Wesley Dodds: The Sandman

by Robert Venditti, Riley Rossmo (illustrator)

The Golden Age Sandman takes center stage in a thrilling noir mystery that finds his greatest discoveries falling into the wrong hands! It took years of testing and experimentation for Wesley to perfect his sleep gas, creating the perfect weapon for fighting crime without permanently harming criminals. But when the secret journal detailing all his failed, all-too-deadly formulas is stolen, the Sandman must hunt down the thief and root out those pulling their strings before the contents of his journal are released! The New Golden Age dawns in this collection, reprinting the stylish six-issue miniseries from writer Robert Venditti (Superman ’78) and artist Riley Rossmo (Suicide Squad)! Collects Wesley The Sandman #1-6.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Science Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2024

About the author

Robert Venditti is a New York Times bestselling author of more than three hundred comic books and graphic novels. Some of his works include the monthly comic book series Justice League, Superman ’78, Hawkman, and Green Lantern for DC Comics, X-O Manowar, Armor Hunters, and Wrath of the Eternal Warrior for Valiant Entertainment, and the graphic novel Six Days, inspired by the story of his uncle’s participation in D-Day. He has also adapted Rick Riordan’s global bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus novels, as well as Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia and Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz. His graphic novel The Surrogates was adapted into a feature film by Touchstone Pictures, and his work on The Flash was the basis for season three of the CW television series.

Venditti lives in Atlanta, where he both writes and serves as a storytelling consultant for some of the most recognizable entertainment brands in the world.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's Sandman Mystery Theatre Lite. Less filling than Sandman Mystery Theatre but with a similar taste. I liked it but didn't love it. When is Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium 2 coming out?

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel delves into the Sandman's dedication to promoting non-lethal means of fighting while he comes into conflict with a military-industrial complex that would like to use his more lethal chemical weapon discoveries for the upcoming World War II. Overall, this has a fun retro feel to it.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 stars

I really enjoyed this slice of WWII era superheroics. I’ve always had a soft spot for the original DC Sandman and this creative team really did him justice.

If I have any criticism it’s that the twist ending was obvious from the get-go and that the artwork, as good as it was, was perhaps a little too cartoony for such serious subject matter.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of Sandman Mystery Theatre I was a bit apprehensive about this Wesley Dodds revival.

In the end, it was a very enjoyable read that managed to recapture the spirit of the original (from the 90s, of course) with a slightly more modern approach that doesn't bother to reintroduce the characters.

The plot is actually pretty basic, but Venditi has managed to find Dodds' voice and that's enough to keep things interesting.
All the more so as Riley Rossmo's style - clearer than at one time but still not mainstream - comes across well; he has a dynamic storytelling and adapts well to the nightmare scenes. Plascencia's colouring is very nice and works well with Rossmo.

More 3,5 than 4* actually but I had a good enough time to feel generous.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the original Sandman Mystery Theatre series that came out years ago. It was one of my favourite series from Vertigo - maybe one of my favourite series ever. Steven Seagle and Guy Davis did amazing work.

I'm happy to say that this mini-series was true to the original feel of that series. And it's taken me awhile to get used to artist Riley Rossmo's work, but it's grown on me and it really suits this series a lot. I'm a fan now!

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is it the immutable nature or humanity that we create the means of our demise?

Set in 1940 as a new war encroaches and the echoes of the Great War have not yet subsided "Wesley Dodds: The Sandman" tells a story of hope and determination in the face of the horrors posed by weapons of mass destruction. Lone genius Wesley Dodds, tormented by the past that destroyed his father and determined to develop a humane equivalent of war in the form of a benign incapacitating gas, inadvertently creates deadly weapons that threaten new and horrific destruction in the coming war. Expect a nicely updated follow up to the original Golden Age and 1990s stories that has a strong retro 40’s feel and acknowledges the anxieties of the time while giving a nod to current sensibilities.

[Phishy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A minissérie do Sandman original, Wesley Dodds, da Era de Ouro, vem numa iniciativa da Aurora da DC que reapresenta três personagens que surgiram durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Além do Sandman, também temos o Lanterna Verde Alan Scott e o Flash Jay Garrick. Enquanto a leitura da minissérie de Alan Scott foi ótima, a leitura dessa minissérie do Sandman deixou muito a desejar. Nela, ele enfrenta uma espécie de "Sandman Sombrio" que está roubando seus estudos e seus trabalhos. O objetivo desta trama é fazer com que Wesley Dodds descubra quem está se passando por ele. Mas não convence e nem empolga. O que é legal e interessante mesmo é a arte de Riley Rossmo, que é extremamente estilizada e quando colocada num cenário do passado causa uma espécie de bugada na mente legal. Mas como sabemos, uma boa história pode ter arte ruim, mas uma arte boa não salva uma história ruim. E é isso que acontece aqui.

[Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Лімітка "Wesley Dodds: The Sandman" є однією з трьох сольних мінісерій про учасників ТСА. Сценаристом тут є Роберт Вендіті, якому не вперше працювати з учасником цієї команди (дуже раджу якось ознайомитися з його раном на Гоукмені), а художником Райлі Росмо.

Відправною точкою в нашій історії стає день коли Веслі вирішує використати свої знання у газах, які він здобув розробляючи свій фірмовий сонний газ, для того, щоб укласти угоду з армією щодо використання несмертельної зброї на основі його досліджень у Другій світовій. Зустріч проходить невдало оскільки генерала цікавить більш смертельний підхід, а справи Додса стають тільки гіршими коли хтось проникає в його дім, викрадає усі дослідження нашого оригінального Пісочного Чоловіка й на додачу спалює помешкання. І тепер наш герой повинен знайти свій журнал поки не стало запізно.

Лімітка мені сподобалося, вона досить добре знайомить нас з Веслі та його оточенням, так що якщо не знайомі з персонажем, то можете взятися, разом з тим Вендіті також робить невеликі відсилки на те, що чекає цього Сендмена у майбутньому. Одними з цікавих тем серії є самокопання Додса навколо його переконань і тим як їх ставлять під сумнів тогочасні реалії, страху щодо того як можуть використати викрадені в нього напрацювання, а також як участь його батька в Першій світовій вплинула на нього. Щодо самого сюжету то за ним цікаво спостерігати плюс він досить часто підкидує прикольні моменти, велику долю кайфу в які вносить малюнок Росмо. Його стиль є досить специфічним через, що не завжди підходить до деяких серій, просто згадайте останній онґоїнґ Тіма Дрейка, однак тут він вписався на ура.

Я залишився неймовірно задоволений цією ліміткою, як я уже не раз згадував у відгуках, що я люблю персонажів Золотої Доби, так що мені було тільки в радість нарешті прочитати щось про Додса (колись і до "Загадкового театру" доберуся). Щодо Вендіті то він вкотре довів, що вміє працювати з ТСАшниками й аж трохи обідно, що їх онґоїнґ відійшов Леміру. Однозначно раджу прочитати цю серію.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, fun read. The original Sandman (when in the gas mask costume) has always been one of my favorite Golden Age heroes, and after the fantastic Sandman Mystery Theatre series of the 1990s I never thought we'd get as good we got with Wagner's exquisite scripts. So I'm a happy fan here. The bad guys are pretty obvious from the beginning, but author Venditti does explore the meaning of power, what it means to wield it and what it means to throttle it back, as well as the simple fear of loosening something horrible a la Pandora.

Riley Rossmo's art isn't for everyone, but I really like it. Kinda abstract, but definitely not standard super hero art. Rossmo's action scenes are dynamic as hell and some of the expressions he draws are hilarious.

Best of all, we see a brief glimpse of the JSA and... Sandy! I had forgotten he was Dian's nephew. When he grows up to be Sand in Geoff Johns's JSA series, I completely fell in love with the character. Even if he's only shown here briefly, it was a great addition.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good! Would definitely continue reading this, though I believe this is the beginning and end of this series. But Dawn of DC sounds really cool.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly the best of these JSA reintroductions. Riley Rossmo's artwork is dynamic and well suited to the hero, a sort of proto-Batman who uses his wealth, scientific prowess, and dislike of killing to take down low-level baddies in New York.

Of course, in this book, Wesley Dodds/The Sandman gets tangled up with a bigger foe: The US army! The twists are fairly predictable, but the plot, dialogue, and pacing are smooth sailing. This one really felt like a lost piece of the Hellboy universe, shades of Lobster Johnson for sure.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

"War crimes are for the defeated."

What a profound statement to come from a comic book.

