The Unofficial Biography of...

The Sandman

The Sandman Created by Bert Christman and Gardner Fox

Alter Ego: Wesley Bernard Dodds ( also spelled "Dodd" )
Occupation: financier
Marital Status: co-habiting with Dian Belmont
Known Relatives: Edward Dodds ( father, deceased ), Marina Dodds ( mother, deceased ) , Gerald Dodds ( brother, presumed deceased )
Group Affiliation: Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron
Base of Operations: New York City
Current Status: deceased
Height: 5'11" ( later 5'9" ) Weight: 175 lbs. ( later 145 lbs. )
Eye Color:Brown Hair Color:Brown, later Grey
First Appearance: Adventure Comics# 40 April, 1940. ( Earlier adventures are chronicled beginning with Sandman Mystery Theatre# 1 )

History

.....Born to the wealthy Dodds family of New York, young Wesley was a bookish lad, somewhat fearful of his stern father. After the end of the First World War, Wes and his brother Gerald joined their father in Europe. After a fight, Gerald left the family to find his own way.

.....Heading the advice of a fortune teller, Edward sent young Wes to live abroad, mostly with people heading up various of his father's business intrests, mostly in the Far East, where Wesley soaked up the Oriental wisdom and lifestyle, learning to speak several languages, and honing his body with martial arts and Yoga. Concluding his schooling in America, Wes Dodds graduated Magnum Cum Laude from Princeton with degrees in Business and Chemistry. Briefly returning to the Far East, he began to suffer from dreams, the sort that drove him nearly insane until he began acting on them when he came to live in the US again, after the death of his father.

.....Developing a green gas that was both a "truth serum" and a narcoleptic agent, and the delivery system in the form of a "gas gun", he began righting the wrongs of New York City in the early part of 1938 as The Sandman. Operating outside the law, he became the target of NYPD Lieutenant Edward Burke, a hard-nosed and unyeilding bully of a lawman. Crossing paths with Burke on several occasions, they came to an understanding that The Sandman could go places and was privy to information that Burke could ultimatly use.

.....Another aide in his fight against crime, the daughter of District Attorney Larry Belmont, young Dian aided and later fell in love with Wes Dodds, aiding him on several occasions, and ultimately joing Wesley on a search for his estranged brother in early 1940. It is not known what the result of that search was, but it is known that The Sandman had begun to fight crime again in New York City in late 1940.

.....In early November, 1940, The Sandman was drawn into a conflict with Nazi spies along with six other American "mystery-men" and became a founding member of The Justice Society of America. His contribution to the group, other than financial, was supplying the meeting place, the top floor to a Manhattan, NY hotel that he owned. Inspired by his fictionalized comic book adventures, a young man took to the New York rooftops, fighting crime calling himself Sandy, The Golden Boy. He later became the ward of Dian Belmont, the common-law wife of Wes Dodds, and took to sporadically adventuring with The Sandman as his partner, beginning in July of 1941.

..... On an adventure with the Justice Society, The Sandman, along with other members and their confederates, was exposed to chronal energies that had the effect of retarding the aging process. This gave Wes greater longevity in adventuring than might be expected in later years.

The Sandman, as a member of the JSA, joined the war-time "super-group" The All- Star Squadron as Sandy became a member of an affiliate group, The Young All-Stars.

As World War II drew to a close, two events lead to the eventual retirement of The Sandman. First was the heart attack he suffered, forcing him to curtail most of his physical activities. Next was the injury of his partner, Sandy. While working on a "silicon gun" to beef up his fighting style, Sandy was injured and mutated in an explosion. Changed to a hulking, mute monster, The Sandman placed Sandy in a state of suspended animation. Too embarrassed to seek outside help, Wes worked nearly fifty years to reverse his condition, meeting failure after failure. After retiring, Wes Dodds persued financial and social goals to help better his fellow man, along with moral support for Dian, who later in life became a best-selling author. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

..... About nine years ago, as his former comerades in the Justice Society began to come out of retirement, at least on a semi-regular basis, The Sandman reappeared, soley in the company of the JSA, assisting them and the Justice League on several occasions. Nearly six years ago, the creature formerly known as Sandy was accidentily freed and recaptured with the assistance of the JSA and JLA. Several months later, a criminal seeking to enhance his reputation, captured and accidentily cured the Sand-Creature. Sandy, however did not age while transformed and is now in his early twenties.

.....Wes suffered another stroke and finally curtailing his crimefighting career. He appeared with the Justice Society of two occassions, the last of which saw the group cast into a recreation of the Norse Gods Gotterdamerung. After more than two years in this Limbo, they were freed whereupon Wes suffered yet another stroke. while in the hospital, he aided Hourman and Johnny Quick in saving a South African freedom fighter. Soon afterwards, The Sandman was among the assembled heroes who fought Extant and as a result he was robbed of the chronal energies that kept him younger. He aged to his natural state of being over eighty years old.

