Alex Faraway And The Last Martian

'Alex Faraway' is an illustrated, near-future sci-fi series which involves the cyclical destruction and renewal of life and civilization on Mars when it is visited by a rogue "Planet X" at ten thousand year intervals. The gravity of the mysterious deep-space object disrupts the orbit of Mars to either one that is closer to or farther away from the sun each time. After each epoch, the climate on Mars changes to become either warmer or colder, depending on how the orbit is affected. Set against this is the story of Alex Faraway who lives with his mother in an isolated farmhouse near an abandoned scrapyard.  Alex has made an old barn into a workshop where he invents all manner of robots and machines by salvaging parts from the scrapyard. One day he hopes to finish his own spaceship and fly away to find his missing father whom he feels, intuitively, is no longer on Earth. When Alex is twelve, he is awakened one night after hearing and seeing strange sounds and lights coming from the scrapyard.  When he investigates, he encounters an advanced, winged robot with unusual powers. Alex befriends the creature and follows it into the scrapyard where he discovers a new, secret world of adventure, and orphaned alien girl from the past.