Current Interviews & Features | Interviews & Features Archive

Scary Jill Thompson?

Upon hearing the name of Jill Thompson, you might find yourselves thinking of her popular run on Vertigo's SANDMAN: BRIEF LIVES, or her various other projects for the same company, like THE INVISIBLES, FINALS or SEEKERS: INTO THE MYSTERY. These days, Jill - a fan of all things spooky - is making her mark with a creator owned series of SCARY GODMOTHER books and comics that don't require a mature readers label to warn younger readers away from the horrors within.

Published by Sirius Entertainment, the books chronicle the adventures of Scary Godmother, as well as her various friends and neighbors who exist just left of our own universe in a place known as the Fright Side. The fully painted artwork of the books is, up until now, a rarely seen treat for fans of Thompson's work, and the wit and playfulness she displays in the comics and minis is undeniably fun. The series also marks the writing debut for Thompson and serves as a fantastic showcase of her talent and artistry.

To date, she has published four SCARY GODMOTHER hard-covers, two specials (Christmas and Valentines, respectively), an Activity Book and the three issue mini-series, "Wild About Harry." She is currently at work on another mini due out in Spring of 2001 that will be, in her own words, "fun as well as a little suspense[ful]. I'll be introducing a few new characters and revealing a little back history about many of our gang."

MIKE JOZIC: I picked up the first volume of the SCARY GODMOTHER books and I noticed you had dedicated it to Hannah. If you don't mind my asking, who is Hannah and why is the book dedicated to her?

JILL THOMPSON: Well, Hannah is my first niece. She's not my daughter, everybody thinks she's my daughter. Each book I have dedicated to some nieces. When Hannah was born I dedicated the first one to her, and named the little girl after her, because she was it. There were no other children and I figured it would be nice to do this for my niece, it would be fun. Then my sister-in-laws began issuing forth children faster than I could keep track of them. So, the second book is dedicated to my next two nieces, the third book is dedicated to my two nieces and my godson, and this fourth book, there's a good chance - if I get the e-mail photo - that it will be dedicated to four children.

I better start over again at number one because the world is getting over populated with every subsequent year. [laughs]

MJ: You've done work for DC on SANDMAN and THE INVISIBLES, you've gone the big company route, why did you choose to create and stick with SCARY GODMOTHER and your publisher, Sirius?

JT: Sirius was willing to publish SCARY GODMOTHER any way I wanted. Whatever I wanted. The other publishers didn't know what to do with SCARY GODMOTHER, or just didn't want to publish it.

I sent blanket submissions to all of the publishers that I've worked with at the same time and waited until I heard back from everybody so I could feel like I made a fair decision. But from the very first day that Rob Horan saw the first mock-up illustrations he said, "When do you want this to come out," and was willing to publish it right away. He said, "We'll publish this however you want it." I said, "Okay, but I'm going to wait to see what other people say. Is that alright?" And I decided that he was the person I should go with.

MJ: Is SCARY GODMOTHER what you see yourself doing in the foreseeable future, or even long-term? Is this your "it" project, or are you still looking for that next thing to come along?

JT: I take on other projects after I do a SCARY GODMOTHER book, or in-between SCARY GODMOTHER comics. I look at SCARY GODMOTHER as my main work and then I like to do things that are different throughout the year. I mean, I did FINALS for DC/Vertigo, I might be doing some children's book work with a friend of mine, I'm doing some NOCTURNALS with Dan Brereton and an 8 page story for BIZZARO COMICS written by Will Pfeiffer who was the guy that wrote FINALS.

So, I'm taking the work on, but most of my year is taken up with SCARY GODMOTHER.

MJ: The likeness of the Scary Godmother in relation to the artist who is rendering her is remarkable. Is there a connection there or am I reading into it too much?

JT: When I first had the idea for the Scary Godmother she looked more elfy and less witchy, but I drew her twice and suddenly she became much more a likeness of me than anything else. And I'm fine with that. I mean, I look like a witch, for gosh sakes. I've been told that since I was a little kid. I'm a classical witch.

MJ: A lot of people have commented on how Delirium of SANDMAN and Ragged Robin of THE INVISIBLES look a lot like you.

JT: Grant Morrison drew up the character sketches of The Invisibles that I got faxed, so I didn't do that. There are a lot of women running around this convention that look like me, and I look like them - long face and red, curly hair - but I never made up that character. I was just following what Grant had already drawn. And Delirium was based on Tori Amos, so I have no idea why people think it looks like me.

MJ: SCARY GODMOTHER is really beautifully done stuff. How much life do you think the character, or concept, has left in it?

