Karmen #1 // Review
Spanish writer/artist Guillem March's graphic novel Karmen comes to the US this spring in the first of a three-part series published by Image Comics. Catalina has been visited by a strange girl dressed in a black bodysuit with a white skeleton printed on it. She's got red freckles and fabulous red hair. Her name is Karmen, and she's not Death, but she's not not Death either because Catalina isn't exactly alive. It's strange, complicated existential awkwardness that is summoned to the page with heart, depth, and detail by March's ink. The spirit of a girl and an entity begin their three-part journey.
Catalina didn't expect to meet Karmen. Karmen seems to be a free spirit. She hadn't exactly been invited into the home, but she knew where she was going. It was a code red for Karmen. Catalina is a bit surprised to see Karmen, who wants to go out walking with her. Catalina can't get dressed, though. She can't do much of anything as she's walking away from herself in a tub of blood-red water. She's a spirit who can't be seen, so it's really only an issue for HER that she only happens to be naked in the presence of a strange entity who is trying to open her up to new things beyond the veil of life.
As a character, Karmen isn't terribly novel. She's just a weird entity without much direction, which is totally understandable for someone with great wisdom and knowledge of reality which is also evidently completely separated from the life and death cycle she seems to know so much about. March's development of her personality is a lot of fun, though. She's a fun character to hang out with because she's not providing any clear clue as to exactly who or what she is. She's an acutely morbid mystery of a character at the center of what might be a very touching emotional story.
March's art has a deeply detailed life about it. The intensity of emotion often gets lost in art that renders as much detail as March's does. March manages to bring everything to the page with an impressively whimsical personality, from the fish-eye lens of his backgrounds to the subtle variations in emotional expressions written across every character's faces. There even appears to be a distinct personality emanating from the detailed architectural renderings in every background. It's very, very beautiful even when it's being morbid. Even the image of Karmen walking away from her own lifeless body has a kind of grace to it.
The opening chapter of the series doesn't have a great deal going on concerning the plot. Despite this, March manages to do a great deal more with a simple meeting between spirit and entity than most superhero comics manage in far more eventful issues. March makes a profound impact in less than 36 pages with a title character who remains an appealing mystery at issue's end.
