A short graphic novel with a lot of ideas, but not enough pages to tell them. The twist that happens is pretty obvious because the entire story wraps up so quickly. The cast don't have enough time to develop and it was difficult sometimes to differentiate between some of them. In a way, it’s a commentary on social media and our reality more than a space horror or thriller. Piotr Kowalski's artworks, coloured by Brad Simpson, are fine but not too distant from a "standard" American comic.

I'm going to echo many other reviewers and ask why isn't this longer?? I think that's the main issue with this graphic novel. I really liked the premise: governments launch a space program with a small group of astronauts, all while broadcasting their day-to-day activities like it's Big Brother in space? Hell yeah. The idea is so dystopian, yet contemporary at the same time that it's not difficult to picture something like this happening in the future.

But why is this so short?? It's half as long as a standalone graphic novel should be. And because of it, it's hard to root for any of the characters or really get a feel for the situation. The twist that happens is pretty obvious too because the entire story wraps up so quickly. I just wish that this story would've dived into the psychological aspects of having a Big Brother style reality tv show in space with actual trained astronauts. Some pretty fucked up things happened and I'm left to wonder if the story could've taken an even darker turn.

Overall, great premise but it fell flat for me.

Thank you to Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley for this arc.

I'm a little confused. I feel like there were several pretty good ideas in this comic but it was way too short to explore them all in depth. I also had a hard time understanding the point of some parts, it was mostly violence and sex, which I think could have been easily avoided.
The drawings were average, the faces all looked the same and it made the characters look weird.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Mad Cave Studios for an advance copy of this science fiction graphic novel set in a future where the Earth is dying and it's only hope is being broadcast as a reality show.

There is a line that decides where the atmosphere of Earth ends and where the coldness of space begins. There is also a thin line that keeps people from acting on their base emotions when scared, embarrassed, or even used by their leaders. These lines are both arbitrary as both get crossed all the time, sometimes with deadly results. The Kármán Line written by Dennis Hopeless, illustrated by Piotr Kowalski and colored by Brad Simpson is a graphic novel about space, surveillance, the end of the world, social media approval and how quickly trained scientific minds can descend to barbarism.

Earth is dying and a plan is made by the space agency of various countries to send a mission to Mars to help save the planet. The public and the most world governments aren't keen to waste money on this. In desperation the project brings in a social media influencer who makes a reality show out of the process of training the astronauts, showing all their mistakes, temper tantrums and romantic trysts in an attempt to make the mission popular. Once in space the reality show aspect continues, until the day a message is received by each astronaut telling them the world is at war and to abort the mission. And reality goes from Big Brother to Survivor quickly.

A short graphic novel with a lot of ideas, but not enough pages to tell them. The big story doesn't seem to get a lot of time, while the second story seems so obvious I'm not sure why that became the focus of the story. The characters are really just there, none of them seem to have much of a backstory, nor an explanation for why they were going to Mars, nor how going to Mars was going to save Earth. The art is good, the technology and the backgrounds are really nice, and well rendered. The colors really look good also. There is a bit of violence, and a fair amount of sexy, so probably not really for kids.

A decent story that I think might have benefited from more pages, with very good art. For fans of Warren Ellis' Orbiter or even the series Astronauts in Trouble.

I did not like this graphic novel. This box needs me to write more in order to be submitted but I don't really have much more to say. It was nonstop sex and violence on a space station.

To rally both public support and government funding for a manned mission to Mars, NASA has opted to turn the training mission of its international team of astronauts into a live reality-TV broadcast from aboard Keyhole Station. But when things get decidedly deadly awfully quick, amidst growing protests down on Earth, the situation aboard Keyhole grows perilously out of control and the scientists soon discover they are unable to trust anyone, least of all each other.

The Kármán Line has a truly nifty premise, and I had high hopes for Dennis Hopeless's book. I first became familiar with Hopeless thanks to his stint on Marvel's All-New X-Men relaunch a few years back, and although I wasn't the least bit impressed by what I read there I thought maybe he'd bring more to the table with this creator-owned OGN.

While The Kármán Line has some really great ideas, Hopeless only just barely scratches at the surface of its potential. He's got a bigger, deeper, and much more interesting story buried in here - one that deserves a more thorough and thoughtful exploration, with its hooks involving reality TV, space funding, war, technology, fake news, and deceit, but Hopeless's scripting continuously opts for the superficial instead. By the time we start getting a grip on what's happening here, the story's over, ending on an abrupt, ham-fisted note. At only 96 pages, Hopeless just doesn't have the page space to make this story shine and it really does deserve bigger real estate to explore all of its various themes.

On the bright side, Piotr Kowalski's artwork, colored by Brad Simpson, is nice to look at and stays consistent throughout. The Kármán Line isn't a flashy book by any means, opting instead for a subdued realism with a nice bit of grit. It's not pretty enough to save the book as a whole, but the two-page spread of Keyhole Station is a beauty and does a great job of giving readers the sense of this station's size and the astronaut's workaday life within this fragile construct orbiting Earth.

