Glitterbomb, Vol. 1: Red Carpet

When washed-up actress Farrah Durante wanders into the ocean in a fit of despair, she’s infected with a tentacled parasite that soon becomes the vehicle for her vengeance against Hollywood and its denizens. Despite—or possibly because of—the ludicrous premise, this graphic novel is immensely entertaining, a bloody romp through Tinseltown. Writer Zub (Wayward) is particularly adept at making Farrah feel like a real person with relatable problems. She’s a struggling single mother who can no longer find work, and these real-world conflicts are more engrossing than her infestation. Farrah is strangely blasé about her condition. For a woman who frets so much about not being able to pay her son’s babysitter, she’s awfully casual about the fact that tendrils occasionally emerge from her mouth and murder those around her. Newcomer Morissette-Phan’s art is exceptional, taking potentially static scenes of people talking at parties or in meetings and restaurants and making each character clearly distinguishable. He does a great job of propelling the story along. (Mar.)