This Dad Creates Comics to Raise a Loving, Empathetic Generation

Chris Grady, a Toronto-based dad and elementary school teacher, has been creating heartwarming and wholesome comics, which teach values he wants to raise his children with.

Going by the pen name Lunarbaboon, Grady first started making comics as therapy in dealing with anxiety, depression, and OCD. His role as a dad has guided his work in comics since 2012. Drawing on his experiences as the father to a (now) 9-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, his comics often give classic parenting struggles a humorous spin, while sparsely failing to also share a wholesome message of love, empathy, and tolerance.

As Grady began his artistic career to deal with his anxiety, his comics convey reassuring messages of togetherness in an often-bleak world. While his comics managed to make him feel better, they did the same for his growing audience – many of his followers soon reached out to him to let him know they connected to the comics, which gave them hope while going through “their own dark times.”

In a mission to use the comics’ growing popularity for good, Grady increasingly touches on issues such as social justice, gender, xenophobia, and discrimination. His children, which often star in the comics, are always encouraged to be a good force even when the world is dark, making positive changes and encouraging those around them.

Scroll down to check out Lunarbaboon’s wholesome comics: