Creating Your First AI Comic Character
From Superhero Profile to Visual Reality
This is the moment you've been waiting for.
You've chosen your tools.
You've discovered your child's superhero identity.
You've created a detailed profile that captures who they truly are.
Now it's time to bring that character to life visually using the power of AI.
I still remember the first time I generated an AI image of my son as "Echo," his superhero alter ego.
I had spent hours thinking about his powers, his colours, his personality. I had written the perfect prompt.
I hit "generate" and waited.
When the image appeared on my screen, I actually gasped.
There he was—my son, but transformed.
He was wearing headphones that glowed with sound waves.
His hands were raised, manipulating visible frequencies in the air.
His expression was focused, powerful, and utterly himself.
The colours were exactly what I had envisioned—deep blues and purples that felt both calming and electric.
I showed it to my son.
He looked at the screen, then at me, then back at the screen.
He pointed to the character and then to himself. And then he smiled—that beautiful, unfiltered smile that tells me everything I need to know.
He saw himself. And he saw himself as powerful.
That's what we're going to create for your child today.
Real Name: Maya Rodriguez
Age: 8 years old
Superhero Name: Genesis
Superpower: Imagination Manifestation
Genesis can bring their drawings and imagination to life.
Whatever they sketch or imagine appears in the real world,
dragons, stars, lightning, hearts, and magical creatures.
Their hands glow with creative energy, and paint splatters
on their costume represent every creation they've brought
into existence.
Understanding How AI Image Generation Works
Before we dive into creating your character, let's quickly understand how AI image generation works so you can get the best results.
AI image generators like Midjourney, Leonardo AI, and DALL-E work by interpreting text prompts—descriptions you write that tell the AI what you want to see.
The more specific and detailed your prompt, the better your results will be.
A prompt has several key components:
1. Subject: Who or what is in the image (e.g., "a young superhero")
2. Appearance: Physical details (e.g., "wearing blue headphones, with brown hair")
3. Action/Pose: What they're doing (e.g., "standing confidently with hands raised")
4. Style: The artistic style (e.g., "comic book art style, vibrant colours")
5. Mood/Atmosphere: The feeling of the image (e.g., "heroic, empowering, joyful")
6. Technical Details: Specific instructions for the AI (e.g., "full body shot, white background")
The magic happens when you combine these elements into a cohesive, detailed prompt that captures your vision.
Step 1: Translate Your Superhero Profile into Visual Elements
Before you write your first prompt, you need to translate your child's Superhero Profile (from the last blog post) into specific visual elements.
Let's use my son's character, "Echo," as an example:
Superhero Profile Elements:
• Core Power: Sound Manipulation
• Colours: Blues and purples
• Key Objects: Headphones, tuning fork
• Personality: Focused, joyful, authentic
• Age: Young child (around 7-10 years old)
• Physical appearance: Brown hair, brown eyes, medium skin tone
Visual Translation:
• Costume: Blue and purple superhero suit with sound wave patterns
• Accessories: Glowing headphones (his tool for managing sensory input and channelling his powers)
• Symbol: A tuning fork emblem on his chest
• Pose: Hands raised, manipulating visible sound waves
• Background: Simple or white (so the character stands out)
• Style: Comic book art, vibrant and colourful
• Expression: Confident, focused, with a hint of joy
Now it's your turn. Take your child's Superhero Profile and create a list of visual elements:
• Costume colours and design:
• Key accessories or objects:
• Symbol or emblem:
• Pose or action:
• Background:
• Art style:
• Facial expression:
Step 2: Write Your First AI Prompt
Now we're going to take those visual elements and craft them into a detailed AI prompt. I'm going to give you a formula, then show you examples.
