Middle aged Bob McKay has to choose between continuing to draw greeting cards and reviving his cartoon superhero Mad Dog with Harlan Stone, whose vision of Mad Dog couldn't be more different from Bob's own concept.
Bob's daughter is devastated when she sees her boyfriend with another woman. Matters only get worse when Bob steals the details of her story for his comic book plot.
The group eagerly waits for approval of the first draft of the first issue. The board seems agreeable but the shoeshine guy has a few problems. Trisha has a new job as a serving wench.
Just before the boss's annual Christmas Party, a phone call alerts Bob and Harlan to some accidental plagiarism so they stay to rewrite their story. At the party, Chad dares Trisha to commit a theft...with disastrous results.
One of Bob's staff comes across a box of his old comics, which leads to the man who lead a Senate hearing that ultimately blacklisted Bob and almost ruined his career decades earlier.