More than half the issue is recently deceased Cata (by her own hand, so presumably stuck in purgatory) swimming around the city naked taking in the sights. She can swim-fly to the top of the cathedrals, she can peek on strangers in their homes, she can even end up tracking down her best friend. The best friend sets off a bunch of drama for her, which eventually leads to afterlife sponsor slash tour guide Karmen checking in on her for a heart-to-heart.

The dialogue back and forth recounts Cata’s problems with best friend Xisco and Karmen’s exhaustion at Cata not figuring out she’s dead for keeps. There’s a somewhat fun, somewhat not sequence where Karmen is on assignment leading a newly dead to the afterlife on an airplane, which gives creator Guillem March the opportunity for some more fantastical art. Outside Cata skinny dipping through the city—it appears to be Mallorca, a tourist island (I asked a friend who asked a friend, it’s unclear if the actual location is ever going to matter)—her “swim” emphases the architectural beauty of the city (and the female form, March does a lot with his lines), not anything supernatural. There’s a little bit of humor in the narrative, then some light visual humor as Cata defies gravitational norms to stand on the side of sculptures and such.

There’s a reasonably intense cliffhanger thanks to March still not having laid out the rules of the afterlife in Karmen, with Cata’s conversation with Karmen seeming simultaneously final, simultaneously full of future potential. There shouldn’t be any future potential.

It’s an engaging comic with great art. March showcases his drawing skills and his writing is solid enough to get through. Though we’re not even halfway through so we shall see… (Cata’s character motivation so far is a minefield of problematic).

Karmen has a lot of fantastic art. Guillem March is doing combination realistic and supernatural—a young woman has just committed suicide and her death guide (the title character) comes along to start her reorientation to the next world. There’s something very ethereal about the art, even when it’s gloomy.

But the writing—which is translated—is quite good too. March doesn’t open the comic with the protagonist in the present, but in flashback, establishing her through her best friend. Only the best friend is a dude and as they age it becomes a problem for her friend’s new girlfriends; March does a really quick recap of it all, nicely executed.

Then in comes Karmen, who’s in a skintight skeleton costume—or is it a costume—and the issue proper gets underway. But at no time do we really get to meet the lead character (whose name is Cata) because she goes from being March’s subject in the flashback to Karmen’s subject in the present.

The second half of the book is a lot of talking heads (again, impressive translation) and walking around the city because no one can see them; good, because Cata’s apparently going to be naked since she killed herself in the bathtub, but awkward because Cata doesn’t know she’s dead. She thinks she’s dreaming, which just makes the whole thing more tragic.

March’s most impressive move as artist isn’t not ogling Cata but it’s one of his most impressive moves. It’s always for arts sake, an adult—but not adult adult—Little Nemo at times.

The issue stops rather than ends—I think Karmen was a single volume in France on original publication—and no one seems worried about how or where to end an issue. Based on this one anyway; maybe they’ll figure it out, but even if they don’t, Karmen’s off to a great start. March’s taking his time on the characters, which hopefully will still be worth it after twists and turns.

But until those foils start showing up, the only problem in the comic so far is the abrupt finish. Otherwise, it’s excellent.