Der verkehrte Himmel

It’s about a severed finger – about a Vietnamese woman who has fallen victim to human traffickers. And it’s about three teenagers from Berlin’s Lichtenberg district who get drawn into these crimes. Mikael Ross is known for his well-researched studies of social milieus. “Der verkehrte Himmel” is different, yet still typical. For whilst the comic is pure fiction, the elements of this crime story are real. Ross is familiar, for example, with the lives of the Lichtenberg teenagers – whose parents often immigrated from Vietnam – through school projects. This is Ross’s first comic inspired by manga. Accordingly, he breaks down roller-skating scenes and car chases into individual panels with remarkable speed. And he uses colour masterfully: just once, Ross adds such a delicate touch of red to the faces in his black-and-white drawings that, as you read, it feels as though you yourself are blushing. The result is a multi-layered comic in which the characters are drawn with immense respect, and which is both funny and gripping.