used it to wipe out half the population of the universe (which makes our hero realise that Rick is dead), and also caused the earthquakes. He's gathering an army of superheroes to oppose the Mad Titan (see IG#3).
But 1 of the effects of Thanos' villainy is that part of the body of a dead alien (Eon, as seen in Quasar #27) is invading Manhattan. (Eon is so large that most of her body doesn't know she's dead yet.) Strange drops Sleepwalker off there to help Darkhawk, Deathlok, Her, Moon Knight and Squadron Supremers Dr Spectrum and Hyperion battle the Eon-mass. Their struggle continues for hours (including in Q#27) and then suddenly the Eon-stuff dies. (See Q#27 for the reason why.) So Sleepy returns to helping civilians.
Meanwhile the 4 criminals have taken the police car and driven it into New York looking for something to use their powers to steal. They drive through the window of a bank and announce themselves as the Chain Gang and demand money. Ray has come up with supervillain aliases for them. He is Missing Link with his ability to dodge the bullets the security guards fire at them. Weak Link Ernie withers 2 guards while Master Link Willis throws a desk at 2 others. Uplink Hector senses how to open the electronic lock of the bank vault.
The gang continue on their crime spree until our hero spots their police car driving dangerously through the citizenry. He temporarily leaves some humans in peril to halt the villains' progress by dropping a chunk of masonry in front of them. They of course attack him. He's been growing weaker as the day progresses and Master Link's blows hurt him until he dodges and leaps at the others. Mills throws Morgan in his path and Sleepy is confused when Missing Link disappears from in front of him, allowing Weak Link to grab him and drain him of his remaining strength.
Sleepwalker deduces that without Rick Sheridan he no longer has a link to his home dimension the Mindscape which is the source of his energy. But as luck (or possibly the cosmic battle in IG#5) would have it the earthquake chasms are now joined by rips in reality which open doorways to other realms. And the Mindscape is 1 of them!
Grabbing the chain that links the Chain Gang together he uses the last of his strength to drag them all into the Mindscape. Sleepy is immediately suffused with energy and uses his reality warping power to imprison the gang in boxes 'like Christmas presents'. And they are no longer a threat.
Sleepwalker revels in the beauty of his home and decides to remain there. But 1st, being a hero, he must go back to Earth to save the people he left in danger. Even though he sees that the rift he came through is closing. He leaps through and sees the building he left them on breaking up. He's too late to save them!
But then on the other side of the Galaxy (see IG#6) Nebula uses the Infinity Gauntlet to rewind what Thanos did in the IG event. All the vanished are returned, lives are restored and physical damage repaired, and memories fade. Sleepwalker returns to the end of last issue and finds Rick present and still asleep. The events of this issue seem to him as a horrific dream. But a morning newspaper reports the mysterious disappearance of 4 prison inmates.