The story took me most of the comic to get into, and by the time I felt like things were getting interesting, the volume was over. I really doubted continuing with it at about 1/3 way in, but decided to push through to the end. I’m glad I did, and I considered raising the score to 4/5 stars for the last 1/3 of the book and for the artwork, but decided to stick with a 3.

Death is weird and strange and quirky. I glanced at another review, and they said this isn’t Neil Gaiman’s Death from Sandman but more like Delirium. I suppose she might seem like a mash up of the two, with Karmen being more zany and bizarre than Sandman’s Death. But all I could think of while reading was how similar she was the Gaiman’s Death. A quirky, beautiful Death who is helps guide her charge to the afterlife and tries to connect with them. In this, there are other Deaths as well, so seeing her juxtaposed against the harsher, more no-nonsense versions of Death only made her seem more like Gaiman’s Death to me.

But that’s when the story got most interesting. We saw another version of Death, Karmela, who seemed cold and beautiful and to the point. She was the first time we saw that Karmen handled death differently, and it gave us some depth to Karmen’s character. By this point, the graphic novel was nearly over. Everything with Cata was suddenly wrapped up quickly after her resisting passing on and struggling with her suicide for 90% of the book. The last 20 pages are my favorite part, and I felt like it was over too quickly. I still haven’t decided if I want to read the next volume when it’s available.

The artwork is beautiful. The colors are rich, and pink and red are a heavy theme through the story. The woman who died by suicide is naked and exploring the city for most of the novel. I enjoyed the dynamic way they drew the exploration and the poses they chose when she was swimming and flying around.

However, something about her being nude the whole time and the only one who is (besides brief glimpses of a couple in a hot tub and what I assume is other dead people waiting for the afterlife), it felt like an excuse to draw a naked, beautiful woman over and over again. Sometimes, the close up panels were shots of her breasts or groin. I have mixed feelings about how this was handled. I loved the art style and all the beautiful women. I believe we should be more comfortable with human bodies and not sexualize nudity. Figure drawing is one of my favorite art forms. But something about it sat strange to me. Of course it was beautiful, flawless looking woman who were naked. We saw a crowd of people waiting for the afterlife in various states of dress with various bodies, but none of them were ever zoomed in on, the panel cropped to only show breasts or groin or buttocks. There were harry butts and dimples skin and chubby women in these pages, and I wish there was more of that. At one point, Cata yells at a random woman on the street for how she’s dressed, saying “You must be really brave to go out dressed like that. Your taste in clothes sucks!” to test if anyone could hear her. I’m not sure why they chose for her to target another woman for her appearance.

I just really have mixed feelings overall. It started off at a 2.5/3 for me but picked up near the end, but was over soon after that. The art was gorgeous, but sometimes felt indulgent. I’m interested in Karmen’s story, but not sure if I will continue or not.

I got an advanced reading copy of this from Net Galley for free in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is what drew me in. A woman in what looks like a skeleton costume with psycho pink hair who looks like she's a character from the game Catherine. The premise also sounded interesting. This is about a woman named Catalina who kills herself after getting her heart broken. An angel named Karmen comes to help her and takes her on a journey where she just may learn important life lessons... now that she's dead.

I really liked the art in this graphic novel. I thought it was beautiful, vivid, and eye catching. Early on I was a bit worried at the direction it was going because for most of the story, Catalina is naked. My worry was that this would just be a booby comic with little focus on story but I'm happy to report that it's not. If you have a dislike or aversion to nudity then this isn't for you. The nudity is never crass and it actually makes sense to the story. But for some, it's a deal breaker.

This is just volume 1 and I have no idea how long it's going to go for but I can only speak for the story in this volume. It was part sad and part cute. Catalina is a good character who grew on me as the story unfolded. She could have been fleshed out a bit more but I was happy with what I got. Karmen is just a mediocre character thus far. She's one note and she doesn't get much in the way of a story of her own, but there's a lot of promise for her and for her growth in coming volumes.

This was a good comic that came out of nowhere and I'm really glad I got to read it. It's good, but not great. A solid graphic novel.

I received a e-arc of Karmen V1 from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is what really drew me to Karmen the art is beautiful and the skeleton drawing of Karmen and the colors just pop.

