HOLLYWOOD, DEAD AHEAD

This fifth hilarious excursion to Seymour Hope’s address in Ghastly, Ill., takes the little, idiosyncratic family to Hollywood when an unscrupulous movie mogul decides to film their stories.

Young Seymour and ghost Olive can’t wait to become movie stars, while crotchety Ignatius remains cautious. Pushed into it by majority rule, Ignatius signs the lengthy contract, only to learn later that he has signed away all rights to the trio’s books, past and future, for no compensation whatsoever. When they arrive in Hollywood, everything goes wrong. Ignatius becomes consumed with his image makeover, especially his new teeth. Seymour auditions to play himself in the movie and wins the part, but Olive fumes because the movie company ignores her (she is invisible, after all). They find an ally in Ivana Oscar, the 92-year-old former star tapped to play Olive when Ivana learns that her contract demands her death in order to boost profits for the film. As always, the comedy depends on deliberately awful puns, especially in the characters’ names, such as Moe Block Busters, Hugh Briss and Phillip D. Rubbish. M. Sarah Klise’s exuberant drawings contribute half of the book’s content. Kate Klise delivers the text in the form of letters, memos and newspaper articles, with humor stuffed into every corner.  

Another winner for this inventive series.