JT: Oh, a lot. She has a fine ensemble cast. Those characters can get thrown into different types of situations and it's how they react to them more than how many other Scary Godmother stories there are. I see them as an ensemble cast like in ARCHIE, or BETTY & VERONICA. These are the characters, they are this way, what would happen if they went to the beach, or what would happen if so-and-so got married. That kind of situation, but they always end up back in the same beginning situation.

There are a lot of them right now. I have ideas for quite a few more. That's why I do the comic books in-between the hardcover books because there are more complex stories that I want to tell. Richer personal relationships that I don't think kids have to deal with, or they aren't really self-contained [stories]. A thread would happen here, and then be continued on later.

MJ: Are the books being distributed through bookstores, or just in the specialty shops?

JT: Yeah, two major distributors carry it that I know of right now, and I think there might be a third. It's also available on Amazon.com.

MJ: Everything's available on Amazon.com these days.

JT: I know.

MJ: But, anywhere you can get it is good.

JT: A lot of people do have online access and sometimes you go to a bookstore and you ask for something but it's not there. I used to do that. I used to go around to all the bookstores once I knew we were being carried through Ingram Distributors. I would go to all of the major bookstores and I would ask if they had it. They would say, "No, we don't,"and I would say, "Can you order it?" So, they go back and look and they're all, "Oh yes, there it is!" So, they just don't know it's in their catalogue.

I think I must have bought 50 copies of the [Scary Godmother] books by myself. And what I would do when I buy them is just give them back to the store, or I never go and pick them up.

MJ: So, are you happy with the response to the books so far?

JT: I am, and it keeps growing every year. I see people who haven't read the book before, or they've discovered the comic and then they come back to buy the book. And I see people who I get repeat business from. They've bought the book for themselves, they have little children or whatever, and now they're buying it as a gift for someone else, which I think is very nice.

MJ: Do you prefer doing the SCARY GODMOTHER stuff over all of the other work you've done for Vertigo and other companies?

JT: Well, yes I prefer the SCARY GODMOTHER stuff right now because control the universe, I make up everything. I really enjoy collaborating with people but now I feel lucky that I don't have to collaborate all the time. I can pick and choose who I collaborate with. If there's a story that I really want to do, and I have enough time to do it, I'd do it right away.

MJ: How do you feel your style has grown since those first WONDER WOMAN days?

JT: Oh gosh, it's weird. It has kind of come full circle, in a way. When I was in art school, before I started on WONDER WOMAN, there was a style of drawing that I did where you would do quick sketches and life drawings but you would only have two minutes to draw the model. I would doodle around a lot and it was much more like the SCARY GODMOTHER type of stuff. But then, depending on what kind of comic I worked on, my art style changed, I think, to suit that comic. WONDER WOMAN was a lot more rounded and smooth, SANDMAN was a little bit like that but, because of the format, it became a little bit different. SEEKERS: INTO THE MYSTERY became quite different and was almost heralding back to what SCARY GODMOTHER eventually became.

I don't aproach every project the same way and I don't plan on not drawing the same way that maybe I was drawing yesterday, but whichever story I'm working on I just start drawing and it comes out whichever way it's supposed to. Whenever I go back and do sketches of Wonder Woman I do them like I used to draw them.

MJ: Really?

JT: Yeah.

MJ: Is that a subconscious thing, you think?

JT: Sometimes if I do a really quick one it's easier to draw it kind of like Scary Godmother, but if I have the time and I sit down and draw a sketch it's really, really, classical and very rounded and shaded. I don't plan on it but that's how it happens.

MJ: Do people still ask you for Wonder Woman sketches?

JT: [Nods]

MJ: Yeah?

JT: A little Death, a little Dream.

MJ: What do you think of the plush dolls DC released of Death and Delirium?

JT: I designed them. They actually looked good. I thought they would be horrible, that they would just suck, and then I saw the pictures in the catalogue and I'm like, "I think they're wearing real clothes, they're not painted on. There are actual shoes on there." I got a closer look and Delirium has her little plush fish and different colored hair, and Death has a little ankh on there.

MJ: So at that point, you were just waiting for the comps to show up?

JT: I was afraid that I wasn't going to get any comps, but I was assured that I would get some. I just wanted a set. I wanted a set to put on the shelves above my drawing board with all of my other toys and monsters and dust-catchers.

MJ: Are there any plans to take SCARY GODMOTHER beyond comics and books?

JT: SCARY GODMOTHER has been optioned for animation. It's been optioned for CGI animation by Mainframe Entertainment...

MJ: CGI?

JT: Yeah.

MJ: Really?

JT: That's how I wanted it because I'm doing 2D. Nobody else should be doing 2D, just me.

MJ: Okay. [laughs]

JT: And I don't want a live-action movie.

