The Sandman Presents: Thessaly - Witch for Hire [Paperback]

Bill Willingham (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thessaly, a cutie-pie with big glasses and a wicked left hook, first appeared in Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics. Here, she stars in her own adventure, complete with love interest and unbeatable foe. Our heroine is the last of the Thessalian witches. The tale's narrator is named Fetch, a charmingly dapper fellow who looks like a 1940s screen star and is a ghost somehow composed of all the people Thessaly ever killed. Smitten with Thessaly, Fetch has attempted simultaneously to get closer to her and give her life a little meaning by signing her up for a monster-killing contract without her prior knowledge or consent. When our story opens, Thessaly has spent the last two years offing dangerous ghoulies and then finding new places to live when the locals inevitably catch wind of what she's up to; it's made her a bit grouchy, and she's understandably furious with Fetch when he confesses what he's done. With catchy dialogue, McManus's charming and accessible art, a twisted love story and a kick-ass heroine, Thessaly is a load of fun, and worthy of having "The Sandman presents" written on the book's cover. (Sept.)
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From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–Thessaly is your average immortal, powerful witch. She gets up in the morning, goes to the market, and fights off the demons that happen to invade her home. Actually, she's fought off more than 30 demons in the past two years, and she's getting a little tired of trying to explain that to the neighbors. Everything becomes clear when Fetch shows up. He is her erstwhile suitor, a ghost on a romantic-cum-business mission. He's optioned out her services to the rich with shady problems needing certain solutions. Unfortunately, he didn't ask Thessaly first. Her general irritation with him grows into actual anger and fear when she learns that they are slated to fight a Tharmic Null–a being composed of nothingness and impossible to beat. The art is lively and cartoonlike, a nice counterpoint to some of the grimmer elements of the story. Thessaly is slight and girlish; her looks belie her ruthless nature. Fetch is a fantastic contrast for her–jovial and slick where Thessaly is dark and cruel. Their bickering is funny and complicated; it feels old, but you don't have to be familiar with their history, introduced in Taller Tales (Vertigo, 2003) to enjoy it. A single-page, violent sex scene makes this title better suited to older teens. The one disappointment is the anticlimactic ending; it's a bit rushed and told as flashback, which results in too much emotional distance.–Sarah Couri, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140120497X
• ISBN-13: 978-1401204976
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.2 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill Willingham never fought a desperate and losing battle in a good cause, never contributed to society in a meaningful way, and hasn't lived a life of adventure, but he's had a few moments of near adventure. At some point in his life Bill learned how to get paid for telling scurrilous lies to good people, and he's been doing it ever since. He lives in the wild and frosty woods of Minnesota.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Which witch?, July 16, 2006

By 

Tom Knapp "Rambles.NET editor" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sandman Presents: Thessaly - Witch for Hire (Paperback)

One of the more enigmatic characters in the unfathomable world that is Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman," Thessaly has also become one of the most endearing. She is a waifishly cute witch of the bookish, granola variety -- at first glance -- but more of the powerful and ruthless type once you get to know her.

In "Witch for Hire," Thessaly is saddled with a fetch, a ghost-like being comprising the souls of the many thousands of people killed by the witch over the millennia-long existence. She's also being attacked by a variety of vile beasts, and the fetch is seemingly the cause. Soon, Thessaly finds herself faced with a force of chaos so powerful that it can't be killed. But since failing to best it means dying herself, she's quite motivated to prove the legends wrong.

The climax of "Witch for Hire" seems a little anticlimatic, to be honest, but the journey getting there is loads of fun. Bill Willingham, creator of the "Fables" series, has taken Gaiman's lead and run with the character, and her development here is spot on. Shawn McManus has illustrated the book with a fable-like gloss that makes even the most disgusting bits -- vomiting frogs, stuffing eyeballs in jars, you know the sort of thing -- look innocent as pink bunnies.

By Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

4.0 out of 5 stars Thessaly rocks!, April 7, 2010

By 

M "CultOfStrawberry" (I wait behind the wall, gnawing away at your reality) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Sandman Presents: Thessaly - Witch for Hire (Paperback)

After reading the Thessaliad (a great series) I was happy to hear that Thessaly was getting another series of her own. At 4/5 stars, I found this a rather enjoyable read. Like the first Thessaly series, our favorite witch has something coming after her and must figure out what it is. Only, this threat is a lot worse than before - a Null, which nothing can defeat. Of course, Thessaly has to figure out how to defeat this. The people who sent the Null after think she has met her match, but as we all know, Thessaly is far more than she seems. The surprising way she defeats the Null and responds to the people who sent it after her make for a satisfying ending to this tale. Definitely a favorite addition to the Sandman universe. Two thumbs up!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slayers R Us, September 16, 2005

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sandman Presents: Thessaly - Witch for Hire (Paperback)

Thessaly, the world's most powerful witch, is back in a sequel her tale in Sandman Presents: Taller Tales. Thessaly finds herself fighting a Naga. This is not the first monster she has fought recently. Then Fetch returns and claims that the monsters were sent by him and that they are a monster-slaying team (even if she didn't know it). Now there is one last case but the monster doesn't really exist. Except that it does and it cannot be stopped.

Thessaly knows the coming monster will be her destruction so she sets accounts right and goes on a quest to discover a way to stop the monster. But everything says the monster can't be stopped. Can Fetch and Thessaly pull a rabbit out of a hat and stop the unstoppable? You will have to read it to find out.

A very interesting tale told in an unusual way. Dome of the action occurs completely off stage with very little description (a technique that worked well in The Books of Magic). The art is clean and the monster has a Kirby-ish look. I did not feel the story was either dragged out or condensed. It seemed to be told at just the right pace. Quite entertaining.