The Beating of Ed

The opening chapter of Ryan Woodward's Invincible Ed miniseries, subtitled The Beating of Ed on the cover. Ed is a regular Chesterton High student going about an unremarkable life when an alien sociologist named Nod arrives on Earth, sent by the Council of Galaxies to find a human worthy of the power they call the Right.

Nod picks Ed by accident. The cosmic gift turns out to be a body that no longer registers pain like everyone else's, with no other powers attached. Ed gets to learn what that means the hard way.