When I decided to write a graphic novel and illustrate it using AI, it started as a simple creative experiment. I had no idea whether I’d be able to produce anything worth showing anyone—let alone build a cohesive story that people might actually enjoy reading.

After signing up for Discord and generating my first images in MidJourney, I realized just how powerful the tool already was. It wasn’t great at realism yet, but it excelled at abstract art and stylized illustration. I began experimenting with comic panels—characters, alien environments, and concept art in all kinds of styles. The results were exciting enough to keep me up at night, pushing me to figure out how to actually tell a story with this new medium.

The most important thing to understand about my process is that it was almost entirely improvisational, like jazz. You don’t start with a rigid script and expect MidJourney to follow it beat-for-beat. Instead, you throw ideas at it and react to what comes back, revising, refining, and sometimes rethinking the story altogether. Sometimes the AI gives you nothing close to what you had in mind. Other times, it surprises you with something better. In a strange way, it becomes a conversation—one that helps the story evolve organically.

After a few days of experimenting, I created a rough, somewhat crude first page—a prequel idea tied to a comic I made years ago called Stargazer. I posted it in a Facebook forum with zero expectations…and was stunned by the response. People loved it. They wanted more. And for a writer, there’s nothing more motivating than that.

So I kept going—page by page, idea by idea—until I had the first short draft of a graphic novel.

When I started experimenting with AI to make a graphic novel, I had no expectations. It began as a creative test—just me exploring what might be possible. MidJourney surprised me immediately. Even in its early stages, it was capable of producing striking, stylized images that pushed me to think differently about storytelling.

My process was completely improvisational. Instead of beginning with a strict script, I treated it like a conversation—throwing ideas at the AI, reacting to what came back, and letting the story evolve naturally. Sometimes the results weren’t what I wanted; other times they opened unexpected doors.

Within a few days, I created a rough first page connected to Stargazer, a comic I had made years ago. I shared it online without expecting much, but the response encouraged me to keep going. One page turned into several, and eventually into a full draft.

What began as an experiment grew into a complete graphic novel that has quietly stayed in the top 25 of its category for the past two years. For something that started as a late-night creative detour, that’s been both surprising and incredibly meaningful.

Read Stargazer Episode Zero for Free Now

Stargazer – Episode Zero: Ring of Fire is also available on Amazon Kindle now for free.