Askel Aden is a Copenhagen-based author, illustrator, and cartoonist whose graphic narratives combine queer experience, mythic worlds, and emotionally precise family relationships. His young-adult graphic novel Love, Misha follows a nonbinary teenager and their estranged mother through a spirit-realm journey shaped by misrecognition, hurt, and the difficult work of reconnecting.
In this stunning YA adventure, debut author Askel Aden weaves a story of family schism and reconciliation that effortlessly enriches the complex dynamics of mother and child. Can this road trip get any worse? Yes, Mom (Audrey) wanted to spend time with Misha. And yes, she’s never around and they don’t even live together, so this is a rare opportunity. But Audrey still thinks of Misha as her daughter, despite Misha being non-binary and trying to talk to her openly about it. Misha even tries to write how they feel in a letter, but that isn’t going well either. Then a wrong turn down a forest road leads the mother-child duo straight into the Realm of Spirits! Suddenly in peril and without a clue how to return to their world, Misha and Audrey will have to work together to find their way back home. But can they find a way back to each other?
Print · 2025 · English
More About Askel Aden
Askel Aden is a Copenhagen-based cartoonist, author, and illustrator. He studied Graphic Storytelling at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, completing a BA in 2017, after first attracting attention as a teenager with the webcomic Crossroads. His book work began with the Danish Åndevandrer trilogy before reaching English-language readers with Love, Misha.
Love, Misha turns a strained road trip between a nonbinary teenager and their estranged mother into a journey through a dangerous spirit realm. Its fantasy structure keeps the emotional conflict close: Misha wants to be recognized as they are, while both parent and child struggle to speak honestly about absence, hurt, and expectation.
Aden's visual storytelling supports that emotional movement through color. Professional reviews describe warm, muted artwork that makes the spirit world both comforting and eerie, while the Nordic Council profile notes distinct palettes for ordinary and alternative realities that begin to merge as Misha and Audrey find a changed way of seeing one another.
