We took the default WordPress Recent Comments widget and made a couple of modifications to it. Instead of a basic list of comments, we added more style, including the avatar of the person commenting.

screenshot demo of the Empt Recent comments widget
screenshot demo of the Empt Recent comments widget in the footer bottom area where the dark background shows
  1. Go to Appearance > Widgets
  2. Drag an Empt Recent Comments widget into a sidebar position
  3. Click the Save button