As I worked through Challenge A: Comic, I kept circling back to the idea that comics don’t need to be complicated to be powerful. One resource that gave me a good jumping-off point was Chris Grady’s wholesome comics, better known as @Lunarbaboon on Instagram. His panels are simple, but the faces tell you almost everything you need to know — the expressions often carry more weight than the words beside them. It made me think about how a character like Milo could do the same for children on the autism spectrum, who may not always connect to their own emotions but can often empathize when they see them reflected in someone else.

I’ve also always been a fan of Garfield books — a lasagna-loving cat dealing with all the day-to-day musings of being Jon’s pet. Garfield is grumpy, sarcastic, occasionally elated, and always relatable (especially on Mondays). As lighthearted as they are, those comics show the ebb and flow of feelings in ways kids can easily grasp. Taken together, Garfield and @Lunarbaboon reminded me that characters don’t need to be human to be emotionally honest — pets and cartoon figures often work best.

Tool-wise, I started out planning to draw my comic on my iPad with Procreate and my Apple Pencil. But to keep Milo’s expressions consistent, I used AI through ChatGPT/DALL·E to generate the images. I then polished and arranged them in Canva and Google Docs. That mix of inspiration and tools helped me keep the comic simple, expressive, and emotionally meaningful.