Review by Ian Keogh

Hilo is a robot boy from another planet who’s crashed on Earth and befriended D.J. They’ve already had several adventures together, and there’s good news to begin this book as Izzy, introduced in The Great Big Boom, hasn’t lost her memory. It means she can supply Dr. Horizon with information required to get both her and Hilo home again. However, seeing as the US military now know about Hilo they’re keen to capture him and use him as a weapon.

That’s one plot. Then there are the robot duplicates of D.J. and Hilo that Izzy has made, but supplied with her exuberant personality as seen in Waking the Monsters. Why? Because D.J. and Hilo have jumped through a portal to Hilo’s planet.

If anything Judd Winick has upped the pace from previous volumes. These might be bite size chapters, but they’re packed with incident, comedy and an incredible amount of energy. So much energy, in fact, that if it could be captured it would power a dozen trips to Hilo’s world. The entire joyful experience is seen in every panel, as supplied on the sample art where Lisa once again learns about Hilo.

While under other circumstances Hilo would be overjoyed to be back home with D.J. in tow and being able to show him around, not all is as it should be on Jannus, as we now learn the name of Hilo’s planet. The threat of Razorwark has been frequently mentioned, not least that the giant robot is heading to Earth, but before he left Jannus he left the place in quite the mess.

Any parent who still reads to their children will have as much fun as six year old Emerson S. from Pleasantville, or ten year old Kyla G. from Providence or Gene Luen Yang listed as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. They’re all quoted on the endpapers. The situations are joyously silly, no-one’s ever going to be badly hurt, and Winick comes up with some really smart moments in tying everything together. There’s one hell of a cliffhanger, and you’re going to want All the Pieces Fit, which is next.