Nirvana is Here by Mikael Ross (Fantagraphics)

A chance encounter in a flea market parking lot and a severed finger embroil two Vietnamese German siblings — and a vividly drawn cast of eccentric neighbors, a tough teen biker with a crush, a rollerblading girl gang, and many others — on a mission to save a desperate young Vietnamese woman from her pursuer.

Two German siblings, 12-year-old Tâm and 14-year-old Dennis Nguy?n, encounter a young Vietnamese woman in trouble in a flea market parking lot. When Tâm's spy movie-obsessed schoolmate, Alex, discovers an abandoned backpack with a photo of a happy couple with Tâm's address on the back, it will lead the two to discover a severed finger. Worried, Tâm searches for the desperate woman, aided by her reluctant brother, and eventually finds Hoa Bin, who escaped from her kidnapper — who's still tracking her down. Drawn to Hoa Bin, Tâm vows to save her — even if she has to break her stern-but-loving mom's rules, dodge the bad guys in wild chases through the Berlin streets, and combine the forces of Marina, the Nguy?ns' tough-chick neighbor, Jutta, an elderly retired actress, a rollerblading girl gang, and many others to do so.