Earthling! (review)

When Bud boards the bus for his first day at his new school, he's nervous; when he realizes that said bus is filled with aliens, has launched into space, and is headed for Cosmos Academy, he's downright terrified. As it turns out, however, the "best school in the galaxy" functions pretty much like any other middle school, and as long as Bud keeps his origins under wraps by pretending to be a benevolent Tenarian, instead of a hated Earthling, he should be able to avoid trouble until he can get home. Unfortunately, his attempt to back to Earth by hijacking a spaceship does draw attention, but he has plenty of help in the alien forms of his new buddies, the whip-smart Gort, a multi-tentacled janitor, and a kind—if a bit slimy—teacher. Fearing's sci-fi-lite graphic novel is a charming addition to the recent boom of madcap space journeys in graphic-novel format (Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl, BCCB 1/11, etc.). A bright palette, bold lines, and a plethora of fascinating creatures make the illustrations a pleasure to view, and they add a fair amount of clever visual humor as well. The straightforward storyline and uncluttered panels make this particularly useful for students just getting into graphic novels, but even veteran comic readers will find plenty to giggle over here.