Being dead doesn’t mean that everything’s perfectly at peace. It doesn’t free one from the pain of a headache or a heartache, as Cata continues to become educated on in the fourth issue of Karmen. Writer/artist Guillem March’s earthbound dramatic fantasy reaches its penultimate chapter with a chapter that explores a bit more of the tragedy of Cata while also exploring a bit more about the irreverent angel of death who is responsible for her. The title character makes a brief appearance at the opening of an issue focussed quite heavily on the plight of the late Cata. And the unfinished affairs the refuse to rest for her in the realm of the living.

Karmen is less than happy with the schedule of the afterlife. She’s taken her time with Cata when she really should have just wrapped up the young woman’s life and ushered her into the great beyond. Karmen takes pride in her work. She refuses to be rushed. Meanwhile, Cata is drifting about in the world of the living...a world that she is well aware of no longer being a part of. A chance encounter with someone involved with Cata’s love finds her rushing to his apartment at a very awkward time for both of them. 

Romantic drama can be challenging to render in a single, dramatized narrative. There’s so much tied up in a complicated love relationship between two people. March delivers a post-mortem on a couple that really has no business being anywhere near as compelling as it is. March finds just the right balance of interpersonal connection between the two characters to make it work. The heavier end of the dialogue seems to be swimming with emotional soul-searching that DOES feel a bit unearned, but there’s just enough gravity to engage a reader’s emotions.  

March’s visuals in the realm of Karma Corp with Karmen and her superior are a lot of fun. There’s Escher-like warping of perspective in stairs that seem to be leading to a dozen kinds of nowhere. As often as these types of visuals are used, the standard conventions of comic book layout are rigid enough that it’s still pleasantly disorienting. The dramatic end of the story comes across with great power thanks to March’s strikingly vivid rendering of a beautiful dead girl lost in a world that is DEFINITELY going on without her. The emotions in her face and posture are absolutely heartrending. 

With only one issue left, it’s difficult to tell where March might be leading for the final issue. Cata is definitely drifting towards a conclusion of some sort, but it’s difficult to imagine her simply gliding off into the beautiful oblivion that awaits her beyond the last panel. In focussing on a character who has already committed suicide before the first issue even starts, March has crafted a serial that feels every bit as unpredictably uncertain as the world on this side of the comics page. March’s art and story are a haunting amplification of life beyond the panels.

Grade: A