MJ: It would just seem to me that the hand-drawn animation would give it a richer texture and feel more like the source material.

JT: Oh, you should see the CGI. It's really cool.

MJ: They've already done some tests?

JT: We've done some tests, I've done some sculpting. They had some maquettes which are sculptures that they scan in to help build the models.

So they've done some of that and they've been pushing it at licensing shows for products and new TV shows. We're looking for a broadcaster, that’s what we're looking for. So it's about finding money, finding studios or a cable channel that wants to buy the rights to the first broadcast. So anyway, that's what they did the test for and they've been taking that around.

What we were supposed to get was just a 3-D Scary Godmother who turns around for 360 degrees so that the people who would be interested in the show would know what the CGI would look like. What we got was full animation of Scary Godmother coming out of her house and she runs down the hill to the mailbox. She hits it with her magic wand and a little skeleton hand comes up...Oh, there's snoring in the coffin mailbox and then she opens it up, a little hand comes out with an invitation to a party that you have to bring your own Jack-O-Lantern to and she goes, "Heeheeheeheehee," and flies over to her pumpkin patch where there are already Jack-O-Lanterns that have sprouted out of the ground. She tries to pick up the most gigantic one and she can't do it - her little bat wings are fluttering, "Nnngh, I can't pick it up!" And then she whistles and these two bats come over - Slugger and Louis - and they help her lift it up. They struggle to carry it, it's still very heavy, but they're doing it. Finally, their strength gives out and they start plummetting out of the sky and you see the Jack-O-Lantern coming towards the camera and the mouth just covers the camera. The screen goes black and you hear, "Ahhhhhh!" and she falls down the screen and grabs on to one of the letters of the logo, because the logo slams shut like an iron gate, and the pumpkin bounces up into the little spider-web and looks at Scary Godmother.

MJ: And it is fully rendered?

JT: Yeah.

MJ: So, it's like a short movie then?

JT: They used voices from other shows they have. I don't know where they got the giggle from but it was very funny and it was so perfect.

I mean, I did a bunch of head sheets - character sheets - with the Scary Godmother head, different expressions, turned around, four different angles. We haven't modeled the Bugaboo or anybody else yet, but there are some sculptures of that. It costs money to do all of that stuff so they're just kind of waiting until they get some kind of go-ahead. I'll be starting writing the pilot with another writer and I come up with a lot of different products just in case.

MJ: So, you're coming up with a lot of merchandising ideas?

JT: Well, I keep thinking of things so, as I think of it, I sketch it out in my little sketchbook in the event that there's a TV show and licensers come out of the woodwork. Mainframe has already decided that, instead of waiting for licensers to come to them looking for Scary Godmother products, they're just going to take all of my designs and see who's willing to make 'this'. It's a really good idea.

MJ: Is there anything else you wanted to mention before we wrap it up?

JT: Ummm...[There's] the SCARY GODMOTHER book which [came] out in October of 2000 - SCARY GODMOTHER: THE BOO FLU, [and I'm also] doing a 12 page Dazzler: Behind the Music story for Marvel with Will Pfeiffer.

MJ: Really. Do you know where that will be appearing?

JT: Ummm...[There's] the SCARY GODMOTHER book which [came] out in October of 2000 - SCARY GODMOTHER: THE BOO FLU, [and I'm also] doing a 12 page Dazzler: Behind the Music story for Marvel with Will Pfeiffer.

MJ: Really? Do you know where that will be appearing?

JT: I don't know. Maybe in an X-MEN UNLIMITED or something. I'm working on that as well as another SCARY GODMOTHER mini...

MJ: Is there a title for it yet?

JT: SCARY GODMOTHER #1.

MJ: Okay. [laughs]

Can you talk at all about your Little Endless project?

JT: Yeah, I'm working on a Little Endless Storybook for Vertigo which I'll be writing and illustrating.

MJ: Oh, you'll be handling the writing for the book as well?

JT: Yeah. It'll be 48 pages, prestige format and good for mature readers of all ages, and that should be coming out this summer.

MJ: Alright, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Now, much as I hate to admit it, that seems to be as good a place as any to end this. Thank you, Jill, for your time, it's been a real pleasure talking with you. Best of luck with your projects!

JT: Bye!

For more of Jill and/or Scary Godmother, visit her official website at Lurid.com!


	Mike Jozic has spent the last several years interviewing comic book creators and other entertainment related personalities for various publications. He has been published both online and in print, with his work appearing in The Comics Journal, FearsMag.com and Silver Bullet Comicbooks. He maintains his own website at www.meanwhile.net and currently serves as the Features Editor for SBC.

Discuss this interview on the Feature Fiends Forum!