Every week, the Comics Page introduces you to brand-new graphic novels by the world's best artists and writers. Manga, superheroes, indie comix — we'll cover them all as our editors select the best the exploding comics world has to offer.

Aaron is a hyper, creative, nerdy kid whose imagination frequently gets the best of him. Can he ever find a friend in the nightmare known as middle school?

All week on the Comics Page, we're excerpting Aaron Renier's "Simple Machines," a delightful short story of middle-school angst and imagination, from Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics From an Unpleasant Age, an anthology just published by Viking.

"Simple Machines," by Aaron Renier

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Tomorrow: Aaron escapes … to his own world.