Good art can only carry a graphic novel so far, though, and ultimately Hopeless's story, so heavily streamlined here, just isn't good enough to support Kowalski and Simpson's work. It feels like a first draft attempt at something far more meaningful than what's actually present and I wish more time had been spent honing and sharpening the storyline to fully deliver on its themes and messaging.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read this graphic novel early in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this so bad. I read the back copy and the cover really just sucked me in…I was a little disappointed as I guess I was expecting more to the story. The artwork is a chefs kiss, but the story just didn’t hit for me. That’s just my hot take of it. I’m sure others will disagree. I still think people should check it out for themselves.

This 90-pages Graphic Novel was too short for all the content it wanted to cover. It reads as if half of the story was cut and left me wanting more background on the characters, more introduction to the characters, more international politics, more!

The Karman Line could have been a tremendous story given it had about 100 more pages to make me interested in anything that was going on. The graphic novel has all the good ingredients to make something magnificent but it's like the chef forgot he needed to actually cook it.

The cast is presented with little to no introduction but had the potential to be incredibly interesting. The plot covers the nuances of international relations, human emotion, and social media frenzy but didn't have enough time to really make a point. The end twist feels hollow because there was no way I was able to get invested in the lives of these characters.

I'm pretty disappointed because a really awesome story exists in this somewhere, but it needed more time and attention.

The Karman Line was an interesting twist on reality tv and the culture that it has created both domestically in the US and internationally all set against a science fiction backdrop. In this near future world facing an imminent environmental collapse and social unrest, key global super powers launch a joint mission to repair an orbiting launch station that they hope will bring humanity to a point where we could relocate to a Mars colony. The problem is, the global population is NOT having trillions of dollars of spending when people are dying due to lack of water, food, and health care. The answer, turn these astronauts into reality tv stars. It works, until it doesn't. It was a fascinating look reality tv in the digital age and the unique problems that technology can and will play in the coming year.s

Let me just start by saying the art and illustrations are fantastic and done so well and the cover really drew me in. I found the characters not very likeable or interesting and thought it was difficult sometimes to differentiate between some of the characters, but this could also have been due to the speed of the novel as none of the characters really got the chance to develop. The plot and concept on paper sounds really interesting (a few parts made my jaw drop!) and I feel that maybe with a longer graphic novel, this could've been explored more as I feel that the ending was too abrupt and we missed out on a lot of parts that would've really helped with the story.

Astronauts go on a PR stunt to raise awareness/support for a Mars mission, then things go awry. Uh... really weird story. The satirical aspect to it - about how shallow and dangerous social media is - was really obvious while the story itself went from dumb to really stupid. None of it made sense. Astronauts chosen for their looks, then a social media manager joins them for no reason, then an insane stunt done for views - NASA wouldn't do any of this. Nobody would. And, sure, satire. But it's also not that interesting or entertaining. And all in support of a mission to Mars - people just aren't that concerned, one way or the other. Didn't make sense to me in the least and wasn't that impressed with the comic overall.

Absolutely stunning cover. The artwork throughout is quite impressive. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the cover is so unique I needed to see the inside of this graphic novel. I am so glad I was approved to receive a copy. I would love this sitting on my bookshelf next to my other graphic novels.

This is about a group of real astronauts, on a space station, living in a reality television show. The drama, the sex, the lies and deceit, for all of the world to watch. The ending has a plot twist that totally came out of nowhere. I was so surprised!

I am definitely keeping my eyes out for volume two. I want to know what happens next and what is in store for this group!!

Thank you #NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for approving and sending me #TheKarmanLine by Dennis Hopeless

Very good graphic novel. The art was stunning and the story was captivating. It was a really nice discovery. I would recommend it!

The cover design was what caught my attention and interest in reading The Karman Line. The description made me a little curious, a message telling the astronauts to return home, one astronaut already dead. It sounded like a mystery. The content was definitely geared more for adults the kids or teens (definitely rated M for mature). After reading this story, it reminded me of something I'd see from Black Mirror. It was an ok ending, but not a surprising one and definitely a quick resolution to the ending. The artwork was good. Gutters were appropriate and not too large, making the layout just right. The layout I appreciated, especially because it was easy to read, even on my phone. The letter work was excellent and made for reading easy and enjoyable. I received an ARC copy through NetGalley. The honest opinions in this review are my own.

Review to come March 10th to blog/goodreads.

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

I just had to get this book. I do love a good reality show and it taking place in space? Sign me up! Sex and chaos? Sure! Plus, I loved the ominous cover and the ominous blurb.

Welcome aboard of this space station. Where scientists are doing their work. Having fun as well. Sometimes maybe a bit too much fun. Or um, sexy fun. XD Yep. These are all scientists/astronauts but hot dang one pair of them loves to just be together. I really loved this couple... though when we find out more... I wasn't a fan. I just wanted to yeet these two into space. XD Sorry guys, I have a low tolerance for that bullshit. But what if everything goes from hunkydory to pure chaos. Systems crashing. Strange message appearing on comms. War and threats? Things get dark very quick as everyone tries to survive and get the fuck out. It was a beautiful display of how humans work. And there are some secrets about to be revealed. Oh yes. Who will survive? Well, I won't tell you, you will just have to read. But I was definitely invested in seeing who would get out. Plus, I love that the cameras were just rolling all the time. Be careful what you do or say in your survival mode, teehee.

