Scary Godmother This Was Your Childhood Compendium TP, Vol. 1
Publisher’s Summary:
Revisit the iconic, best selling, award winning, spooky cool, eccentric auntie, faerie scary witch from start to finish in this deluxe compendium that also includes new SCARY GODMOTHER stories!
Get on the nostalgia bus and journey back to the Frightside to revisit your Scary Godmother and her friends Mr. Pettibone, Bug-A-Boo, Hannah, Orson, Max and Ruby the Vampires, Harry the Werewolf, and more! This compendium includes all of your favorite stories and brand-new adventures at the Scary Godmother’s house!
Published: October 23, 2024
Lunar Code: 0824IM339
ISBN: 9781534344464
Page Count: 552
Cover price: $39.99
Review:
I’ll admit that I’ve been interested in Jill Thompson’s SCARY GODMOTHER books for a long time, but I had never picked them up. In fact, I had no idea that this series was created back in 1997! I had only come across the later books back in the ’00s when I spent nearly every day organizing comics and cleaning at Comic Fusion.
The compendium opens with a story about little Hannah Marie wanting to go Trick-or-Treating with her older cousin Jimmy and his friends. This babysitting is forced upon the older kids. Jimmy is clearly an adept antagonist. He schemes to make Hannah so afraid that she’ll run home, leaving the older kids to their candy collecting at a much faster pace without her. Hannah was fortunately given a secret weapon, a flashlight given to her by her father with the instructions that the flashlight would drive away any monster.
Thompson’s colorful paintings bring Hannah’s rosy cheeks and innocence to life just as much as Jimmy’s exaggerated anger and devious expressions. The Scary Godmother herself stands out when shown in her green, purple, and black outfit with curly shock of orange hair. As gothic godmother with tiny bat wings and a tutu, though she does have other outfits, Scary Godmother also looks good in black inks on white pages.
There are important lessons for Hannah Marie, Jimmy, and some of the secondary characters too like werewolf Harry. Apparently, Harry became so popular, Thompson gave in to fans’ response and made the miniseries, Wild About Harry which is included in this massive collection.
Hannah becomes best friends with a vampire boy Orson and isn’t afraid of his parents, Count Max and Ruby. The passionate relationship of Max and Ruby might leave very children with questions about what “necking” is. Gestures and postures are easy to appreciate with Thompson’s strokes that feel absolutely free from constraints.
Besides the origin story of Hannah’s discovery of Scary Godmother, my other favorite was the miniseries, Ghouls Out for Summer. This is about the Scary Godmother’s origin story where girls are sent to either witch school or faerie godmother school. As a baby, she was left at the doorstep of Mistress Dusk (headmistress of the witches) and Madame Allbright (headmistress of fairie godmothers).
It may feel like picture books and comics (in color and black and white) about Hannah discovering her Scary Godmother and a Burtonesque realm called The Fright Side are only for October reading. Nonsense! First of all, read good stories anytime you want. Secondly, there are plenty of people who “celebrate” Halfway to Halloween, June-o-ween, or Summerween. The stories often include Treats! with one of the characters. These are either puzzles, snacks, or tutorials.
Summary:
If you’ve been a fan for a while and are looking to have a singular book containing the stories, this is a convenient paperback compendium. If you’ve never read them before, be prepared for the hefty 550+ pages. It’s listed as appropriate for 8+ years old.
Great for fans of Lemony Snicket, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Goosebumps, Bunnicula, Ghoul Scouts.
Rating: 5 stars
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Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.