Karmen #2: Flying Around Some More

Please don’t ask me what Karmen by Guillem March is about. I honestly cannot tell you for sure. It’s about dying? It’s about being naked? It’s about flying around naked while dying?

I expected issue two to clear some things up for me, but that wasn’t exactly the way it went. By the middle of this issue I realized it was definitely time for me to stop trying to sort out the world of Karmen, to stop trying to make all the pieces fit together neatly in my head, and to just go with it, man. Maybe in a few issues everything will all snap into place and make perfect sense, or maybe it won’t, it truly doesn’t matter. So far, I’m just enjoying the book for the strange ride that it is.

That being said, when a book has a plot that is this loose, the art has to do a lot of the heavy lifting, and Guillem March has nailed it. March brings to the table some interesting page layouts, lovely cityscapes and architecture, convincing face acting, and a strong understanding of the way human bodies jiggle. Maybe the most significant accomplishment in this book however, is March’s ability to convey flight and motion. My reaction to the silent flying-over-the-city pages in this issue was so visceral, I caught myself actually holding my breath. It’s not every Wednesday you have a comics experience that engaging, which alone makes the book worth checking out.