REVIEW: Dying the Carpet Red with ‘Glitterbomb Vol. 1: Red Carpet’

Have you ever heard about the word – Glitterbomb? If you go on a search engine and look it up, you’ll see that it is a form of either revenge or a protest, where one sends or shower a person with glitters. It is a form of fighting for what is right, but also about getting even on people who have wronged you before. Though the title might mislead people, thinking it’s a bit of a girly comics like I did when I was offered to review it before reading the synopsis and seeing the cover (I mean it’s glitter right?), it actually fits the comics’ Hollywood Horror theme perfectly.

GLITTERBOMB VOL. 1 RED CARPET is about Farrah Durante, a middle aged actress who is struggling in Hollywood. After not getting the role she auditioned for, an attempt to kill herself turned her into something more. An unknown creature ‘possess’ Farrah and deforms her upper body whenever it manifests on her, killing whoever was Farrah’s problem at the time. It’s a typical Sci-fi parasite kind of horror comics, but what makes it more interesting is how Hollywood is painted in it. Farrah doesn’t just kill anyone in her way; Farrah kills people that have wronged her, one way or another.

Farrah was once a young rising star, but because of one of the main actors in the show she was in harassed her and forced her to quit the show, she was pretty much ruined. She was constantly rejected from roles for years. Now that she was a middle aged single mom, having once again be rejected for a role and talking to a young actress that reminded her of herself when she was young, Farrah decided to drown herself in the ocean. But a creature of sort had invaded her body. Now a host to the creature, anyone who treated Farrah unfairly in the creature’s point of view gets killed. First the hobo who tried stealing her car, and then the manager who fired her from the agency and insulted her. Though investigated by Detective Isaac Rahal, they could not prove anything that connects Farrah to the murder.

We then get introduced to a few more characters, the baby sitter Kaydon Klay who also wants to be an actress, a far more successful actor Dean Slotkin, Farrah’s son Martin and Cliff, the reason for Farrah’s downfall. Flash backs would then show here and then would show how Cliff harassed Farrah and was forced to quit after he had ruined her. The comics shows how the creature would take over Farrah’s body and manipulate everyone around her. Eventually killing those who corrupt the Hollywood scenes in a huge event for everyone to see, infecting other struggling and ruined actors.

Though gory and very much disturbing, the comics pains a clear picture on how some of the things work behind camera. Nothing is ever picture perfect the way they are presented on the big screen, there will always be those dirty secrets everyone tries to hide to protect themselves and it causes those who are not that influential to be used as a scapegoat. Titling the comics as Glitterbomb made perfect sense as it was a revenge from someone they didn’t know could cause huge harm. They all belittled and think little of Farrah, threw her out to save themselves, which eventually became their downfall. Much like how glitterbomb works. Glitters seem harmless for arts and crafts but could be dangerous if you were glitterbombed, a single tiny glitter can cause blindness or infection.

In a way, this comics is also a protest for the dark side of the entertainment industry. Reaching the last pages of the book, we would see essays from a Hollywood producer about what really happens off camera. It is very eye opening to those who have no idea how entertainment industry works. It doesn’t matter how good you are at what you do, when someone with more power butt heads with you, you’ll be the one who’ll lose everything in the end. Much like how Farrah lost everything when Cliff ruined her. The whole comic is a gorgeous gory metaphor on how a lot of actors goes into depression after being removed from the lime light. The creature that Farrah hosts, is in a way the monsters inside of them that eats them alive. A line from where Farrah confronts Cliff somehow connects that when the creature said that Cliff left hollowness inside Farrah that he had managed to nest in.

Jim Zub’s writing was really good as it captured how Hollywood really is but still incorporated the Sci-fi aspect really well. As someone who wasn’t a fan of sci-fi and gore, I could not stop reading it. It will literally hook you on what would happen next. The reality that the entertainment industry feeds on other people’s insecurities, fears, dreams and goals, to give that kind of monster a ‘physical’ presence in the form of the creature that possesses Farrah it gives us a more perspective how damaging the industry is to a lot of people.

Djibril Morissette-Phan’s art and K. Michael Russell’s colors gave more life to the story. Like with most Horror comics, the art and colors are toned down to a darker shade, to give us more of a realistic ambiance but also feel that everything should be taken seriously. Paneling is quite easy to read so you’ll really enjoy your time reading it. It’s clean and quite detailed. Sometimes, too detailed for my liking but other people would probably like the gory details. The cover arts are also eye catching and intriguing. You can’t help but think that perhaps they too have a deeper meaning along with the story.

Over all, for a first time reader of this genre, Glitterbomb Vol. 1: Red Carpet was a really great read. I can’t wait for the next issue to come out.

Glitterbomb Volume #1: Red Carpet arrives on March 1, 2017. Make sure to pre-order or reserve a copy now.