This one is nightmarish for me.
The story, the art,the characters nightmarish. Yes, I said it again.

The story started out somewhat abruptly and it got a bit confusing in between.

The art sequence seems to focus more on unnecessary parts rather than the story or the characters.

It gets gross (yes) and messy at times.

I simply couldn't enjoy the story.
I just couldn't get into it.

I just cannot feel anything for the characters.

The story keeps jumping from one part to another part so abruptly when it's totally unnecessary.

Trigger warnings for suicidal attempts, nudity, violence.


For me, the characters didn't make much of an impact.
And the dialogue bubbles are rather too congested.

I couldn't enjoy this graphic novel at all.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy.

This book takes a look at suicide and death in a stunning way that I often find characteristic of French art and storytelling. We follow our main character Catalina as she commits suicide and is guided by the grim reaper figure of Karmen.

The artwork in this is simply stunning. Admittedly, the cover is what drew me in. Honestly, the majority of the graphic novels I read are middle grade or young adult, so this novel was a bit of a challenge for me. The narrative is at times dark, always stunning, and often bazaar. Another hallmark of French storytelling. Overall, while this was well written, I think the real standout of this novel is the art. I think you could focus on much of the art separated from the text and still get a lot out of it. While the text itself did not deeply speak to me, I do think this is a compelling read to check out for the art alone.

This is a really cool concept for a graphic novel. The story is pretty simple. A woman dies and Karmen gives her time to realize the influence she had on other people and really consider what she wants going forward into the next life. I'm especially intrigued to learn more about the rules that govern this particular vision of the afterlife and the way it functions. Also, Karmen, the angel of death, is an interesting and fun character who I'd love to learn more about. It's definitely a good start to what I hope will be a much longer series.

I'd recommend this for anyone who's interested in graphic novels like Sandman, where things take on a dreamlike quality and the art is rich with color.

The main problem with this Spanish translation is that it is only the first part of a two part story, so we only get the very beginning of what looks as though it could possibly be a very interesting story on suicide and death and dying.

The first volume touches on the idea that when you have not transitioned yet, when you have just died, but have not got on to where ever you go, if a living person touches you, you can see their memories.

And it is through that, that Catalina will learn about her death, and why the suicide was so not worth it.

And nudity. Did I mention the nudity? Europeans have no trouble objectifying women, and drawing them nude through the entire story. As much as I love a nude body, I felt in this case it distracted form the actual story.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This was an arc I requested at Netgalley.

When I saw this cover art, I was immediately curious to see what this was about and picked it up to read.

I really loved this dreamy, washed out, (lots of pinks), "retro" kind of art style and also how the faces of each character showed a bit of their personality. I liked the way that the pages visually also created a really dynamic and vivid imagery of what was happening, it all just really flowed naturally.

I really liked the concept of this graphic novel, which is a depiction of what happens after Catalina commits suicide and meets her angel Karmen. And I feel that it's quite well executed. And even though it's a heavy topic that is quite big to tell in quite a short span (108 pages), there's definitely a lot that is being discussed, with some humour and nuance.

I came into the story not really knowing exactly what to expect and even though I was caught by surprise by what was happening on the pages, it was a pleasant surprise. The world-building was done very gradually and there weren't any info dumps, which was nice.
Catalina and Karmen, even though both very morally gray people, were really likeable characters that I felt like I could relate to. Especially since you had a lot of minor characters that were also a bit shady when it comes to having morals. The end really left me on a cliff hanger, that made me want to know more about the world and what happens next.

Now there wasn't really anything that really stood out to me as things that I didn't like. Although sometimes it was a bit hard to see who was speaking, because the text bubbles placed in a way that made it a little bit unordered.

Nonetheless, I'm definitely excited to read a part 2, when it comes out!

I requested this book because I'm always interested in reading portrayals of mental health and the idea that this book centers around an attempted suicide was what initially drew me in. I'm always curious to see if things related to the central issue of mental health are portrayed accurately and sensitively (ie. compassionately). However when I realized that a central character was going to be naked the entire time and that the title character has stilleto heels apparently growing out of her feet, I felt a little unsettled about the objectification of women. The art was beautiful, undoubtedly, but I could really get past this initial gut reaction.

I’m not entirely sure where to start with this graphic novel. The premise of it sounded interesting - being able to transcend death, angels with Karmen's cool design. But it just kind of... fell flat for me.

For one, I didn't really like the art style. Nor did I like the fact that the main character was naked for the entire comic. It felt gratuitous and could have easily been changed so that she was clothed and we didn't get constant close-ups of her chest. Neither she nor Karmen were particularly likeable, either, with Karmen edging into manic pixie dream girl territory and Catalina just being.... Unlikeable.

I also didn't really get the plot. It wastes no time in jumping into the morbid, showing Catalina's suicide on page and referring back to it at several points, with an overall theme of death and dying. It wasn't so much that I minded that - I had an idea of what I was getting into, after all - I just felt like there could have been more to it. As it stands, there isn't much to Karmen. We follow Catalina around as she mopes and flies about the city but that's about it. I feel like if there was more of a story and things were wrapped up better this could have been good. As it stands it's just.... Okay. Nothing special, nothing particularly bad. Just not for me at all.

Not at all what I was expecting. This one was just okay for me. I didnt love the art styles, the story, or the characters. I was hoping to connect a little more with something.

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.