Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead
Reality TV, much like Social Media/Influencers has been a thing for the last decade and some change much to the dismay of some who much prefer scripted. And now, we’re getting Reality TV in Space thanks to The Karman Line courtesy of Mad Cave and Dennis Hopeless and his team! WHOO! With that said though, WHAT THE F**K!? Its not often a Comic Book will leave me feeling like that but Good Lord Above did The Karman Line (released back in March) manage to do that! And by now, readers of this GN will have a fairly strong idea of what I’m talking about. Especially considering this is filled with Sex, Lies, and Spacy Happenings! Its a bit like Rock ‘N Roll but with out all the Rockin’. We also got to see at one point prior to our team going out into Space that the Common Folk seem strangely against the idea of going to Mars and making it a new home. Its almost like hating Mutants but loving non Mutant Powered Heroes and never making any sense. Of course, perhaps if the Common Folk knew what was going on with the world, they probably wouldn’t be as resistant.
But hey, let’s point some cameras in the Shuttle Crew’s direction and film things so the Public can get behind them! And boy does that have some double meaning to that but we’re not going there! Speaking of the Shuttle Crew of the Keyhole Station, we’ve got the lovely Captain Yuki, Marion Richardson, Dash Derringer, Diya (Our Broadcastin’ Gal to the Common Folk back on Earth) Khatri, and Commander Alexei. Each representative from a Nation on Earth and of course, you can’t have a good Sci-Fi without a Russian running around, right!? Right! Fun fact, me doing a Google search for this book because I was too lazy to type in the Mad Cave website led me to learning that there is in fact an actual Karman Line that’s a boundary between our Atmosphere and Outer Space.
Or at least its a proposed one anyway and this is proof you can in fact learn from Comics! I’m curious as to what made Dennis and the team choose Karman Line as a title for this GN but given there’s a very clear line between our Keyhole crew and folks on Earth, that’s more than likely my curiousity answered right there. I’ve also gotta admit I was a little surprised by some of the more adult content this book has. But given the more adult direction the Cave’s been going in for awhile now with some of its newer titles outside of its YN lines, it only makes sense it would show up here. And while our crew has clearly had some bonding times together since being brought together, those bonding times clearly haven’t fully polished them into being a super tight unit. Something that clearly gets used to the advantage of some given the sudden need to return home due to things back home starting to go bad.
Which is when things start to go to crap on the Station and good ol’ Alexei is part of the cause of that in some horrifying ways. That, and some secret recording Diya’s well aware of that is one Hell of a violation of privacy for that matter. In fact, Alexei’s actions honestly turn out to be utterly pointless in the end and its going to haunt him for years to come. Reminding me all too much of the ending scene from the 2007 film ‘The Mist’ now (and I absolutely hate that scene by the way) that I think about it. And speaking of the ending of this story, it to me kind of felt like it ended abruptly, like things had to be rushed in some way. Feeling like there could’ve been more to see, especially where the aftermath our Keyhole crew is about to deal with is concerned.
Maybe Dennis Hopeless and the crew are saving that more to see for a secondary(and I could very well be wrong about my line of thinking for all I know) arc later down the line? I’d be down for that and I wouldn’t mind seeing this get adapted for the screen. Though I feel it’d work more as a show than a movie as it’d allow for more time to tell the story so nothing’s rushed in some way. So if you’re looking for a little Outer Space Drama to read all about while wondering how it’d really be like on your TV screen if it was real, The Karman Line’s for you!
The Karman Line – GN
Mad Cave Studios
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Colorist: Brad Simpson
Letterer: Chas! Pangburn
Editor: Joe Corallo
Designer: David Reyes
Reviewer: Rob Wrecks
Summary: It’s all sex, lies and betrayal on a reality show streaming from space until the crew receives a message reading “ABORT MISSION AND GET HOME NOW”. Things unravel quickly as they find their shuttle damaged and a crew member dead. They’ll have to fight to survive and escape… With cameras recording everything.
