The Original Sandman (Wesley Dodds) Appreciation 2021

[MajorHoy]

Whether you prefer more of the classic Golden Age-style for the character




or the slightly revised version that appeared in Sandman Mystery Theatre


I really wish DC would give us a new comic book featuring Wes Dodds in action back in 1939 / 1940.
(NOTE: Sandman's change to the gas-mask-less gold-and-purple costume, as well as the introduction of boy-sidekick Sandy, took place in Adventure Comics #69, cover-dated December 1941 with an on-sale date of October 29th of that year.)

[Twice-named]

I have to go with the Sandman Mystery Theatre version. I love that series so much. I’d like to see a new series with Wes and Dian in the late 30s too. I wouldn’t envy the creative team though. Wagner and Davis set the bar pretty high.

[j9ac9k]

I loved Mystery Theater, but I feel like Wagner and Davis did that perfectly. I'd love to see Dodds in the next stage of his career where he has the more colorful suit and cape and hangs around with the JSA. Also keep Dian as his support in some way, whether as driver or doing research, legwork, etc.

[Twice-named]

I'd love to see Dodds in the next stage of his career where he has the more colorful suit and cape and hangs around with the JSA. Also keep Dian as his support in some way, whether as driver or doing research, legwork, etc.

I’d be into that. I’d especially be into it if Wagner wrote it and in the same vein as SMT. But that’ll never happen.

[Robanker]

Sandman Mystery Theater is one of the unsung classics of DC and I consider it the secret handshake of the fandom. When someone lists it as a classic run people overlook, I think "my dude."

I'm from California so "dude" is effectively ungendered.

[Twice-named]

Favorite arc, anyone?

Here’s the list:

The Tarantula
The Face
The Brute
The Vamp
The Scorpion
Dr. Death
Night of the Butcher
The Hourman
The Python
The Mist
Phantom of the World’s Fair
The Blackhawk
The Scarlet Ghost
The Crone
The Cannon
The City
The Goblin
The Hero

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'm still working my way through the original series. It's so, so good.

[Twice-named]

I'm still working my way through the original series. It's so, so good.

I just started reading it again yesterday. This is one of those series I keep coming back to.

[MajorHoy]

I'm still working my way through the original series. It's so, so good.

Now, it would help if they finished collecting it into trade paperback volumes, . . .

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Now, it would help if they finished collecting it into trade paperback volumes, . . .

I've been reading it digitally. Comixology has the whole series, so I thankfully don't have to worry about that.

Not sure if there was enough demand to justify publishing the rest of the series in print, though. As much as I love it, this doesn't strike me as a book that would appeal to a particularly large audience. It's extraordinarily niche and the connection to Gaiman's Sandman are too tenuous to get that audience to buy the entire run.

[MajorHoy]

I've been reading it digitally. Comixology has the whole series, so I thankfully don't have to worry about that.

Not sure if there was enough demand to justify publishing the rest of the series in print, though. As much as I love it, this doesn't strike me as a book that would appeal to a particularly large audience. It's extraordinarily niche and the connection to Gaiman's Sandman are too tenuous to get that audience to buy the entire run.

Well, they originally collected issues #1-52 (I believe) between 1995 and 2010.

Then they stated over again in 2016, but only collected issues #1-24 then.

[Robanker]

Well, they originally collected issues #1-52 (I believe) between 1995 and 2010.

Then they stated over again in 2016, but only collected issues #1-24 then.

Sadly, like The Spectre, it just didn't sell a lot and the print run got dropped.

[CaptCleghorn]

Mystery Theater was exquisite. The balance between the feel of the thirties with the storytelling and character analysis of today's sensibilities and acceptance levels con=mbined to form magic. Now I have the originals, but I can certainly appreciate the trouble fans today have in getting the set to read. Series like this (and Ostrander's Spectre and Robinson's Starman) really need to be put into the evergreen category in one form or another in order to keep these quality stories available to future readers.

Back to SMT specifically, though, we see an early Golden Age character done in period stories told in a modern style. This was really the stuff Roy Thomas was doing back in the eighties, but suffering the restrictions of that time as well as the Comics Code. There was a darker tone to the stories which reflected the character and shoved Dodds far to the Shadow's side of the Doc Savage/Shadow scale. It was great reading.

[signalman112]

"Elementary my Dear Wesley"

Holmes&Sandman.jpg

[Robotman]

Still one of the coolest costumes. Wish DC would utilize this character more.