Cheering up (Patreon)
Content
Showing him a few of the comics I've made helped a bit.
I've found that the way to make a comic is encountering something in everyday life, and exaggerating it just enough for it to be funny. You take a real situation, a real emotion - say, wanting to cheer up a sad partner, and frutiless attempts to offer something to help that's probably not helpful - and just tune up the silly side of it.
When you're sad, a dog will bring you a squeaky toy because squeaky toys make them happy and they want you to be happy too. I got him a box of colouring pens and one of those adult colouring books. The effect was roughly the same, but an attempt was made. We do both have our moods but we're both trying.