This graphic novel deals with Suicide and self harm.

The story for Karmen was pretty good it wasn't anything to spectacular but it did keep my interest. I did like Karmen but at the same time I also kind of hated her but it is balanced really well. For me though was the art, there is just something about it that really just stood out to me and I really enjoyed the quote look of this graphic novel.

Karmen deals with the very heavy topic of Suicide but in a kind of humorous way but that didn't feel disrespectful at all.

It's honestly so funny how cis men think they have a comic-worthy story just because they want to draw naked women. The skeletons had HIGH HEELS AND BOOBS for fuck's sake.
Neither the story nor the characters were good and/or original enough to make up for the fact that this was made by a horny man.

This graphic novel explores what happens after your death. This first volume is showing us the death-life of Cata, just after she's made an impulsive, irreversible decision. We follow along as "death" is trying to teach her a lesson, so that when she's reincarnated, she can make better choices for herself.

The drawings are above-par. The story line is amazing. The level of detail surprises me, as this is only my second graphic novel, and I'm asking myself why I don't read more of them. I loved the story and the writing and the drawing. It packed such an important story-line into only 100-odd pages. I am impressed with this graphic novel.

Meet Catalina, a gorgeous, slightly feisty redhead, who can fly – and indeed does so a lot for the first chunk of this book, soaring completely starkers over the capital of Majorca. That's only because she's actually dead, having slit her wrists, and seems to be just waiting for her reincarnation to be arranged, and a report from her attendant angel-type thing to be accepted and processed. This has all the hallmarks of being a quite wonderful, distinctive drama, and it would be if I had it in French, where it all fit perfectly well in two covers. Unfortunately, Europe Comics (who must be thanked for turning this round into English in just four months – proving yet again my law that states that books reach translation at the pace they deserve) have split it most unequally, but also needlessly, pointlessly, sinfully, interruptingly, dilutingly, into two separate parts. And you just know you'll never get the final third as a reviewer to find out the rest of the story (although they did succeed in that with The Detection Club, mind…).

So, what I got doesn't really discuss the philosophy of the afterlife, although we learn in this myth that there is no heaven and hell, and no instant retribution for the wicked (or those who cleave comic books). It's clearly about Catalina, and to some extent too it's about the title character, said angel sort. And that makes its being bodged into two purchases even more stupid, because this is about character, about nuance, about – well, I don't know what as I can't guess the future Catalina has, if any. This isn't huge on plot and drama, but the final section could have been a sight to behold as we find out the purpose of a lot of the contents so far.

Karmen is a graphic novel about death, specifically suicide, but not quite in the way you might think. The main character Catalina is somewhat self-absorbed and has just taken her life, heartbroken over a lifelong friendship crumbling to pieces. This is where Karmen enters. She’s a kind of grim reaper, a guide to whatever comes next. Dressed in a skeleton onesie with bright pink hair and an endless stream of snarky comments, she isn’t what one would expect. Karmen lets Catalina explore for a while in the in-between and sparks some introspection in the young woman before she has to move on.

The art style immediately caught my attention, there is a certain stillness and nostalgia to it, which especially shines through in landscapes and snapshots of the city. Time and the rules of physics are suspended for both Karmen and Catalina and the art helps to show that.

I loved the concept and enjoyed Karmen as a character, but I still had some gripes with the story. At one point Karmen confronts Catalina and calls her selfish for taking her life, essentially guilt-tripping her for something irreversible anyways. I think there’s space for a discussion about suicide and what it does with the people who remain, but blaming the victim just didn’t sit right with me and wish it had been handled with more nuance.

Lastly, the story ended too abruptly. This is most likely because it’s only the first volume in a series, but it left me with a lot of questions and I didn’t feel like any of the narrative arcs was sufficiently explored or brought to a close.

This is a beautifully drawn and thoroughly enjoyable read.

The story is about the time between, and the interaction between a young girl and the envoy sent to collect her. The interaction changes both parties and the reader is drawn in to the drama unfolding between them.

I found its philosophy engaging and interesting, and the characters fascinating and multi-faceted.
It has the slight unreality of a dream, in parts, which itself adds to the story in a positive way, and because of that, deep feelings are dealt with in a non-threatening way.