This was more like it. The Sandman Mystery Theatre series is one of my all time favorite comic series, but the "Sleep of Reason" follow up I didn't care for. This was a little better. Still not quite as good as the original series, it was very well done. The art was a little cartoony for this character, but overall still very good. I also really liked the ending.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's sad, such a talented writer doesn't get a bigger break with the big two. Robert Venditti has been the writer of some of my favorite comic book series with DC comics. Whatever character he is given he really eats it up. The voice and the universe for each character he writes sounded authentic to the hero's history within the DC universe. Wesley Dodds: The Sandman is no exception. Vendetti has written a great pulpy murder mystery with a few twists and turns that kept me interested to the very end. The world sounds and feels true to the pre-World War II American experience. Many DC fans might find Rossmo's artwork to be a bit offputting but I found it matched the cheesy feel to this throwback tale. You don't have to read the current JSA books to get where the story is going in this book but Venditti does a great job alluding to the larger DC comics universe. The colors really poped on this book and added to the quirky dream-like feel that one would expect from the type of action you'd get from Sandman, a superhero that carries and sleeping-inducing gas gun. I am always a sucker for old school pulp heroes and this book definitely hit that sweet spot. Here are few old school superhero books I recently enjoyed : Batman / The Shadow: The Murder Geniuses, Jay Garrick: The Flash, Batman: Gotham Noir, The Bat-Man: First Knight, Captain America & Bucky: The Life Story of Bucky Barnes and Batman and the Monster Men.

[DrCrower · Rating 4 out of 5]

No las tenía todas conmigo con el retorno de Wesley Dodds a la actual continuidad de Universo DC. Hace apenas unos meses que terminé la extraordinaria "Sandman Mystery Theatre" y tenía mis dudas de si quería volver a afrontar una etapa del personaje en la que no estuvieran involucrados Steven Seagle, Matt Wagner o Guy Davis (aquel intento de crear un "nuevo Sandman" en la mini-serie "A Sleep of Reason" me dejó mal recuerdo). El primer episodio de esta nueva aventura del personaje, escrito por Robert Venditti y dibujado Riley Rossmo, no terminó de llamarme la atención...
Pero número a número me fue conquistando. No es una secuela de "Mystery Theatre" (se la supone integrada en la nueva continuidad del universo DC, si es que eso le importa a alguien ya a estas alturas), pero hay algún que otro guiño a la serie de Vertigo. Reaparecen personajes (obviamente Dian tiene un papel importante, pero menos que en MS, ya que las limitaciones de la serie la hacen más "Wesleycéntrica, también su padre, el Fiscal Belmont, el mayordomo de Dodds, Humphries y hasta el forense Hubert Klein: lo admito, me dio pena no ver al sargento Burke), el tono de la historia está más cercano al "pulp" detectivesco que al cómic de superhéroes y el argumento es interesante, con buenos giros y un conflicto potente para el pobre Wes. Y, al igual que me ocurrió con Guy Davis en su día, al final de la serie me había adaptado tanto al arte de Riley Rossmo, que ahora quiero descubrir más cosas suyas.
Una agradable sorpresa que este título haya encontrado su lugar en el catálogo actual de ECC, aunque sea en tapa dura y a precio de caviar beluga.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly a very fun read as we go back to the late 1930s and we see the origin or year one adventures of Wesley dodds aka the sandman and I just love how pulpy it is, and I just love these kinds of stories or stories set in this era and its so well done here, like the way the writer shows the motives and fears of the characters through the incidents in the book and also why he uses gases, his morals and all that and that informs his heroic side and it really made me love the character.

I love the backstory with his father and then the friend "Wheeler" whose sort of helping him even after his house is burned and you think that he may have nefarious motives and the writer plays into it and weaves such a fascinating story which talks about weapons and military and the fears of the character coming true and then the element of personal betrayal and what that means for the character and changes him. Plus JSA cameos in the beginning and end made me love it.

It really ties well into the new golden age imprint and shows you the rise of the hero, and retcons somethings for sure but even as a standalone its such a fun take on the character and his mythos and I am guessing "the fog" is a new villain and I just love the design.. its essentially evil sandman that plays into the typical arch-nemesis of the hero and it lives to that periods storytelling plus cameos by even Sandy, I just love it. I will stop gushing about the series now and pls do read it!!

