WILMINGTON — A local is looking to make his graphic novel dreams come true.

Nicholas Daulton is looking to get his story “You Can’t Kill the Monster” printed and published. The book is a slightly autobiographical story where the main character experiences many of the same emotions he went through.

“The cool thing about my book is that it has lots of comic (references). I take a lot of inspiration from Japanese comics (manga),” said Daulton.

Daulton is also a barista at Kairos Coffee and Bakery on Rombach Avenue. Kairos is hosting a fundraiser on Feb. 18 to help him get it printed. A percentage of sales will go toward printing the book. Any $20 or more purchase will automatically enter you into a raffle to win an original poster.

The story breaks down into three parts.

The opening part of the story, as described by Daulton, has a samurai as he’s being stalked by a monster, all the while people are talking over the action. The scene transitions into where dialogue is happening and it reveals to be part of a therapy session involving the main character.

“Basically, (the samurai and monster) was a personification of the emotions that were being talked about,” said Daulton.

The second section emulates a Batman-style interaction, which talks about how he and his wife dealt with the issues he faced — primarily how she “couldn’t help him” at the time.

Daulton told the News Journal he personified all his problems at one point as a video game or comic book villain that could be dealt with.

“If you picture yourself as Batman, you can beat the Joker a lot easier than as yourself,” he said.

The final part deals with what he called the mental low point where there’s “no ideal version” of Daulton.

He calls his story “slightly autobiographical” because a majority of the events didn’t occur but the emotions are all true. He uses the story to channel the emotions and frustrations he experienced while dealing with anxiety and depression.

“I think it’s about learning how to better yourself,” he said.

He told the News Journal that at one point he was “losing everything” and he had a moment of where he reached “emotional rock bottom.”

“I was broken completely. I’ve got to figure out how to better myself and figure out what I want in life,” he said.

He had always wanted to create action comics and began three years ago with drawing and writing. He had moments at the beginning when he forced himself to work.

After scripting, he worked hard to make the art look good and hopes it is good enough to complement the story.

Prior to the graphic novel, Daulton said the most he had done artistically was doodle or draw simple little cartoons in college.

The goal for Daulton is he’s hoping to publish with filmmaker Kevin Smith’s publishing company, Secret Stash Press.

Daulton is already focused on future projects, and said the emotion he feels today is “grateful.”