I can't say much more without it being a spoiler, but the book is for anyone interested in dreamtime, philosophy, the concept of death as an emissary or character, karma, drama, or anyone interested in thoughts and feelings.

Simply brilliant. This deserves to be a great success. I hope more is on the way from these authors.

I gave this a three out of five stars. I really like the art style of this one and the story. TW: for suicide and death

Although I did like the art style and the storyline of this graphic novel, it did take me a very long way through the story to figure out what was going on. However when it did click with me about Karma and reincarnation, it did make me stop and think about what ive done in my life that could be seen as 'wrong'. I would like to see how this graphic novel story goes and how the people above deal with the main character. The art style is very unique and makes it stand out. However it is also very explicit.

3.5

I really liked the drawing, the selection of colors and the landscapes. History is a very original idea, but being the first part and in this format, one is left with too many doubts.

What is really bad is the typography, it makes the reading complex and some words are not even understood.

Still worth the wait for the second part.

A polite warning: this review contains some discussion about suicide.

Is there life after death? Who knows, but according to Karmen there will at least be a guide, a sort of accountant who talks to you while the higher ups decide on your further fate, which seems reincarnation.

Karmen is such a guide, but she differs from her colleagues (and there are colleagues) in that she is actually interested in the dead people she talks to.

A young woman, Catalina, slits her wrists while sitting in the bath. She dies, although she hasn't realised that yet. Karmen appears to guide her, and tells Catalina that she can now fly, and doesn't need to put on clothes because no one can see her anyway. Catalina goes along with this because she thinks she's dreaming.

It becomes clear that Karmen is unusual, although I'll have to wait for further volumes how that plays out.

It's a beautifully drawn book, one of the best I've seen in a long while. At first I was skeptical about one of the women characters being constantly naked, it could be typical objectifying European trash, but it keeps decidedly on the right side of that line. If it is typically European, it's because it sees nakedness as nothing special. (That said, I will note that there is another just dead person, who is a man and decidedly not naked. He dies under clothed circumstances, but still.)

The way the book handles death and suicide, is quite thoughtful (maybe a bit too judgemental regarding suicide).

A solid recommendation from me.

Karmen was a comic about death and suicide which had a different feel to it than I thought going in.

While I felt that the beginning of the comic couldn't fold my attention, the characters didn't grab me, and the world was bland, somehow I still got to the end of reading this and loved it. It felt so impactful. Somehow it didn't answer any questions or tell you how to think yet it made to think as a reader, not only about the lives of the people in the comic but also your own.

I was thrown for a loop a few times in the story, and all of them were pleasant surprises. Not to say that all of them were "good" or I was glad that all of them happened, but they were surprises that felt unique and original, and fit this story so well.

There are lots of trigger warnings to go along with this book. The main ones being suicide, self harm, death, car accidents, and abandonment. I also don't recommend this comic to anyone who objectifies or cannot handle the female body, as one of the characters is naked through most of the work, in a completely non-sexual way.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me this in exchange for an honest review.

5 ⭐ out of 5
Keywords & trigger warning: graphic novel, nudity, mental health issue, explicit depiction of suicide

"Do I really want to stop living? Will my parents cry if I'm no longer in this world?"

Bless you Netgalley for giving me an arc of this comic, it is really beautiful. Karmen Volume 1 tells a story about Catalina, a college student who decided to kill herself because of heart break and met a grim reaper named Karmen. It is a journey of how the self-absorbed Catalina learn to open her eyes and see the consequences of her action, although when she finally understood, it is too late already.

I love everything in this book, from the art to the messages it conveys. The art is pretty. It is detailed and the art style is unique. It accentuate the "odd" feelings in some part of the book. The narration is deep and meaningful. To those who might had any thoughts to stop living, the messages resonate well. It is sensitive and deeply personal. Death is irreversible and we learn it the hard way when we follow Catalina's journey.

>3.5/5<

[ESP]
Angustia, desesperación y soledad se mezclan en una obra impactante y humana. Karmen cuenta la historia de Cata, una joven que se suicida y debe enfrentarse a su decisión, bajo el cuidado de una suerte de ángel bastante peculiar y sarcástica.
Este primer volúmen finaliza con el caso de Cata y asumo que la continuación tratará otro, es una historia que se lee en unas horas y te atrapa bastante.
>>Advertencia: Desnudez, suicidio, menciones de muerte, muertes gráficas, salud mental.

