4 stars
In all honesty, I didn’t like this book when I first started it. I’m kind of picky about comics with black-and-white artwork. They have to be interesting enough to not make me feel like I’m just looking at a coloring book, but also clear enough that I can tell what’s going on. It took me a little bit to get into the artwork, but it really is spooktactular.
I’m not sure if I wasn’t really interested in the first story (“My Bloody Valentine”) or if I was just warming up to the characters, but by the end of the book, I was loving it. I especially liked “Ghouls Out for Summer”. I think it helped having some background on Scary Godmother to understand what was going on and the various relationships. I might go back and reread the first story to see what I think of it now that I know the characters.
By the end, I loved the characters. This book has a wonderful cast of lovable, spooky friends who help each other out and are there for each other through thick and thin.
There are a lot of fun activities from treat recipes to crafting ideas throughout the book as well. A nice way to make the comics more interactive. There is also an Activity Book at the end that includes tutorials, a crossword, coloring pages, and more fun things.
I actually hadn’t realized this was targeted to children (because I apparently can’t read the genre listed on the back). There are a lot of more adult themes (son moving out of mother’s house, working through a rough patch in a marriage, things that seem more on par with adult readers than children). I also feel like the majority of current children’s comics are in color so this one being in black-and-white might dissuade some young readers. I definitely think adults will like this book. Not so sure how popular it would be to young readers today, but perfect for those who like stories that are a bit creepy but still heartfelt and fun.