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The Sandman Presents: Thessaly - Witch for Hire #1-4
Thessaly: Witch for Hire
HELP WANTED
As the world's oldest, most powerful witch,Thessaly has learned through millennia of experience to be prepared for almost anything, but since she could never have foreseen the persistence of one lovesick ghost names Fetch--or the conniving, underhanded lengths he would go to in order to win her heart.
Attaching her name to a monster slaying business behind her back is one thing, but agreeing to take on the universe's ultimate destructive force--well, that just proves that love makes you stupid. Faced with this kind of courtship, it'll be a miracle if Thessaly can survive long enough to smack some sense into Fetch's intangible head--never mind stopping the unstoppable doom he's unleashed.
As the world's oldest, most powerful witch,Thessaly has learned through millennia of experience to be prepared for almost anything, but since she could never have foreseen the persistence of one lovesick ghost names Fetch--or the conniving, underhanded lengths he would go to in order to win her heart.
Attaching her name to a monster slaying business behind her back is one thing, but agreeing to take on the universe's ultimate destructive force--well, that just proves that love makes you stupid. Faced with this kind of courtship, it'll be a miracle if Thessaly can survive long enough to smack some sense into Fetch's intangible head--never mind stopping the unstoppable doom he's unleashed.
96 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2005
5 people are currently reading
1140 people want to read
About the author
Bill Willingham
993 books2,818 followersIn the late 1970s to early 1980s he drew fantasy ink pictures for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Expert game rulebooks. He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and drew. However, for reasons unknown, the series had trouble maintaining an original schedule, and Willingham's position in the industry remained spotty for many years. He contributed stories to Green Lantern and started his own independent, black-and-white comics series Coventry which lasted only 3 issues. He also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix.
In the late 1990s Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer. He produced the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and wrote a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, published by the writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the early 2000s he began writing extensively for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably the popular series Fables
In the late 1990s Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer. He produced the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and wrote a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, published by the writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the early 2000s he began writing extensively for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably the popular series Fables
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 97 reviews
May 14, 2012
SPOILER ALERT: This review has genital warts in it. Spoilers, too.
The title promises more than the story delivers, possibly more than Willingham is capable of delivering. I found his Fables series dismally undermined by soap operatic gestures and an inability to deliver anything other than standard long-format commercial storytelling tropisms you can see in any number of long-running comic strips and television serials, decked out in Gaimanesque garb. Which is to say, hand-me-down Alan Moore hand-me-downs.
This could have been a great tale; Thessaly is a great character, one of the most powerful magic wielders in the Vertigoverse, richly deserving of a story in which she is actually the protagonist and driving force. Remember Thess was the only gal smart enough to ditch that serial mangler of lady friends, Morpheus. She was so smart even Gaiman, inordinately infatuated with his love-em-and-leave-em-to-fates-worse-than-big-sister-Death mopey Lothario of the dreamways, had to chalk her down as the one that got away.
But here...gah. There's this ghost, Fetch (encountered in Taller Tales too) who's both an amalgam of all the people Thess has killed and a smarmy he-ghost who wants to hook up with Thess and have adventures. Thess is having none of it. So Fetch brokers a totally brainless deal, gets Thess and himself into immense danger and finally has to sacrifice himself to undo his own mess. Well that's a great tale of Fetch, spectral asshole, but what's it got to do with Thess? Willingham too scared to make her the main player in her own title?
Sure there are some great scenes where Thess goes off visiting other realms to try and find a way to defeat looming nemesis, but they're just window dressing. Stripped to its essentials this could have been a story about a couple of high school kids, she won't give him time of day so he tries to impress her by palling up with some cool kids. Turns out the cool kids are gangsters and they're coming to mess with the object of the dork's unwanted attention. Dork mans up, faces off the heavies at great personal cost. Oh come on Willingham. Thess is worth much, more than this. Fie on you. May you be plagued with genital warts for this travesty.
The title promises more than the story delivers, possibly more than Willingham is capable of delivering. I found his Fables series dismally undermined by soap operatic gestures and an inability to deliver anything other than standard long-format commercial storytelling tropisms you can see in any number of long-running comic strips and television serials, decked out in Gaimanesque garb. Which is to say, hand-me-down Alan Moore hand-me-downs.
