By Judd Winick
A boy-shaped robot crashes to Earth in his underpants, and the most ordinary child in town suddenly has the best friend, and the biggest secret, of his life.
D.J. is sure he's the one plain child in a family of prodigies. Then a boy named Hilo falls out of the sky into a smoking crater, wearing nothing but silver underpants and remembering almost nothing about himself. Hilo can shoot beams of energy, he's thrilled by absolutely everything on Earth, and giant machine monsters keep tearing through portals to come after him.
This is the step up in action for a child who's ready for something bigger but still needs the pictures carrying the story. The battles are real, the pace never quits, and the burp-and-fart jokes keep it light between fights. Underneath it all is a warm story about a child who thinks he's nothing special finding out otherwise. And there's a long series waiting, each book a little bigger than the last.