I loved that we didn't just get to see the now and all the things that go wrong, but also saw the before. How people weren't happy with the scientists. How the Earth is falling apart. A bombing. And how the reality show made things safer and better.

While I had expected more deaths, yes, I know I am gruesome at times. The deaths that DID happen? Well done. Especially that one that happened in the later half. HOT DANG, that is no way anyone would want to go. It was so sudden. I was just gasping.

Given the ending and how inconclusive things felt, like this was just a set-up to something bigger, I hope that there is more coming. *crosses fingers* I would definitely be up for more reality show or just this group of scientist along with new ones travel to Mars.

And then there is the art! DANG. I loved it! So many details. So pretty. Very realistic style which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, but in this one it was just perfect.

All in all, despite some small things, I did enjoy this one, the art was great, it had an interesting story, that one death holy nope. I am happy I had the chance to read it!

Someone on a comics-y group I'm in was asking the other day, what happened to Dennis Hopeless? I could fill them in on bits of it – he'd had a so-so Image space series co-written with Jason Aaron, and also he was trying to drop the nickname – understandable, given what it is – and go back to Dennis Hallum. Plus, I had this, his forthcoming SF graphic novel, from Netgalley. Having now read which, it looks like he's abandoned the attempt to make Hallum happen – presumably a combination of not wanting to lose name recognition, and realising that he's lucked into the most zeitgeisty alias conceivable for the 2020s. And this is a near future story, in which Earth is doomed and only a Mars mission offers any chance of saving anyone, but humanity, demonstrating the same shortsightedness which resulted in Earth being doomed in the first place, is massively against the space programme. All of which is a good start (for a science fiction story, you understand – it's a terrible start for any chance of a future, which is unfortunate, really, isn't it). I particularly liked the scene where the bigwigs are plotting behind closed doors, as bigwigs do, and one of them does the standard bit of saying they can't let the news get out that Earth is finished, only for another to point out that anyone who's been paying the least bit of attention already knows this.

So how do they get the public to back the mission? Simple. They turn it into reality TV. This isn't in itself a bad idea, but the problem is that whenever other media try to do stories about reality TV, they almost always end up as trite as reality TV, and this is no exception. When the multinational crew each get messages from home that Earth is now at war and they must return home immediately, there can't be many readers who won't guess the twist that's coming. Which needn't have been a problem in itself, but the problem is that the book's odd 90ish-page size means it has to play that out in detail, without really having the space to turn it properly character-focused. Half again as long, a more usual graphic novel length, and the breathing room might have given me more investment in the cast; equally, if you'd wanted to play out the bare bones of the idea at speed, it could have been effective as a shorter story – structurally, this is perfect Future Shocks material. Granted, that would probably have meant losing what I'm trying not to call a splash page of rimming, and in general Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson do a solid job with both sex and space, which between them make up a large chunk of the book. But in terms of the script, I'm left thinking of some of the great jobs the writer has previously done with unpromising material (maternity Spider-Woman, or teen Marvel heroes doing Battle Royale), and asking, what happened to Dennis Hopeless?

Title: The Kármán Line
Creator: Dennis Hopeless
Published: 2023

I’d like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Overall, the comic book is decent and I enjoyed reading through it. The artwork was decent and the characters were okay.

The earth is dying. Five astronauts are working in space for a potential Mars colonization program. All of the astronauts are specialists in a different field. In addition to the usual space occupations, there is also a social media influencer. She was sent up there to ensure that the ratings are kept up and that the mission is funded by the viewers. However, when the five astronauts each receive a variation of the order “RETURN TO EARTH”, chaos ensues and each person tries to make it back. Meanwhile, the camera continue to broadcast.

Mostly, I interpreted the comic as a social media critique. After all, the astronauts each receive a slightly different message and interpret it differently. In a way, it’s a commentary on social media, where each of us is separated from another by the news or ‘news’ that we consume. Since the news often reports on events happening far away from us, we have to trust that the news is accurate and reliable. What if the news is faked? What if the person sharing the message was more concerned with commercial issues than with reliability? Social media, as a mobilization tool, has the power to create and to destroy. The comic did get me thinking about these issues and the fact that it provided a bit of social commentary elevates it to a higher status than comic books that merely provide entertainment.

This was a great graphic novel, it had what I was hoping for from the description. It had a great art style and I was on the edge of my seat from the first chapter. The characters were interesting and I'm glad I read this.

Wow!
The Kármán Line is a quick read, but such a strong one.
As soon as you meet the characters, you're in, and there is tension from beginning to end.
The art style is perfectly suited for the story, technical enough for the sci-fi and superbly vibrant to bring dynamic imagery to the drama.

I highly recommend!


Note that the book is rated M for Mature.

Thank you NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the ARC!