This could have been a great tale; Thessaly is a great character, one of the most powerful magic wielders in the Vertigoverse, richly deserving of a story in which she is actually the protagonist and driving force. Remember Thess was the only gal smart enough to ditch that serial mangler of lady friends, Morpheus. She was so smart even Gaiman, inordinately infatuated with his love-em-and-leave-em-to-fates-worse-than-big-sister-Death mopey Lothario of the dreamways, had to chalk her down as the one that got away.
But here...gah. There's this ghost, Fetch (encountered in Taller Tales too) who's both an amalgam of all the people Thess has killed and a smarmy he-ghost who wants to hook up with Thess and have adventures. Thess is having none of it. So Fetch brokers a totally brainless deal, gets Thess and himself into immense danger and finally has to sacrifice himself to undo his own mess. Well that's a great tale of Fetch, spectral asshole, but what's it got to do with Thess? Willingham too scared to make her the main player in her own title?
Sure there are some great scenes where Thess goes off visiting other realms to try and find a way to defeat looming nemesis, but they're just window dressing. Stripped to its essentials this could have been a story about a couple of high school kids, she won't give him time of day so he tries to impress her by palling up with some cool kids. Turns out the cool kids are gangsters and they're coming to mess with the object of the dork's unwanted attention. Dork mans up, faces off the heavies at great personal cost. Oh come on Willingham. Thess is worth much, more than this. Fie on you. May you be plagued with genital warts for this travesty.
October 19, 2013
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, because Thessaly is one of my favourite Sandman characters, but this spin-off really doesn't do her justice. I didn't care for the delusional stalker love interest spouting armchair psychology about Thessaly's isolationist personality and how she just needs to listen to what's in his pants, I mean, her heart. Gag me. I also really didn't like that she didn't pick up on the very obvious piece of info re: how to slay the monster, or that she had to have the Dream library explained to her, because this is THESSALY. She knows her shit. Of course she'd know or get these things!
IDK, I got the impression that the Fetch character's general thinks-she's-badass-but-awwwww-ain't-she-cute perspective on Thessaly as some kind of wannabe-hardcore but ultimately silly, emotionally stunted, reluctant demon hunter type who just really needs some buddies and a boyfriend was something that didn't just come from Fetch but was the book's actual take on the character. It didn't feel like Thessaly, and I didn't feel like Willingham got who she was at all. But then after reading about half of the Fables series, I'm starting to suspect he doesn't really get female characters in general so that's no surprise :\
IDK, I got the impression that the Fetch character's general thinks-she's-badass-but-awwwww-ain't-she-cute perspective on Thessaly as some kind of wannabe-hardcore but ultimately silly, emotionally stunted, reluctant demon hunter type who just really needs some buddies and a boyfriend was something that didn't just come from Fetch but was the book's actual take on the character. It didn't feel like Thessaly, and I didn't feel like Willingham got who she was at all. But then after reading about half of the Fables series, I'm starting to suspect he doesn't really get female characters in general so that's no surprise :\
July 7, 2017
The only part I really liked was when Thessaly went travelling, but meh. Couldn't believe that she didn't know how the dream library worked.. I don't really like how she was drawn and she wasn't as interesting as she was in A Game of You. I still want to try Fables though.
June 19, 2013
Extremely frustrating and small-minded. A character like Thessaly deserved a much better story than this. Why did her tale have to include a brainless stalker who had convinced himself he was her boyfriend? This is not funny, Bill Willingham, nor is it satisfactory to end it with the "we could have been great if you'd let it happen" trope, because this fetch is deranged. He is a classic example of the "man pursues woman to extreme ends, woman puts up with it and eventually softens" fairy tale cliche that makes me want to scream.
Also, Thessaly spends three-quarters of this book with her navel showing. Is that better than a chain mail bikini, or full nudity? Slightly, but it's a symptom of the same problem. Women in comics HAVE to show some skin, because reasons.
Really disappointing considering how much Thessaly deserves her own line of stories.
Also, Thessaly spends three-quarters of this book with her navel showing. Is that better than a chain mail bikini, or full nudity? Slightly, but it's a symptom of the same problem. Women in comics HAVE to show some skin, because reasons.
