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THE SANDMAN PRESENTS: THE THESSALIAD #2
"Part 2: The Long Crawl or The Trouble With Riddle Games"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: Bill Willingham
Pencils: Shawn McManus
Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Colors: Danny Vozzo & Jamison
Letters: John Costanza
Editor: Shelly Bond
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Given how little interest I have in the lead character, I can't believe how much I'm enjoying this series. Part of it is down to Willingham's approach, which treats Thessaly as a narrator of sorts, taking us into a weird world that feels like the strongest of Willingham's independent efforts. Part of it is the great artwork, complete with any number of background references to Sandman stories and characters of old. But mostly, it's
just because the book has wonderful dialogue, an intriguing plot and an
unmatched sense of fun.
In the best of Willingham's work, whether you're talking about Coventry or Proposition Player, there's a lot of attention paid to the background of the world. In this particular instance, he's working with the magic reality that Neil Gaiman created in Sandman.
As a result, I get the sense that the world is a strange and magical place, with
old gods, magical beings and unusual spirits everywhere. Thessaly lives in this
world, and thinks nothing of travelling by endless stairway or doorway, but it's
still unusual and entertaining to the reader.
I loved Fetch upon first
seeing the character, and the interaction between him and Thessaly in this issue
only made me love him more. His sarcasm, as well as his lack of fear regarding
Thessaly, sets him apart from most of the people she deals with, and has her
acting slightly different as well. I especially enjoyed Fetch's thoughts about
his origins, and the notion that Thessaly is not just a rather cold murderess
but someone who has squandered her immortality.
Of course, providing a magical reality and strange creatures is of little use if your artists aren't up to the task, and McManus and Pepoy do a phenomenal job this issue. Whether it's the subdued strangeness of Nefertiti and her "dread lord" or the over-the-top subway station full of freaks design that shows up later on, there's a feeling of wildness and magic to the artwork as much as the writing. And I really appreciated the many references to Sandman
characters, particularly the face nailed to the wall and the rest of the
creatures from Barbie's dream reality in "A Game of You." For that matter, while
it's less an artistic compliment than another writing one, the references to the
status quo in the Lucifer title and how that's affecting these other magical
creatures was a nice nod to that title.
The Thessaliad is not at all what I would have expected of a Sandman spinoff, especially one featuring the
fairly cold and dry personality of Thessaly. However, the quality and the fun is
exactly what I would expect of this creative team, and I can't wait to see where
the story takes us next.
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