The Witch Thessaly has been a lot of things in her lifetime, but she’s nearing the end of a slow slide into pure villainy. Your Major Spoilers review of Sandman Universe: Thessaly #1 from DC Comics awaits!

SANDMAN UNIVERSE: THESSALY #1

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Maria Llovet
Colorist: Maria Llovet
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Editor: Chris Conroy & Andrea Shea
Publisher: DC Comics Black Label
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 1, 2023

Previously in Sandman Universe: Thessaly: The immortal witch Thessaly is no stranger to dead ends. But she’s won the hearts of gods and beings more powerful than gods, and persistence has always been her strong suit. To suss out the seemingly impenetrable mystery surrounding the death of Madison Flynn, she’s going to have to get close to the source material, but she’s going to need a little help to keep the gig… Perhaps from one of those Muses the King of Dreams told her about long ago?

THE LUDICROUS FANTASY BUSINESS

Tommi is unhappy. Her job as a studio assistant is unfulfilling, with a boss who expects her to sleep with him, the person she might want to sleep with isn’t interested in anything serious, and the project she’s supposed to babysit is way overdue. But, upon arriving at the writer’s house, she finds only a strange woman with a sinister aura. A little magical mumbo-jumbo from Thessaly allows her to mesmerize Tommi, and when she finds out about the treatment that the late scripter was supposed to be working on, she vows to see it finished. Whatever force has ensnared her (which apparently has been happening in the pages of The Dead Boy Detectives) is still working, and she needs time to figure it out. But the laws of magic mean that Thessaly has to give Tommi something in return, and all Tommi really wants is the kind of clarity of purpose that Thessaly has.

It’s not exactly what she expected it to be.

SWEPT UP IN A ROMANCE THAT’S NOT A ROMANCE

The best classic Sandman stories always focus on the incidental human characters, like Barbie from The Doll’s House and Hob Gadling, so Tommi’s central position in this issue has precedent. It’s difficult to get invested in her when Thessaly is the one I’m here to read about. By the end of the issue, though, Tynion’s script has fixed that problem by having Thessaly agree to share her perspective with Tommi. The encounter brings her face-to-face with a memory of Morpheus and the muse, Calliope, who likely saves her from madness. By the end of the story, Thessaly seems to have decided that she can be the doom of another of The Endless, and Llovet’s art makes her determination utterly terrifying. Perhaps the most interesting part of the visuals comes when Thessaly reveals that she has boiled the face of the poor, doomed writer in order to more easily take on a glamour of his face. It’s physically impossible, and still chills the blood.

BOTTOM LINE: THE SOLICIT COPY WORKED AGAINST IT

While I didn’t expect this to stand up with the original, for which I have a great deal of esteem, Sandman Universe: Thessaly #1 also isn’t what the solicitation copy implied, which made it difficult to get into, but once I did, the attractive art held my attention, pulling together 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. I would have preferred that the one-shot actually have been a one-shot, but that’s not the world in which we live.

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