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Sandman — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Golden Age of comic books

Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.

Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the anthology Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.

In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.

The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.

In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.

Silver Age to Modern Age

Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.

In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.

Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.

An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.

In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. It is suggested that Dodds' prophetic dreams come from Dream's domain, the Dreaming.

Twilight years

Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who find themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of Comic Books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.

During Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!, Dodds is returned to his proper age by Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.

Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. Dodd's sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and joins the Justice Society.

Dodds has largely remained dead since. However, he is temporarily resurrected as a Black Lantern in "Blackest Night" and as a zombie in "Knight Terrors".