Really disappointing considering how much Thessaly deserves her own line of stories.
March 17, 2009
Thessaly is one of the interesting supporting characters from the Sandman cast, but there really isn't much to this graphic novel. It's pretty amusing, and the art is nice, but the story is pretty boring with a standard play on words as the big solution. Fun for a quick read, but not exactly the best or most original story ever.
February 20, 2017
Pretty awful. Nothing like the Sandman character. Witch who killed untold numbers is sexually harassed by a ghost that encompasses all of them. Basically rounding up because it was nice to see Dream's library again for a moment.
January 31, 2009
Kind of wish I hadn't read this, this is not the Thessaly from Sandman I so admired. The Tharmic Null is cute & cuddly, he reminds me of my cat when he's cranky.
July 13, 2024
More fuckery from DC with Gaiman intellectual properties…I’m supposed to believe here that Neil is on board with turning the Thessalian, one of the grimmest figures in his brilliant cast of characters, into a shits and giggles “witch for hire” on a buddy romp with some asshole ghost who wants to sleep with her? Go ahead and pull the other one.
And forget all that, forget that the whole premise is not only preposterous but everything about Thessaly has been mismanaged here by author and editors alike (tone, irony, diction, character motivation, background, physical laws of the Gaiman universe, and literary-ness, if that is even a word), the juvenile artwork reminds me a little of some crappy Beagle Boys Gold Key comic I had as a little kid. I kept expecting Huckleberry Hound or Scrooge McDuck to show up. If you’re going to embark on a Thessaly series, then get some talent to do the work, DC! Jesus Christ. Otherwise just piss off, please.
Colleen Doran would have been nice. Or Mike Dringenberg. Or maybe even Sam Keith. Oh, he’s dead? Well maybe Thessaly could have raised his spirit out of Tartarus to add a little class to this shitty effort.
And forget all that, forget that the whole premise is not only preposterous but everything about Thessaly has been mismanaged here by author and editors alike (tone, irony, diction, character motivation, background, physical laws of the Gaiman universe, and literary-ness, if that is even a word), the juvenile artwork reminds me a little of some crappy Beagle Boys Gold Key comic I had as a little kid. I kept expecting Huckleberry Hound or Scrooge McDuck to show up. If you’re going to embark on a Thessaly series, then get some talent to do the work, DC! Jesus Christ. Otherwise just piss off, please.
Colleen Doran would have been nice. Or Mike Dringenberg. Or maybe even Sam Keith. Oh, he’s dead? Well maybe Thessaly could have raised his spirit out of Tartarus to add a little class to this shitty effort.
November 26, 2019
This is just a sad book. Cribbing excellent characters from Neil Gaiman's comics, the writers tell a disjointed and awkward story full of loud noise and ludicrous happenings. The problem is, the creators want to make things very BIG - but they're just no good at it. Grand spectacle here just looks and feels like something done by a teenager. The story wanders all over, the characters are forced, and the dialogue terrible. It's excessively linear and immature, though the addition of naked breasts does suggest that the authors are trying overly hard to make this an adult comic. Indeed, they seem to be constantly playing a game of 'look at me', though what they show is not really worth paying attention to.
February 5, 2012
Perhaps I was simply expecting something different--especially based on the gorgeous covers by Tara McPherson--but this one didn't really click too much for me. I didn't much care for any of the characters, the art, or much of what seemed to be happening.
Willingham's playfulness is definitely present, but compared to Fables--and compared to Sandman--this simply didn't seem to add up to what he is capable of or the bar set forth by Gaiman for anything with the Sandman's name.
It's not a terrible read, by any means, but from what all I've been reading lately, this is one of the weaker graphic novels I've read in some time.
Willingham's playfulness is definitely present, but compared to Fables--and compared to Sandman--this simply didn't seem to add up to what he is capable of or the bar set forth by Gaiman for anything with the Sandman's name.
It's not a terrible read, by any means, but from what all I've been reading lately, this is one of the weaker graphic novels I've read in some time.
