(Enigma #1, 2) - Michael Smith suffered from obsessive compulsion and horrific dreams, and eked out an existence as a telephone repairman. He had bizarre dreams about the superhero Enigma, and became obsessed. After another predictable date with his girlfriend Sandra he got the inexplicable and out of character need to visit the crime scene of the Head, a serial killer who'd been stalking the city. After the trip he made love to Sandra, something else out of character for him. The next day he saw a lizard flying through the air, and followed it to the home of a police officer who'd been investigating the Head before becoming his latest victim. Enigma appeared, and dragged Head away with his telekinesis before fleeing. Michael felt he was close to something important for the first time in his life, but when he tried to follow Enigma the Head ambushed him and began devouring his mind. Enigma saved him, killing Head, but not before Michael went comatose after suffering severe brain damage. He was taken to the hospital and put on life support. Since he had no living family the doctors called Sandra, and assured her there was no hope for Michael. They convinced her to pull the plug, because Michael wasn't worth the expense of the machines, but she asked for one more night by his side. She reflected that she finally felt close to her boyfriend, who she always felt disappointed by in the past. The time came to end his life, but when he was taken off life support he suddenly revived, ranting about Enigma. He asked Sandra to being him a suitcase from his apartment, and it turned out to contain battered copies of the 1970s comic book Enigma. Michael watched Enigma battle a new supervillain, the Truth, on the news, while he reread the last issue of the Enigma comic, where he was killed by the Truth.

(Enigma #3, 4) - Enigma escaped the Truth, and a newly confident Michael told Sandra he had to find out more about Enigma. She was impressed with Michael's new attitude, and he hopped into a car and drove off to begin his journey. On the road Michael met a girl named Saturn, and they made love. Michael felt he was alive for the first time in years, and was overcoming the damage his mother had done to him. He found Titus Bird, the creator of the Enigma in Texas. Bird was fleeing Enigmatics, the cult like fans of Enigma who saw him as a guru now that his characters were coming to life. Michael took Bird to a bar, and Bird said he was freaking out about what was happening in Pacific City. If his comic characters were coming to life, he wished he'd treated them better instead of writing them all as suffering headcases. He said the comic was a result of his being high on drugs, and there never was a proper ending to the story, but Michael refused to believe it. Titus came on to Michael, who flipped out and hit him. Despite this unwarranted violence they decided to go to Pacific City together to see how the whole Enigma thing played out. Enigma was battling the Truth in a church, and Michael said he was sick of mysteries; hopping the police barricade and entering the church. When the villain stared into his mind he saw something he couldn't deal with and recoiled, allowing the Enigma to snap his neck. Enigma stroked Michael's face, and he felt an erotic charge before the hero flew away. Titus and Michael moved into an apartment together to research the Enigma, and Michael was disturbed by an erotic dream he had about the hero. Titus suggested that the characters coming to life were a result of Michael projecting them from his memories. Michael broke up with Sandra despite her objections, and he told her she didn't love him, she just hated the idea of him not loving her. Enigmatics began committing mass suicide after saying "And then what?" claiming they'd found a hidden message in the comic. Titus found an issue of Enigma where he tries to convince a wealthy man to commit suicide by responding "And then what?" to every big plan the man has for himself in life.

(Enigma #5) - Michael and Titus paid for an interview with the Head's brother Barney, and Michael wanted to know the significance of the lizard he kept with him. Barney recalled that it was a memento from a crime scene his brother visited in Arizona 25 years ago. A father of one of the cultists suicides ran over Titus with his car, and when he woke in the hospital Michael told him he'd done some research about the murder, where a young mother killed her husband with a shotgun, shooting him in the head until there was nothing left of his features. Michael briefly considered going back to his old life, but knew it was too late, and besides he felt an exhilaration from the adventure he'd never known before in his entire life. After a dream about the Interior League, killers whom Enigma killed who were not in the original comic, found Envelope Girl in the Pacific Folk Museum and tried to make her remember who she was before she was Envelope Girl. She hesitated for a moment and searched her mind, but found only madness, and put Michael inside her costume, teleporting him to Arizona. He was on the Collins ranch where the murder had occurred, and met the deceased husband's cousin. He said that sometimes it seemed like his cousin Jimmy haunted the house, and told Michael that after seeing a flying lizard he had the house exorcized a year ago, and was planning on selling the place. Michael had a revelation and decided to return to his childhood home, which had been swallowed by an earthquake. Michael recognized the patterns of the Interior League's costumes as belonging to the wallpaper of his home.

(Enigma #6-8) - The Enigma was waiting for Michael at his childhood home, and when he asked just what the hero was, Enigma replied "Anything you want me to be." Before answering any more questions Enigma wanted Michael to see him in action, and brought him back to Pacific City for a final confrontation with Envelope Girl. Enigma ripped out her stomach, but Michael stopped him from killing her, and realized Enigma only had a comic book sense of right and wrong. Michael demanded to know his secret identity and Enigma told a fairytale version of his life story. He was born a mutant, and after inadvertently turning his father into a monster his mother killed him, and tossed the infant in a well, feeding him lizards. Michael admitted that he had erotic feelings for Enigma, and had almost had his first experience with a man at a gay club he recently slipped into. Enigma was ready to please him, so the men embraced. The couple made love for days, and Michael was over the moon being with his special comic book hero. He told Enigma about Titus' theory that he'd created him, and Enigma smirked, saying he'd created himself. In an attempt to teach Enigma morality he took him to Envelope Girl's hospital room and had him heal her, but Enigma admitted he felt nothing one way or the other. He panicked when he sensed his mother Ellen nearby. The newly monstrous Ellen killed Envelope Girl, and nearly killed Enigma before fleeing. Michael nursed him to health, and he told Michael more of his life's story. Enigma took Michael to the burial site of his mother to give him some closure. Enigma told Michael about how he'd found his families sunken home, and after reading the Enigma comic, decided to become the character and make the comic come to life. Michael felt immense guilt for what violence Enigma had caused. Enigma admitted that he knew little of humanity, and had entered Michael's mind to be part of it, which was why Michael started dreaming of him, and he'd even made Michael fall in love with him. Michael was aghast, but decided he liked the new him. Titus, Michael, and Enigma met Enigma's mother one last time, but the outcome of there meeting was unknown.

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