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October 15, 2008
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 | Scary Godmother: Wild about Harry by Jill Thompson | Reviewed by Amy Harlib |  | Publisher: Sirius Entertainment, Inc.
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ISBN: 1579890466
Genre: Fiction
Subgenre: Comics/Graphics
Release date: Sep 2001
Format: trade paperback
Pages: 72
Price: $9.95 | Jill Thompson, a renowned illustrator whose artistry graced memorable issues of Wonderwoman, The Sandman, and The Invisibles comic books, garners most of her well-deserved popularity and recognition from her solo creation: the family-friendly "Scary Godmother" series, the bulk of which gets published in expensive full-color hardcovers. Scary Godmother: Wild About Harry comes in an affordable 8" X 10" trade paperback format with black and white artwork.
This volume, an excellent introduction to those unfamiliar with the Scary Godmother stories and a splendid additon to the canon for afficianados, collects a three-part mini-series that forms a delightful graphic novel. It centers on Harry, one of the more outrageous and fun characters that inhabit Thompson's invented parallel universe, The Fright Side, a warped and wacky place that selected denizens from our consensus reality can occassionally visit and where Halloween gets eternally celebrated .
The plot in question begins when, their card game interrupted for the umpteenth time, Irene, the resident gypsy-like Fortune Teller, responding to the urging of her spooky friends, the witchy Scary Godmother; Skully Pettibone the Skeleton; and Madame Zazie, the Black Widow Spider, at long last expels her lazy, demanding, and unappreciative son, the eponymous Harry, a werewolf, from her caravan-style house. Typical of selfish personalities, Harry blames everything on his mother, heedless of the fact that by trying to spite her, he only compounds his difficulties, and unaware that his thoughtlessness could actually hurt others.
Harry tries free-loading off Max the Vampire and his undead family: his wife Ruby and their son Orson, at their abode, Belfry Castle. When that proves disastrous, Harry begs sanctuary from Scary Godmother and her housemate, Bug-a-Boo, a hairy, rotund, multi-horned, many-eyed entity that would be right at home in Monsters, Inc. and of a very friendly disposition despite his outre appearance. Even their tolerant hospitality gets strained to the limits by Harry's antics, so that he eventually winds up roaming through the "haunted" woods where our protagonist literally stumbles into getting himself a surprising job that gains him recognition and fame for simply doing what comes naturally.
The story abounds with visual treats and puns, often subtle and hidden to be revealed after repeated, enriching readings. Some of the best of the gags include Harry's shirt decorated with fluffy lambs (also adorning the borders of the book's cover), making the protagonist a wolf in sheep's clothing (!); the Ackerman Forest (a very esoteric joke for Sci Fi cognoscenti); the name of the Vampire family's castle; and the way certain appliances get called "skelevision sets", etc. Though a lot of the humor will go right over the heads of children and will be appreciated by adults only, the zany action will more than adequately please youngsters.
Thompson also heightens the reader's involvement in her tales by directly addressing her audience when her characters share quite doable recipes that add to the fun, inviting us into the Fright Side with those little moments and through Scary's earthly friend, a pre-adolescent girl named Hannah, who puts in a significant appearance in this book.
Harry represents all the appetites and desires and self-indulgences we regular folks suppress to get along and to be polite.
Wild About Harry offers so much fun with its witty, wonderful artwork, wacky story, lovably creepy characters, clever concepts, and thoughtful ideas that it is no wonder so many people are wild about the Scary Godmother series. Check out this opus and be pleasantly astonished! | | |
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