June 30, 2018
Thessaly, being one of my favorites on a long list of great characters created in arguably the best comic ever written, seemed like an obvious choice to read once I discovered it existed. I didn’t love this Thessaly quite as much as gaiman’s but she was still great. I wish this book kept going. Just like dead boy detectives. Gone too soon. Ahead of their time they were. Sad! Haha. Anyway if you like sandman and/or Thessaly than you’ll be happy you picked up this book. If you’ve never read or heard of either then you’d wanna read that first. In any case, this was a good story. 4 stars.
September 13, 2024
I liked the mysticism
December 28, 2015
So there is this ghost, and he is in love with a witch. I guess that would make it a paranormal romance. Or does that label only apply if one of the parties is human? Labels can be so confusing.
Sandman readers might recall first meeting Thessaly in one of the early books. She is the oldest, most powerful witch around, and the last of her kind. Oh, and she likes to keep a low profile. It does not help that this ghost is in love with her, and you just know that things are not going to be low key when he is around.
This graphic novel is a fun, fast read, and while it does not have the depth and nuance of the Sandman books, I liked it.
Sandman readers might recall first meeting Thessaly in one of the early books. She is the oldest, most powerful witch around, and the last of her kind. Oh, and she likes to keep a low profile. It does not help that this ghost is in love with her, and you just know that things are not going to be low key when he is around.
This graphic novel is a fun, fast read, and while it does not have the depth and nuance of the Sandman books, I liked it.
February 5, 2018
Two.half/Three Stars. In Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Thessaly is a complex, morbid, smart, and powerful character. Here she is a flat love interest to an even flatter he-ghost who drives the plot, while she does some witching on the side. There are a few highlights and creative moments (hence the three stars). But the plot is mundane and does not take advantage of the protagonist's potential depth.
This is an exhibit showing that just because the title character is a female, it does not mean that the author is devoid of the negative female tropes in story telling.
This is an exhibit showing that just because the title character is a female, it does not mean that the author is devoid of the negative female tropes in story telling.
June 21, 2009
An ok book, but I'm not sure Willingham captured the character of Thessaly perfectly, or perhaps his writing style is just too different from Gaiman's for my taste. This isn't a bad read, but it's not a great one either. There is much less poetry and a lot less depth than any of the Sandman series.
April 20, 2024
I love a badass witch. Yay for Ancient Greek origins plus she makes a Norse myth reference. Reread because I recently read a Deadboys Detective comic and she made an all too brief appearance.
October 18, 2020
Sunder "You're already too DANGEROUS by most accounts Thessaly. Now you FORCE me to exacerbate that condition by giving you access to the most DESTRUCTIVE collection of spells in every known creation."
Unbeknownst to Thessaly, the ghost Fetch has signed them up to be a monster killing duo, that has to eliminate over 30 monsters before the contract is complete. Unfortunately the last monster on the list is the Thermic Null, a creature of chaos so deadly it has never been killed. Thessaly goes on an epic journey through the cosmos to find a way to kill the creature whose curse has been transferred to her. Along the way she meets many interesting creatures, including my favorite Pumpkin Head, Mervyn and Lucien the Librarian, whom actually end up NOT helping her, because she in some part was responsible for Sadly, I haven't forgiven or forgotten, I still can't find myself rooting for or liking Thessaly. Eventually things reach a satisfactory conclusion, leaving things open ended so there's the possibility of many stories to come.
Unbeknownst to Thessaly, the ghost Fetch has signed them up to be a monster killing duo, that has to eliminate over 30 monsters before the contract is complete. Unfortunately the last monster on the list is the Thermic Null, a creature of chaos so deadly it has never been killed. Thessaly goes on an epic journey through the cosmos to find a way to kill the creature whose curse has been transferred to her. Along the way she meets many interesting creatures, including my favorite Pumpkin Head, Mervyn and Lucien the Librarian, whom actually end up NOT helping her, because she in some part was responsible for Sadly, I haven't forgiven or forgotten, I still can't find myself rooting for or liking Thessaly. Eventually things reach a satisfactory conclusion, leaving things open ended so there's the possibility of many stories to come.
September 21, 2023
Bill Willingham is a master at setting up an interesting premise and then losing interest and having a character describe the climax of a story rather than showing us the built up action. He's done it with both Thessaly stories that he wrote, to their detriment.
