Hilda and Twig: Find a Space Rock

Luke Pearson is the creator of the Hilda comic book series. He was also a writer and co-executive producer of the BAFTA and Emmy award-winning animated series of the same name. Outside of his work on Hilda, Luke has been an illustrator, a storyboard artist and has drawn a range of other comics. In 2025, Hilda and Twig: Hide from the Rain became the first British comic to win the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers!?

In Luke Pearson's winsome graphic novel Hilda and Twig Find a Space Rock, an alien invasion inspires acts of bravery.Hilda is a plucky blue-haired girl; Twig is her loyal pet "deerfox." They live with Hilda's mother in a remote cabin. While camping, Hilda and Twig see what looks like a shooting star. They sneak off, searching for the landing site, and discover a glowing space rock that they take home. While Hilda sleeps, a noodle-nosed alien emerges from the rock, taunting Twig and making nocturnal mischief. It falls to Twig to save the day.Communication and control are compelling themes in the text. Twig's thought bubbles show him attempting to answer Hilda's rhetorical questions and fretting about his perceived shortcomings. "Sometimes things happen that are out of my control," he muses. "And I don't know what the best thing to do is. Do humans struggle with that?"The story blends physical comedy with understated humor. The alien spraying water from its nose to express affection is reminiscent of a clown's prank, and Twig can't understand the alien's speech until it's wearing a duck-billed mask with automatic translator. When sick Hilda is sucked from her bedroom window and onto the spacecraft, Twig follows and watches over her as she is placed on a healing bed to recover from "Zetronolian deep space mucal virus." In other words: a cold.Whether the duo's adventures are real, a dream, or the production of a feverish brain is up for interpretation. Still,Twig's animal wisdom surpasses expectations, and his emotions are relatable as his fear of failure gives way to an understanding that being present is the greatest gift.Hilda and Twig Find a Space Rock is a magical graphic novel and a touching fable about human-animal connections.