*Pronto reseña completa en el blog

[ENG]
Angst, loneliness and depression are the center of Karmen.
This is the story of Cata, a young woman who takes her own life, and she has to come to terms with all her regrets in life. All of this in company of Karmen, a very sarcastic and peculiar angel.
TW/ Suicide, grapich images of suicide and death, mental health issues, depression, nudity, blood.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

I loved the art style. the colors and the detailing in the drawings are so, so good. the story itself is also amazing, not only it has a message, but the plot is actually funny at times. i loved Karmen's personality and sarcasm.

What a story.

Catalina a.k.a Cata and Xisco have been life long friends, from school mates through young adulthood. Cata lives in Palma with her roommate and anxiously frets about her relationship with Xisco, calling him frequently. Until, one day in an impromptu move driven by her sadness over Xisco, Cata slashes her wrists in the bathtub. This is where the titular character Karmen shows up. Karmen is an angel of death from High. She's decked out in a skeleton unitard and expresses empathy for her cases, including Cata. She guides Cata, forevermore naked, out to the streets to explore the city. Karmen cracks jokes and encourages Cata to explore her memories and feelings.

This story was oddly beautiful, quirky, and darkly clever. A strange combination but it totally works. The overall feel was dreamlike. The artwork was lovely with lots of pastels and detailed scenery and cityscapes. I am eagerly anticipating volume 2.

What to listen to while reading (or taking a break)
Little Bit by Lykke Li
Somebody Else by The 1975
I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt
Hurt by Johnny Cash
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space by Spiritualized

"Sometimes a dream remains clear and leaves us with a sensation of reality for a few brief seconds after we awake, long enough for the disoriented mind to adapt to its new state of awareness. Then, quickly, the memory of it becomes increasingly indistinct and fragmented, until we have completely forgotten it."
Karmen
Guillem March

First, look at the cover! Its GOREgous! The illustrating inside is equally as beautiful. Karmen comes from High where he assignment is to take your soul and navigate it until it is reincarnated. How cool is that! There are a bunch of rules and she, of course, pushes just about every boundary.

The story was binge worthy. The art, top shelf. I definitely recommend for guys, gals, dudes, witches, and those that especially love karma in action.


Thank you to Guillem March, Europe Comics, and NetGalley for gifting me an audio copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Karmen Vol. 1 is the English adaptation of a French Dargaud comic by author Guillem March.

This is a story of a girl’s suicide, of pain, resentment and regrets, and what comes after. Which isn’t what you would have guessed.

No time lost to bring the main character to the point of killing herself (for a man that wasn’t worth it, but I won’t judge). She then gets stuck in ghost form and meets death, or an angel of death. A crazy hysterical and funny one (for us, not for the recently departed). She’s not Neil Gaiman’s Death, for sure (more like Delirium). She doesn’t seem to want to bring her to the light right away, either, but rather letting her have fun in her ghost form. She’s part of some sort of bureaucracy, and seems to viewed as a rebel by her superior. I Wonder why...

Nice use of color palette. Blank backgrounds to focus on characters. Sound effects in line with the crazy character. Harley Quinn would be jealous. Dynamic use of panels, with the main character using lucid dream training to fly, and crossing panels while doing so. She visits beautifully detailed sceneries. The story is more often told with pictures than words. Surreal atmosphere fitting to the story.

No extras in the backpages there. We europeans don’t that much. But, it’s worth it. Can’t wait for the next volume.

Thanks to Europe Comics and Netgalley for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

The art. Beautiful. The exploration of suicide. Beautiful. The portrayal of death. Beautiful. I really loved this book and the characters within it, it didn't shy away from graphic scenes yet it did so very graciously and respectfully. However, I would say that some could argue that it does victim shame (ever so slightly) but I feel that it is used as a plot device that allows the author to explore grieving and understanding the impact of suicide on others. Nonetheless, a beautiful story about finally letting yourself fly free and be yourself...even if it means flying naked.