While I was deciding which of these comics to produce next — always leaning more on intuition and faith in the process than on algorithms or biased target-audience strategies — a real-life saga was unfolding. Amidst many difficulties and problems with children, loves, grief, and much more, something wonderful happened: a baby came into the world, and now I’m a grandfather! The youngest and sexiest in the world, but still a grandfather!

It couldn’t be any other way. The next Leo comic had to be The Electron Baby.

The Electron Baby isn’t my grandson, but my youngest cousin, and I created the first version of this story when he was born. The story was simple, fun, and exciting. Back then, I was a teenager divided between learning many things like painting, music, and other art experimentations ; between the hidden mysteries between the tonal and nagual, and the blatant mysteries of the transition to adulthood ; all of that was interrupted when I had my daughter at a very young age – Who is now a mother! – And it was during that same period that Freddy, the dog, came to be part of our family.

Of course, Leo’s comics are, among other genres, auto-fiction, not following a chronological line exactly the same as real life. Generally I mix the chronology of past events with what is happening at the time I am creating the story, even though there are no strict rules about that.

For a long time, I had truly given up on making comics and telling stories. Not because of my daughter herself, but because since then, there has been no rest between so many blows and hardships. A lot of stuff. Many conflicts and disappointments. It was only a few years ago that comics started bringing me hope again, largely due to the scene that younger generations have been building alongside new technologies, better conditions and access to think, produce, and publish — especially in Brazil in the face of a connected world.