Series: Glitterbomb
Writer: Jim Zub
Art: Djibril Morissette-Phan, with K. Michael Russell on Colors, and Letters by Marshall Dillon
Publisher: Image Comics
Summary from Comixology: “Farrah Durante is a middle-aged actress hunting for her next gig in an industry where youth trumps experience. Her frustrations become an emotional lure for something horrifying out beyond the water… something ready to exact revenge on the shallow celebrity-obsessed culture that’s led her astray. Fan-favorite JIM ZUB (WAYWARD, Thunderbolts) and newcomer DJIBRIL MORISSETTE-PHAN tear into the heart of Hollywood in GLITTERBOMB, a dramatic horror story about fame and failure.”
Hollywood is a bitch. And not like, “a strong, independent, successful woman who doesn’t take shit from anyone” kind of bitch. A “pretend to like you and then steal all your stuff and empty your bank account while you’re passed out from the spiked drink she served you” kind of bitch. Jim Zub apparently understands this very well because Glitterbomb #1 is an insightful and melancholy story about the unpredictable journey of fame and celebrity, with a gruesome supernatural twist that will both excite and engage you.
I found myself completely enthralled after literally the second page. It starts out simple enough. Some douchey Hollywood agent is laying into this poor woman, our protagonist, Farrah, and basically telling her, in the cruelest way possible, that he has no interest in representing her anymore and then well… this happens:
I know, right?! It’s like, what in the actual f**k?! I was hooked. How could you read something like that and just be all, “Meh. I’m good.” You can’t. I’m living proof that if you witness a woman stab a man through the skull with her tongue(?) from like 4 or 5 feet away, you HAVE to know how that plays out. From here, though, what we get is more interesting. The rest of the issue goes back and tells us how Farrah ended up here in the first place. And believe me, you’ll still be left with more burning questions than answers, but then again, so is Farrah herself.
This is the first major project for artist Djibril Morissette-Phan, and you would absolutely never know it. His style and form are so precise and professional. And, he draws a mean tentacle-faced-lady-monster. (Pick up the book and you’ll see…) The color-work that K. Michael Russell adds really pulls the whole thing together. He perfectly captures mood and emotion by just using a balance of the right color tones.
Another reason I highly recommend this issue is because in the back matter of the book there is an essay contributed by Holly Raychelle Hughes (which is technically reprinted from XOJANE.com) that just completely sums up the soul-eating beast we called “Hollywood”. It’s an excellent addition because it gives the story that Jim has crafted some real-life context. Her experience was so traumatic that it forced her to walk away from the movie business altogether, and the incident didn’t even happen IN HOLLYWOOD. Not geographically anyway. Think about that. Hollywood is such a paralytic succubus that you don’t even have to physically be in the city for it to crush you. That’s insane to me.
So all-in-all, Glitterbomb #1 is a captivating start to what’s sure to be a brutal and mysterious story. Pick up a copy at your local comic shop today, or click the Comixology link at the top of the page to get it digitally right now!
Music Pairing –
I genuinely don’t think there’s a better pairing for this comic than Lana Del Rey. Here’s a little playlist for your listening and reading pleasure.