If you want to make comics, you just have to make them. They’ll probably suck at first, but that’s inevitable. The simple fact is, you’ll never get better by waiting around, overthinking, or being scared to fail. You only get better by doing.

I learned this the hard way.

When I was in the fourth grade, I held my first comic in my hands: Punisher War Journal #13. I had no idea who The Punisher was, or who Jim Lee was, but I couldn’t stop staring at the artwork. I immediately tried to copy every line.

Not long after, my dad looked at one of my Wolverine sketches and asked a question that changed my life: “Why don’t you create your own characters?”

My brain exploded. Why hadn’t I thought of that? From then on, I spent years daydreaming, sketching, and building terrible superhero knock-offs. I dreamed of being a comic book artist. I drew constantly. I also stalled constantly. Fear, dysfunction at home, and the weight of “not being good enough” kept me from finishing anything—or even starting at all.