The Character Creation Prompt Formula:
Plain Text
[Age and type of character] [doing action/pose], [physical appearance details], wearing [costume description], [accessories], [symbol/emblem], [art style], [mood/atmosphere], [technical specifications]
Example Prompt for "Echo":
Plain Text
A young superhero boy around 8 years old, standing confidently with hands raised manipulating glowing sound waves, brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a vibrant blue and purple superhero suit with sound wave patterns, blue glowing headphones, tuning fork emblem on chest, comic book art style, heroic and joyful atmosphere, full body shot, white background, highly detailed, vibrant colors
Breaking Down Why This Works:
• "A young superhero boy around 8 years old" – Establishes the subject and age
• "standing confidently with hands raised, manipulating glowing sound waves" – Describes the pose and action
• "brown hair and brown eyes" – Physical details that match my son
• "wearing a vibrant blue and purple superhero suit with sound wave patterns" – Costume description
• "blue glowing headphones" – Key accessory that represents his sensory needs and powers
• "tuning fork emblem on chest" – Symbol that represents his sound-based powers
• "comic book art style" – Artistic style
• "heroic and joyful atmosphere" – Mood
• "full body shot, white background, highly detailed, vibrant colours" – Technical specifications
Step 3: Generate Your First Character Image
Now it's time to actually generate the image. I'll walk you through the process for each of the main AI tools.
Using MidJourney (via Discord):
1. Open Discord and go to the MidJourney server
2. Find a "newbies" channel or create a Direct Message with the MidJourney Bot
3. Type /imagine and then paste your prompt
4. Press Enter
5. Wait 30-60 seconds for the AI to generate 4 variations
6. Review the 4 images and choose your favourite
7. Click "U1," "U2," "U3," or "U4" to upscale your chosen image to full resolution
8. Download the final image
Using Leonardo AI:
1. Log into Leonardo AI
2. Click "Image Generation"
3. Paste your prompt into the text box
4. Choose your model (I recommend "Leonardo Diffusion XL" for comic art)
5. Set image dimensions (I recommend 832 x 1216 for a vertical character shot)
6. Click "Generate"
7. Wait 10-30 seconds for the AI to create your image
8. Download the image you like best
Using Bing Image Creator / DALL-E:
1. Go to Bing Image Creator (bing.com/create)
2. Paste your prompt into the text box
3. Click "Create"
4. Wait for the AI to generate 4 variations
5. Click on your favourite to view it full-size
6.Download the image
Step 4: Refine and Iterate
Here's the truth: your first image probably won't be perfect.
And that's completely okay.
AI image generation is an iterative process.
You generate an image, see what works and what doesn't, adjust your prompt, and try again.
This is normal and expected.
Common Issues and How to Fix Them:
Issue: The character doesn't look like my child.
Solution: Add more specific physical details to your prompt (hair colour, hair texture, eye colour, skin tone, facial features).
Issue: The costume or colours are wrong.
Solution: Be more specific about colours and costume elements. Use phrases like "vibrant blue" or "deep purple" instead of just "blue" or "purple."
Issue: The pose is awkward or unclear.
Solution: Simplify the pose. Start with "standing confidently" or "in a heroic pose" rather than complex actions.
Issue: The image includes random objects or weird elements.
Solution: Add "simple white background" or "clean background" to your prompt to reduce clutter.
Issue: The art style doesn't look like a comic book.
Solution: Add more style keywords like "comic book art," "superhero illustration," "vibrant colours," and "bold outlines."
Iteration Example:
First Prompt:
Plain Text
A young superhero boy, blue costume, headphones, comic book style
Result: Too vague, generic-looking character
Second Prompt:
Plain Text
A young superhero boy around 8 years old with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue and purple superhero suit, blue headphones, comic book art style, full body, white background
Result: Better, but the headphones look strange, and the pose is stiff.
Third Prompt:
Plain Text
A young superhero boy around 8 years old, standing confidently with hands raised manipulating glowing sound waves, brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a vibrant blue and purple superhero suit with sound wave patterns, blue glowing headphones, tuning fork emblem on chest, comic book art style, heroic and joyful atmosphere, full body shot, white background, highly detailed, vibrant colors
Result: Perfect! This is the image I showed my son.
Don't be discouraged if it takes several attempts. Each iteration teaches you how to communicate better with the AI.
Step 5: Create Character Variations
Once you have a character image you love, you'll want to create variations—the same character in different poses, expressions, and situations.
This is essential for creating a full comic book.
Variations You'll Need:
1. Standing pose (neutral) – Your base character
2. Action pose – Using their powers or in motion
3. Happy/joyful expression – Celebrating or experiencing joy
4. Determined/focused expression – Facing a challenge
5. Close-up of face – For emotional moments
6. Flying or jumping (if relevant to their powers)
7. Interacting with their key object (e.g., holding their talisman)
How to Create Variations:
Take your successful prompt and modify just one element at a time.
