Dad's Charming Comics Encourage Compassion, Understanding, And Love

For the last five years, Chris Grady has been drawing moments from his everyday experiences as a dad and sharing them in a webcomic called Lunarbaboon.

Grady has a seven-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. His comics offer a humorous perspective on classic parenting difficulties, from noisy toys to toddler tantrums.

However, many of his drawings also feature powerful messages about tolerance, empathy, compassion and being a force for good in a frequently dark world.

CHRIS GRADY/LUNARBABOON

Grady works in Toronto as an elementary school teacher. As he told HuffPost, he created Lunarbaboon aiming to make a form of therapy to deal with his own anxiety.

“I needed a positive place to focus all my thoughts and found that when I was making comics, I felt a little bit better,” he said. “After posting the comics on social media for a few months, I began getting messages from many people about how they connected to the comics, and it gave them hope and strength as they went through their own dark times.”

CHRIS GRADY/LUNARBABOON

When Lunarbaboon gained more followers, Grady decided to use his popularity for good. Now he often draws comics with positive and powerful messages which touch on social justice, gender issues, racism, xenophobia and more.

“I think it is impossible not to be influenced by the world around you. There is a lot of bad things happening in the world, but there is also a lot of good,” he said. “I try to find the good or humorous in the difficult things that happen to us every day.”

CHRIS GRADY/LUNARBABOON

Grady noted that his wife has influenced his work too. “I am very lucky to be married to a very smart, strong, opinionated person who is constantly fighting against injustice,” he said. “A lot of what she and I talk about on a daily basis makes it into the comics.”

There has been a positive response to Grady’s work. “People like knowing they aren’t alone in life’s daily struggles,” he said.

Lunarbaboon has now over 900,000 followers on Facebook. In April, Andrews McMeel Publishing released a book compilation of Grady’s comics called Lunarbaboon: The Daily Life of Parenthood.

CHRIS GRADY/LUNARBABOON

As a teacher and a dad, Grady tries to mold young minds into caring, responsible, and thoughtful members of their communities.

“I want both my kids and my students to grow up to be good people,” he explained. “Kids are always watching adults, and they look to the adults as role models. I try to show them that even with all my flaws and weaknesses, I am still a good person, and I can still make a positive change in the world.”

CHRIS GRADY/LUNARBABOON

“Nobody is powerless in this world, as humans we have the ability to change another person’s day by what we put out,” he noted, adding that this mindset often seeps into his comics.

Grady also told HuffPost that he hopes his comic brings people happiness and inspires them to spread positivity to everyone around him, even in hard times.

CHRIS GRADY/LUNARBABOON

“Although we don’t have complete control over our thoughts and emotions as we go through life, we do have control over our actions,” he noted. “So do good things with your life.”

Keep scrolling and don't forget to visit Lunarbaboon’s website and Facebook page for more of Grady’s inspiring comics. You can also find his work at Webtoons.