.....Now hard-of-hearing and artheritic, Wes retired from the super-heroic community entirely. He was sought out by and aided Jack Knight, the current Starman. Soon afterwards, he and Dian left the United States to tour and relive his youth in the Far East. After the recent death of Dian, Wes became aware of the mystical menace of The Dark Lord. Fearing that he might unwittingly aid him, and unable to fend off any further attacks, Wes threw himself off a cliffside, going finally to that Great Eternal Sleep.

Powers and Abilities

.....The Sandman was a disciple of many Eastern martial art techiniques and disciplines. Using karate, judo and Yoga to hone his body to his peak performance, he aquired an arsenal of mostly defensive weapondry. Primary among these was the "Gas Gun" which projected a spray of green gas that incapacitates and renders the victim open to suggestion. He was immune to the effects of the gas due to the functioning gas mask that was part of his costume. The Sandman used his gas to delve information, since no one could lie under its effects. Later in his career, he employed a "wirepoon", a gun-like device that fired a small harpoon that aided him in reaching heights and avoiding felons. As Wes Dodds, his financial riches aided him in being able to apply himself where needed, in whatever social circles he needed to travel.

Chronological Listing of Comic Book Appearences

Adventure Comics(v1)# 40/Sandman Mystery Theatre# 1-4 January '38
Sandman Mystery Theatre# ..-..
Sandman Mystery Theatre# ..-..
New York World's Fair Comics 1939
Adventure# 41-50
New York World's Fair Comics 1940
Secret Origins(v3)# 7/Sandman Mystery Theatre# 41-44..
Sandman Mystery Theatre# 69-70December 31, 1939
Adventure# 51-52
All-Star Comics(v1)# 1
Adventure# 53-55
All-Star Comics(v1)# 2
Adventure# 56-58
DC Special# 29/Secret Origins(v3)# 31 November 7, '40
All-Star(v1)# 3-4/All-Star Squadron# 67 November 22-27, '40
Adventure# 59-64
All-Star# 5
Adventure# 65-66
All-Star# 6
Adventure# 67
World's Finest Comics# 3
Adventure# 68
Adventure# 69-70
All-Star# 7 ending June 27, '41
All-Star Squadron Annual# 3 June 28, '41
DC 2000# 1-2
June 30-July 3, '41
All-Star# 8
World's Finest# 4
Adventure# 71-72
All-Star# 9
Adventure# 73
World's Finest# 5
Adventure# 74
All-Star# 10
Adventure# 75-76
Justice League(v1)# 193/2,All-Star Squadron# 1-5/All-Star# 11 December 6-9, '41
World's Finest# 6
All-Star# 11/All-Star Squadron# 19-21, 25 thru February 12, '42
All-Star Squadron# 27-28
All-Star# 12/All-Star Squadron# 30 February 16, '42
All-Star Squadron# 31-32 February 22-23, '42
Adventure# 77-79
World's Finest# 7
Adventure# 80
All-Star Squadron# 64 March 31, '42
All-Star# 13/All-Star Squadron# 50-60 April 1-15, '42
Adventure# 81-82
Young All-Stars# 2-3 May 3, '42 YAS# 9 May 12, '42
YAS# 12 May 20, '42
Young All-Stars Annual# 1 May 23, '42
YAS# 15
All-Star# 14/YAS# 27 June '42
Adventure# 83-84
All-Star# 15/Starman(v2)# 69
Adventure# 85
All-Star# 16
Adventure# 86
All-Star# 17
Detective Comics# 76
Adventure# 87
All-Star# 18
Adventure# 88-89
All-Star# 19
Boy Commandos# 1
Adventure# 90
All-Star# 20
Adventure# 91-92
All-Star# 21
Starman# 18 ( flashback )
Adventure# 93-96
All-Star Comics(v2)# 1 early February '45
Star-Spangled Comics(v2)# 1
All-Star Comics(v2)# 2 late February, '45
Adventure# 97-102
Justice League(v1)# 113 ( flashback )
Starman(v2)# 78 December 29, 1951
JLA: Year One# 5, 11-12 Twelve years ago
JLofA(v1)# 46-47, 64-65, 82, 100-102, 107-108, 113
DCCP# 42, 47
All-Star# 74
Adventure# 466
America vs The Justice Society# 1-4 no longer in continuity
The Last Days of The Justice Society# 1
Armageddon: Inferno# 4
Justice Society of America# 1, 8, 10
Zero Hour# 3
Starman(v2)# 17-19
Sandman(v2)# 71-73
Spectre(v3)# 17, 62
JSA Secret Files and Origins# 1

Before the White Wall...Comments on Pre-Crisis Continuity

This page last updated...February 16, 2001.

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