Web Behrens

Recipe for a new Halloween classic: Take one talented artist; heaps of love for entertaining kids of all ages; and unlimited excitement for pumpkins, monsters and witches. Mix in a heaping dose of disappointment in existing Halloween fare. Zap with a bolt of otherworldly inspiration, and finally -- just for kicks -- season to taste with eye of newt.

Now intone the appropriate incantation...

What should magically bubble up from the roiling cauldron of the mind? If you're writer-illustrator Jill Thompson, it's the Scary Godmother and her fellow creatures of the night, stars of a fledgling series of sometimes silly, sometimes spooky, always fulfilling books destined for pop-culture immortality.

More whimsical than frightful, the four "Scary Godmother" hardcovers, annual October treats since 1997, chronicle the adventures of the titular witch -- who bears a striking resemblance to her author, complete with the red curls, long nose and prominent chin. The cast of characters includes Godmother's pals from her Halloween homeland known as The Fright Side, pals like Skully Pettibone, a singing skeleton; Harry, a lovable, lazy werewolf; and the creepy monster who lives under your bed (although he sometimes hides in the basement), known to his pals as Bug-A-Boo. The perfect subjects for an animated series (and yes, a pilot has been written), but for now they're confined to Thompson's beautifully painted pages.

A look through those pages reveals the passion of a artist living her dream. Although October always heralded her favorite holiday, the 33-year-old Andersonville resident hasn't always been the Queen of Halloween. For fourteen years, she's worked primarily as a comic-book illustrator, including stints with monthly titles ranging from DC Comics' iconic "Wonder Woman" to their genre-expanding "Sandman and The Invisibles." Despite enjoying those prestigious assignments, with the "Scary Godmother" books, she's got the pleasure of channeling her personal visions onto paper.

The inspiration for this new life in her career came, poetically enough, courtesy of a baby -- her first niece, Hannah Marie. Thompson couldn't wait to share her enthusiasm for her favorite holiday.,"I was like, 'Oh boy! A kid we can do Halloween stuff with! I can't wait! I'm going to buy her books and help her mom make costumes for her, '" she remembers. "And I went to the bookstore, and ptuh! Garbage in there!" She grimaces. "Nothin' but teddy bears with rosy-red cheeks wearing a witch hat."

No mere complainer, Thompson resolved to craft her own book. "Once I said the words Scary Godmother" -- her face lights up -- "well, the name was so perfect! It's your fairy godmother, but for Halloween."

Thompson's muse began working overtime: "I'd ride my bike all over the place, having brainstorm after brainstorm." (Hear Miss Gulch's theme music in the background? The bicycle-loving Thompson shares Margaret Hamilton's "same classic [facial] features"; a busload of schoolkids once sang those unmistakable notes at her as she pedaled down the street.) "I realized: 'This is important, because I can't stop thinking about it!' I'd started to produce a sewn-together, hand-made book for Hannah, and I said: 'What am I doing? I've got a really good idea for a book. I should try to get this published.'"

So, as she toiled with joy over watercolors in her studio, fashioning a painted hybrid of comic book and storybook, Thompson shopped around for a publisher, ultimately choosing a small press, Sirius Entertainment. They couldn't offer the marketing advantages of the big dogs, but they gave her a green light right away and happily let her retain artistic control. With all broomsticks in place, Thompson flew the project to completion in time for Halloween 1997.

"It's fun to be scared; it's not fun to be terrified," asserts Thompson, who recalls as a child being scared -- and enjoying it -- by "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." So she's invented creatures who love to frighten folks -- after all, that's their job -- but who are also good at heart. Perfect case in point: The dreaded but never dreadful Bug-A-Boo. The most fearsome-looking thing in all the Fright Side, all eyes and teeth and claws, he's also the sweetest of them all. "I know the monsters under Stephen King's and Clive Barker's beds are really spooky; they'll suck the flesh off your bones," she says. "But I wanted Bug-A-Boo to be fun-scary."

That's the name of the game in each book: a mix of fun with Halloween drama. Her newest volume -- "Scary Godmother: The Boo Flu," which finds Halloween in jeopardy when the Godmother takes ill -- is her favorite so far. "It's the most storybook-like of all my books," she says. "The entire book rhymes, including the dialogue in the word balloons," a new evolution in the series designed to make it extra fun to read aloud.

Four books into her dream project, Thompson's got no regrets. Although going with a small publisher made breaking into bookstores harder at first -- for a time, the best place to find her work was in comic shops -- you can now also obtain "Scary" through most bookstores. "It's all happening the way I want it to," starting out small and growing organically, she says. And she's hopeful: "I would love to have my creation associated with the holiday, a tradition that everyone looks forward to, like 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!'"

Jill Thompson will be at Barbara's Bookstore Halloween Spookfest Saturday, Oct 28, 2pm, at 1100 Lake, Oak Park, (708)848-9140. Her new book, "Scary Godmother: The Boo Flu," is also available by ordering direct from Cosmic Therapy, (973)328-6606. (2000-10-19)

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