Lunarbaboon

Lunarbaboon follows the autobiographical day-to-day life of a father and husband, Christopher Grady, as he tries to make sense of his experiences and continually better himself for his children. Because of this, we are able to see Grady develop over time. The way he thinks, acts, and speaks changes as the comic continues, and the reader in a sense is able to experience this transformation [1]. Initially, Grady incorporated many crude jokes with sexual pretenses. Much of his humor was dirty, and there were no lessons being taught about loving one another. Today, as the artifact shows, the humor Grady uses is much more family-oriented and wholesome. This transformation was largely fueled by the autobiographical nature of the webcomic. Because Grady objectifies his life experiences from the "outside-in", he invities scrutiny from both himself and readers [2]. In the early stages of the webcomic, Grady invited viewer feedback through commentary on his posts, and the majority of viewers liked Grady's take on life and the advice he had for his children. Consequently, Grady shifted his focus and online identity from man to father. 

Moreover, Grady differentiated himself from competitiors by representing multiple aspects of his identity and appealing to several niche audiences. Realistically speaking, there are not many comics about 30-40 year old fathers, let alone fathers juggling parenthood with depression. Yet somehow, Grady is able to relate to people of all ages and backgrounds. Grady effectively appeals to niche audiences of kids and parents alike through his sarcastic play on family interactions [3], and he also appeals to those with mental illnesses or self-deprecating thoughts through his vulnerable portrayal of depression, as seen in the artifact. Through his drawings and intradiegetic narrations, Grady solidifies his sense of identity as a caring and playful, yet flawed father along with his purpose, which is to inspire and teach. 

1. Dale Jacobs. "Multimodal Constructions of Self: Autobiographical Comics and the Case of Joe Matt's Peepshow." Biography, 31 (1), 59-84

2. Kathryn Comer. "Illustrating Praxis: Comic Composition, Narrative Rhetoric, and Critical Multiliteracies." Composition Studies 43, no. 1 (Spring, 2015): 75-104,213. http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1753216909?accountid=11107.

3. Britt Peterson. "Books & Culture: Serial Dissent." Foreign Policy, no. 214 (2015): 108-09. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24577921.