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Scary Godmother
Scary Godmother Compendium: This Was Your Childhood
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! Just in time for Halloween, this compendium includes all of your favorite stories and brand-new adventures at the Scary Godmother's house!
“This book deserves a prime place in every graphic novel collection.“ - Booklist (starred review)
“This book deserves a prime place in every graphic novel collection.“ - Booklist (starred review)
- GenresGraphic NovelsComics
552 pages, Paperback
Published November 5, 2024
11 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Jill Thompson
310 books258 followersJill Thompson is an American comic book writer and illustrator. Probably best known for her work on Neil Gaiman's Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has also worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman and more recently, Beasts of Burden.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 12, 2025
4.5
Very cute and spooky!
Very cute and spooky!
December 19, 2024
What a charm- and value-packed compendium of virtually all the Scary Godmother material published to date!
I knew of Jill Thompson from her work on Neil Gaiman's Death and Endless properties for DC Comics, but hadn't realized the extent of her oeuvre otherwise. In particular, I had no idea that her own original creation, Scary Godmother, had been made into a TV movie series! This compendium swiftly brought me up to speed, and provided hours of delight to someone who hadn't been aware of how rich Ms Thompson's body of work is before I started reading this hefty volume.
And there is a lot here, from the stories that inspired the movies, to multi-issue arcs, to short comics written both before and after that television heyday. Sprinkled throughout are recipes for kid-friendly Treats, and towards the end are bonus art and text, including a full-on slate of fun Halloween-themed activities for kids of all ages.
The stories themselves revolve around young Hannah Marie, who starts out in these pages as a little girl who's just gotten old enough to go trick or treating with the big kids, including her selfish cousin Jimmy. While his friends help her keep up with them, Jimmy feels that her shorter legs and earlier curfew are preventing them from getting as much candy as he'd prefer. He thus decides to prank her by having her go into a haunted house alone, in hopes that it will cause her to go home early so that he and the rest of his friends can go trick or treating without her. Little does he know, however, that Hannah has a Scary Godmother who helps her see that the things that go bump in the night are a whole lot less frightful than a bunch of mean kids. Perhaps even more satisfyingly, Scary Godmother is ready to help Hannah turn the tables on said mean kids, and help everyone learn the true meaning of Halloween.
The stories continue over the years as Hannah and Scary Godmother get into a series of adventures and scrapes, accompanied by a delightful supporting cast. The character designs are brilliant, especially with the vampires. Some of the black and white stories get a little more difficult to read as the linework gets more crowded but the storytelling is overall very solid, and the color stories are just phenomenal. Ms Thompson is an amazing painter and artist, and it's a delight to see so much of her work in one place.
As an older comics aficionado, I was also incredibly impressed by the section she had teaching readers how to create their own comics. One of my pet peeves in comics reading is poorly directed flow, which is fortunately not a flaw evident in Ms Thompson's work. Her helpful how-to demonstrates best storytelling practices that neatly sidestep this pitfall, in one compact chapter that feels like it should be required reading for all comics artists, aspiring or established.
This 500+ page tome is a really great treat for people whose favorite holiday is Halloween, or for anyone with a goth streak and an appreciation for a good comic book. I'm a little surprised that it didn't come out before this year's Halloween festivities, but that just means that I can feel less guilty about finally getting around to reviewing it with Christmas just around the corner.
Scary Godmother Compendium: This Was Your Childhood by Jill Thompson was published November 4 2024 by Image Comics and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!
This review originally appeared at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
I knew of Jill Thompson from her work on Neil Gaiman's Death and Endless properties for DC Comics, but hadn't realized the extent of her oeuvre otherwise. In particular, I had no idea that her own original creation, Scary Godmother, had been made into a TV movie series! This compendium swiftly brought me up to speed, and provided hours of delight to someone who hadn't been aware of how rich Ms Thompson's body of work is before I started reading this hefty volume.
And there is a lot here, from the stories that inspired the movies, to multi-issue arcs, to short comics written both before and after that television heyday. Sprinkled throughout are recipes for kid-friendly Treats, and towards the end are bonus art and text, including a full-on slate of fun Halloween-themed activities for kids of all ages.