Base Prompt (Standing):
Plain Text
A young superhero boy around 8 years old, standing confidently, brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a vibrant blue and purple superhero suit with sound wave patterns, blue glowing headphones, tuning fork emblem on chest, comic book art style, full body shot, white background
Variation 1 (Action Pose):
Plain Text
A young superhero boy around 8 years old, jumping through the air with hands raised creating glowing sound waves, brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a vibrant blue and purple superhero suit with sound wave patterns, blue glowing headphones, tuning fork emblem on chest, comic book art style, dynamic action shot, white background
Variation 2 (Close-up, Joyful):
Plain Text
Close-up portrait of a young superhero boy around 8 years old, smiling joyfully, brown hair and brown eyes, wearing blue glowing headphones, comic book art style, vibrant colors, white background
By keeping most of the prompt the same and changing only the pose or framing, you maintain character consistency across images.
Step 6: Save and Organise Your Images
As you generate character images, you'll quickly accumulate dozens of files.
Organisation is key.
Create a folder structure:
Plain Text
My Child's Comic/
├── Character Images/
│ ├── Standing Poses/
│ ├── Action Poses/
│ ├── Expressions/
│ └── Close-ups/
├── Backgrounds/
└── Final Comic Pages/
Name your files descriptively:
• Instead of: image_001.png
• Use: echo_standing_confident.png or echo_action_sound_waves.png
This will save you hours of searching later when you're designing your comic pages.
Step 7: Show Your Child
This is the most important step.
Once you have a character image you're proud of—even if it's just one—show it to your child.
You don't need to have the whole comic finished.
You don't need perfect variations.
You just need one image that captures their superhero identity.
Show them.
Point to the character.
Say their superhero name.
Watch their reaction.
Some children will immediately light up.
Others might need time to process.
Some might point to the character and then to themselves.
Others might want to touch the screen or hold the image.
However, they respond, you've just given them something profound: a visual representation of their power.
Real Parent Example: Sarah and Her Daughter "Pattern Girl"
Let me share a story from our Connecting Hearts community.
Sarah's daughter, Emma, loves to line up her toys in precise patterns.
For years, Sarah saw this as a "symptom" to manage.
But after going through the Superhero Identity exercise, Sarah reframed it as Emma's superpower: the ability to see and create perfect order.
Sarah created a character called "Pattern Girl"—a superhero who saves the world by seeing connections and patterns that others miss.
Here's the prompt Sarah used:
Plain Text
A young superhero girl around 7 years old, standing confidently with hands outstretched creating glowing geometric patterns in the air, long brown hair in a ponytail, brown eyes, wearing a purple and gold superhero suit with geometric pattern designs, gold bracelet, pattern symbol on chest, comic book art style, empowering and joyful atmosphere, full body shot, white background, highly detailed, vibrant colors
When Sarah showed Emma the image, Emma stared at it for a long time.
Then she carefully lined up her toys in front of the printed image—creating a pattern that included Pattern Girl as part of the sequence.
Sarah cried. Because Emma had just told her, in her own language: "This is me. I belong in this pattern."
What's Next?
You've just created your child's superhero character.
You've brought their identity to life visually.
You've shown them a mirror that reflects their power.
In the next blog post, we're going to take this character and develop a compelling storyline—a narrative that resonates with your child's experiences, celebrates their strengths, and gives them a hero's journey they can see themselves in.
But before you move on, take a moment to celebrate.
You've done something remarkable.
You've seen your child as a superhero, and you've made that vision real.
Take the Next Step
Want detailed video tutorials showing exactly how to generate and refine characters?
Join the complete AI Comic Book Creation Course (COMING SOON) with screen recordings, prompt libraries, and troubleshooting guides.
Ready to develop your character's storyline?
Continue to the next blog post, where we'll create a narrative that truly connects with your child.
Want to share your character with other parents?
Join the Connecting Hearts Community, where parents are celebrating their children's superhero identities and supporting each other.
Your child's superhero is real. And the story is just beginning.
Stuart McGhie
Father, Love Translator, and Guide for Parents of Nonverbal Autistic Children
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