The, I guess playfully misogynist Fetch from the last volume loses his playfulness here, and there's just this annoyingly shitty character that you're occasionally supposed to somehow have empathy for. At around the halfway point, Thesally flips their power dynamic on him, and it seems like the rest of the run could be more fun. Alas, Willingham's Tell Don't Show climax sucks any wind this story has right out of it.
I do not recommend this story unless you are absolutely desperate to read every Sandman adjacent property. I'm not sure if this is the worst one, but I felt that way when I got to the end.
The, I guess playfully misogynist Fetch from the last volume loses his playfulness here, and there's just this annoyingly shitty character that you're occasionally supposed to somehow have empathy for. At around the halfway point, Thesally flips their power dynamic on him, and it seems like the rest of the run could be more fun. Alas, Willingham's Tell Don't Show climax sucks any wind this story has right out of it.
I do not recommend this story unless you are absolutely desperate to read every Sandman adjacent property. I'm not sure if this is the worst one, but I felt that way when I got to the end.
July 8, 2018
Found this at a used bookstore on the Danforth - I'm a sucker for anything Sandman related, even if it's not written by Gaiman. But hey, the writer of Fables is a great runner up, and Shawn McManus' art was some of the best in the original Sandman run.
It's a fun story, though I missed some of the earlier Thessaly stories that would have added a bit of additional context about Fetch. Regardless, it felt like the best of Sandman and Fables combined, although I found the conclusion to be a bit rushed for my liking. All in all, a fun read!
It's a fun story, though I missed some of the earlier Thessaly stories that would have added a bit of additional context about Fetch. Regardless, it felt like the best of Sandman and Fables combined, although I found the conclusion to be a bit rushed for my liking. All in all, a fun read!
August 15, 2017
I was so excited to read this, as a big fan of The Sandman series. However I felt a bit letdown, without Gaiman's magic the book just lacked anything to keep me really interested. The apparent 'love story' is so one sided and ridiculous that I feel that it really needed some history to make it seem valid and/or believable. Hence the whole tale is based on a non-existent prequel.
I love the unfortunately scarce art of Tara McPherson throughout the book. 3 stars, more like 2.5. All for you Tara!
I love the unfortunately scarce art of Tara McPherson throughout the book. 3 stars, more like 2.5. All for you Tara!
June 15, 2020
Glad it’s over!
A female lead character completely overshadowed my the male back up. Wasn’t interesting.
It was better when she traveled and did something, but even that wasn’t enough.
But overall not great, and won’t be reading any more in this series by the author.
Illustration were okay, but were a bit bland like the story.
Gaiman placed this world on a pedestal, and everyone since is chipping away at it ensuring it falls
A female lead character completely overshadowed my the male back up. Wasn’t interesting.
It was better when she traveled and did something, but even that wasn’t enough.
But overall not great, and won’t be reading any more in this series by the author.
Illustration were okay, but were a bit bland like the story.
Gaiman placed this world on a pedestal, and everyone since is chipping away at it ensuring it falls
March 1, 2025
I don’t want more Sandman enough to be happy with something like this, I think that’s what it comes down to. You can get much better rom-com stories with mystical themes elsewhere, we don’t need Thessaly reduced to horny ghost trying to eff her
I will say this might’ve been better than the first, The Thessaliad, but I barely remember honestly
I will say this might’ve been better than the first, The Thessaliad, but I barely remember honestly
September 8, 2019
This is the kind of comic you read if you want to spend a little more time in the 'Sandman' universe but have burned through Gaiman's entire oeuvre. It's a slight story with some interesting visuals, and it's good for a late summer afternoon's entertainment.
November 7, 2019
Absolutely delightful. A comic about a powerful, cute, funny witch, and the ghost of the collective thousands of dead souls that she’s trapped, as they fight various monsters together. It’s a short, sharp, sweet read, that fans of the Sandman or Fable series are sure to enjoy.
August 9, 2017
This is a spinoff tale from the Sandman series, a (comparatively) straightforward story adventure and retribution.
February 17, 2018
I love Thessaly - this graphic novel made me happy just reading it
August 27, 2019
This was a fun one! It doesn't have Gaiman's complexity but it was a fun look into Thessaly's world.
March 2, 2020
I love the art work & cant wait to read more
Displaying 1 - 29 of 97 reviews