The stories themselves revolve around young Hannah Marie, who starts out in these pages as a little girl who's just gotten old enough to go trick or treating with the big kids, including her selfish cousin Jimmy. While his friends help her keep up with them, Jimmy feels that her shorter legs and earlier curfew are preventing them from getting as much candy as he'd prefer. He thus decides to prank her by having her go into a haunted house alone, in hopes that it will cause her to go home early so that he and the rest of his friends can go trick or treating without her. Little does he know, however, that Hannah has a Scary Godmother who helps her see that the things that go bump in the night are a whole lot less frightful than a bunch of mean kids. Perhaps even more satisfyingly, Scary Godmother is ready to help Hannah turn the tables on said mean kids, and help everyone learn the true meaning of Halloween.
The stories continue over the years as Hannah and Scary Godmother get into a series of adventures and scrapes, accompanied by a delightful supporting cast. The character designs are brilliant, especially with the vampires. Some of the black and white stories get a little more difficult to read as the linework gets more crowded but the storytelling is overall very solid, and the color stories are just phenomenal. Ms Thompson is an amazing painter and artist, and it's a delight to see so much of her work in one place.
As an older comics aficionado, I was also incredibly impressed by the section she had teaching readers how to create their own comics. One of my pet peeves in comics reading is poorly directed flow, which is fortunately not a flaw evident in Ms Thompson's work. Her helpful how-to demonstrates best storytelling practices that neatly sidestep this pitfall, in one compact chapter that feels like it should be required reading for all comics artists, aspiring or established.
This 500+ page tome is a really great treat for people whose favorite holiday is Halloween, or for anyone with a goth streak and an appreciation for a good comic book. I'm a little surprised that it didn't come out before this year's Halloween festivities, but that just means that I can feel less guilty about finally getting around to reviewing it with Christmas just around the corner.
Scary Godmother Compendium: This Was Your Childhood by Jill Thompson was published November 4 2024 by Image Comics and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!
This review originally appeared at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
December 27, 2025
This thick tome collected and put out by Image comics was a bit awkward to sit with and read(physically) as the dimensions are more like what you'd get out of a hard back coffee table type book, ultra thick, and paperbacked. The paperback cover is slightly too thin making it so you have to keep it on a hard flat surface or you'll damage the covers and spine! So for anyone looking for something to take to their reading chair or nook-take proper consideration of this first.
For any scary godmother lover though, this is THE book to own! It has every children's book, comic, and in behind the scene commentary juice you need. The comics give you back stories for all the characters and turns the beloved animated movies for kids into a whole new experience for adults as well. The comics are NOT made with just little kids in mind. They aren't super adult to the point of worry either, though, having this around any kids. The stories actually are serious. Was highly surprised and absolutely did not regret asking for it as a gift this year. If you are thinking of getting it for yourself or someone else that loves this character, or loves Halloween, it is worth the $4o. Just might want to have a lap desk or table to support its weight and size while reading it!
For any scary godmother lover though, this is THE book to own! It has every children's book, comic, and in behind the scene commentary juice you need. The comics give you back stories for all the characters and turns the beloved animated movies for kids into a whole new experience for adults as well. The comics are NOT made with just little kids in mind. They aren't super adult to the point of worry either, though, having this around any kids. The stories actually are serious. Was highly surprised and absolutely did not regret asking for it as a gift this year. If you are thinking of getting it for yourself or someone else that loves this character, or loves Halloween, it is worth the $4o. Just might want to have a lap desk or table to support its weight and size while reading it!
February 6, 2025
The ratings on this are so high because the only people reading a 500+ page Scary Godmother compendium are the people who love every bit of Thompson's whimsical and enchanting Halloween world. Gorgeous art as ever and finally, finally, all the stories in one place. No more scans on shady comic sites and chance encounters at used book stores! And yes, I do feel like Harry the Werewolf writing this review.
April 20, 2025
I'm a little embarrassed to say that I'd never heard of the Scary Godmother series until I stumbled on this compendium during my latest book store visit. I was completely captivated by the style of the book, with illustrations that do as much talking as the writing. After one page, I couldn't just leave without it. A stunning graphic novel and an enjoyable series make it a huge plus on any bookshelf.
November 18, 2024
Grew up loving the TV movies, discovered the comics in college. I own the old omnibus on Nook (the only option available when I looked for it), so I was so thrilled that this compendium was coming out. Loved rereading my favorite stories, and looking at some of the new stuff too. This is probably my favorite comic franchise, hands down.
October 31, 2025
Randomly coming across this on a “must watch” Halloween list was the greatest thing ever.
I remember watching these when I was younger on YTV. The illustrations are so good but I’m upset I didn’t find this sooner! Now I gotta rewatch the TV specials.
I remember watching these when I was younger on YTV. The illustrations are so good but I’m upset I didn’t find this sooner! Now I gotta rewatch the TV specials.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews