Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Battle For Pumpkin King

The Battle for Pumpkin King #1-5

by Dan Conner, Deborah Allo (Illustrator)

How did Jack Skellington become the Pumpkin King?

Explore Jack and Oogie Boogie’s early days in Halloween Town and learn how their inseparable friendship turns sour as they battle to become the next Pumpkin King. Discover the mastermind who’s pulling the strings, and relive the fantastic world of The Nightmare Before Christmas in this all-new manga adaptation!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Manga, Comics, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Halloween

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Dan Conner is known around the world for creating comics which appeal to audiences of all ages! Five of his graphic novels, including Graphic Horror: Dracula (which was published in North America by Abdo Publishing and in Europe and Australia by Hachette Books), appear on the Accelerated Reader book list. Lamp Post Inc. and Antarctic Press have published the majority of his independent comics, including Heaven Forbid, Maiden Voyage, Pirates vs. Ninjas, and My Gal, the Zombie! Museums where he has been a guest artist include the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, the Cartoon Art Museum, and the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave. Many art galleries have displayed his work, including Denver Colorado’s 11th Ave Gallery, where he is an assistant curator. He has also done artwork for Mile High Comics, Five Iron Frenzy, HairBall8 Records, Gateway Magazine, Scum of the Earth, Rise Above Ministries, Our Corpse Destroyed, and more. As an editor, Dan has worked on many other comic properties, including Parable, Pakkins’ Land, and the Angels and Airwaves Love Graphic Novel. You can read over 550 pages of Heaven Forbid and learn more about him at www.crazygoodcomics.com!

Reviews

[Henk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming Halloween story, about how Jack Skelington became Pumpkin King. Underlying messages in respect to the danger of erosion of institutions and the importance of a peaceful transfer of power are very relevant
He’s not going to play fair, so why should we!?!

Edgar the Pumpkin King is unwillingly retiring and agrees to a competitive election of his successor. Oogie Boogie and Jack Skelington turn from friends to competitors and fair play is left behind soon. While reading this beautifully illustrated graphic novel I thought about the real world often, there is definitely a presidential candidate that would also respond with They all were against me - they cheated me! to defeat. Even the dictatorship of the majority comes back in a sense, and how power could make anything right.
Anyway, a good read for Halloween, with allusions to the real life scaries for the adults! 🎃👻

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We need Halloween town to be truly filled with terror!"
♥♥

Really cute and a lot of fun. We now know why Oogie is the way he is and we love him even more.

[Chicken Rooster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book 📕 it was five because it was really cute 🥰

[Francis Dominic · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE PREQUEL LORE IS CRAAAAAAAAAAZZZYYYYYYY!!!! What!!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t know Jack and OOGIE were besties?!?!?! And they fell out because OOGIE DECIDED TO CHEAT AT HIS GAMES AND THEY’RE MAD THAT THEY’RE NOT VOTED BY THE CITIZENS OF HALLOWEEN TOWN! That was CRAZY!!!

[Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realize this is for an audience much younger than myself, but I strongly believe the writing could have been better, tighter, a little more interesting. The story is fine - an origin tale for Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie. It’s a bit preachy though and the dialogue is just boring, in my opinion. The art is neat though, and I did enjoy the way the story was wrapped up. I think the graphic novel will work great for younger kids.

[Alex(Books-In-A-Storm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this one. It was cute and scary all at once. It was a great prequel story to the nightmare before Christmas.

[robynluckystars · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t think a 36 year old is the target audience for this 😂🙈

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Oh, Oogie Boogie is fine! With him and Jack, this will be a worthy competition to find the new Pumpkin King!"

[Hadas · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book!

[Kendra FairyKind · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and recommend it to all those who enjoyed the film. The pictures were beautifully drawn!
The story was funny and interesting. 🎃

[Rav.ingbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little prequel

[Elizabeth todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

very cute!!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! Graphics are amazing!!

[Gabs Briseño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Increíble precuela de la historia principal… amé que mantuvieran una congruencia en las relaciones entre Bogie y los niños y la intervención que tuvo el rey calabaza en los diferentes retos. Creo que esta historia pudo profundizarse aún más para que el lector pudiera desarrollar un mayor sentimiento a la relación de Jack & Bogie.
Excelente historieta, conseguiré las demás.

[Nikki | graciouslybooked · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing! The illustrations are so beautiful. They are vivid, bright and detailed. The story is very good. It’s a great origin story of Oogie Boogie and a great prequel to NBC. I really enjoyed it!

[Newt Ton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very good. 👍🏼
My favourite part was the last challenge.
Highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed the film. 🎥

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super cute graphic novel explaining how Oggie Boogie and Jack Skellington used to be the best of friends. When the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town decides to retire. A competition is set to select the new king. Jack and Oggie are both nominated and from then on the competition changed their friendship. Love this backstory!

[Luna MoonBear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, it’s nice to see how the characters have developed into the ones we recognise in the film. The art work is amazing too.

[Han☕️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute and I loved the illustrations! This is one of my favourite films so it was a really fun read. My only criticism was that the ending felt a little sudden and Edgar just gave up a bit? Like “oh okay well never mind”. Otherwise I really enjoyed it!

[Dr CG · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this little back story of how Jack became the Pumpkin King. The illustrations in this graphic novel were also beautiful. A part of me still feels sad for Oogie Boogie and tries to psychoanalyze him :)

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kiddo and I enjoyed this together

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is adorable (toddler Lock, Shock, and Barrel!!!!) but the more you think about younger versions of these characters, the less sense they make.

[Robert Pierson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is about a 2 1/2 starfor me the artwork is nice and it shows the characters when they were younger and how Jack became the skeleton king though I found the story to be just kind of Mediocre I know it’s for all ages though for the nightmare before Christmas they could’ve done something a bit more spooky are more creative this just fell in a lot of ways really just rushed if you’re a fan of the nightmare before Christmas you may like it for a minute but this just felt very forced and rushed at the end

[Taylor Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A graphic novel telling the story of Jack and Oogie’s relationship?! Sign me up!

My husband got me this book for my birthday, and I absolutely loved it. The illustrations are gorgeous and on par with the style of the movie. The story was great as well.

[Vail Chester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little story of What If the main hero and main villain of Nightmare Before Christmas were friends before an event that split them.
As is usually the case, one let his ambition and desire to be on top turn the friendly rivalry into pure animosity, while the other can just watch as his friend slips farther & farther into the dark side.
What makes this bearable beyond the simple premise is the aged-down looks of most of the cast (bold move to turn the trick-or-treat trio into essentially the Con-baby squad from Raya and the Last Dragon), as well as the presence of the previous Pumpkin King (Edgar...Allen Poe?) as a more nefarious schemer. However, none of them are really fleshed out and as usual, Jack Skellington's just a good ol' boy and Oogie Boogie's a (literal) bag of nastiness.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute prequel to the movie. Shows how Oogie and Jack became enemies but it made me sad that they used to be best friends and are now enemies.

[morgan ☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was very cute. I think there are others, and I'm definitely going to be looking into what my library has. It's a fun way to spend more time with the characters.

[Freja Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baby lock, shock and barrel 🥹🥹🥹

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.