[Alex Sarll]

With the other Sandman in the doghouse, this could have been Wesley Dodds' time to shine – though coincidentally, if you believe in coincidence, this miniseries briefly introduces another dark mirror to him, a criminal who's stolen some of his gear. Which means we get a couple of scenes where two figures in slightly different colour schemes of trenchcoat, hat and gas mask are fighting amid clouds of gas: not the easiest thing to follow. The mystery supposedly forming the main plot, on the other hand, is insultingly easy to unravel: simply by mentioning Wesley's early meeting with a caricature military man who pooh-poohs the idea of non-lethal warfare, I've already given away who might just have an interest in the notebook with earlier, deadlier formulae Wesley spurned on the way to perfecting his sleep gas. Robert Venditti has been impressing me more as a writer lately, because Superman '78 is a delight, but this isn't on anything like that level. Riley Rossmo's art is, as ever, lively and expressive, and well-suited to the scenes of gas-induced hallucination, but unlike Sandman Mystery Theatre, there's little sense of noir in the waking world, which feels like a missed goal when the setting is summer 1940 and America's imminent involvement in the war (on the right side – how times change, eh?) drives much of the story. Mainly I found myself thinking how much Dodds reminds me of Campion, and how good a young Peter Davison would have been in the role.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the various JSA mini-series begin to reach their conclusion it is a bit of a shame. So far they have been surprisingly well executed, IMO, much better than I anticipated. Possibly because when re-visiting any IP created nearly a century ago the questions become updating the IP to modern story telling, etc.

Say, movies like I Spy or The Man from UNCLE. It doesn't mean that revisiting those IP mean a slavish adherence to the prior incarnation's tone, or an update where logic appears thrown out the window.

This version of The Sandman previously had a series of their own, The Sandman Mystery Theater (which what few issues I read was good). This arguably spends more time on Wesley and his family than on the crime fighting.

Because part of what haunts Wesley isn't the knockout gas he developed to use in crime fighting.

It is all the other bio warfare weapons he developed that he had written down in a notebook. Now, the notebook has been stolen.

The story concentrates on the notebook, and the wealthy people who hover around Wesley's family wealth. A good try at trying to look at how that class of people handled The Depression.

p.s. There is also some nice work done with Dian Belmont.

[RunningRed NightBringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sometimes wary of comic book limited series that show an adventure from a character's past, cause they're often a lame re-telling of the origin, or a watered down attempt to retell a story printed decades before. Such as the many, many Batman stories featuring the first encounter with Joker or Hugo Strange or , ho hum. Bored now.

But this? As far as I know this is an original story about the Sandman, set during 1940. Wesley has been the Sandman for some time, fighting criminals with his trenchcoat, gas mask and gun that shoots a sleep gas, which here exposes them to their worst fears. It took some trial and error for Wesley to perfect his sleep gas and the earlier versions were fatal. The journal detailing these experiments is stolen and the Sandman has to race to find the culprit before the formulas can be unleashes as horrible chemical warfare on the front lines.

Robert Venditti does an excellent job of giving us an adventure of the Sandman and also highlighting Wesley Dodds' struggle to be a pacifist in the time between two major world wars.

Compliments to Riley Rossmo, the artist who did a great job on the series.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first of three Golden Age characters get their spotlight here as part of the Justice Society of America's revival under Geoff Johns. Robert Venditti gets to pilot Wesley Dodds through an adventure set against the backdrop of anti-war propaganda, as Wesley's sleeping gas gets co-opted to be used as a terrible weapon.

Venditti's story is heartfelt, and maintains a nice air of mystery as well, even with the limited cast of characters in six issues. There are a couple of little links to the other JSA books, but it's nice to see everyone's other favourite Sandman back in the spotlight for a change.

Riley Rossmo's on art, and his zany visuals work surprisingly well for the time period, and especially when things get a little trippy as the story goes on. He doesn't fit every book, but when he's given the right one, he's on fire.

This also reminds me that I really should read Sandman Mystery Theatre one of these days.

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1940, on the brink of World War 2, this taught thriller examines the lengths some will go to wage war. Wesley Dodds only wants his sleeping gas to be used to avoid killing, but his research contains the seeds for much more lethal gases. What will the military and/or arms dealers do to obtain Dodds' notes? So begins a story that combines the mystery and excitement of something like The Shadow with a thought provoking look at the realities of war. Riley Rossmo's artwork is fluid, conveying big action as well as intimacy. There are also a number of excellent variant covers by the likes of Daniel Warren Johnson and Jeff Lemire. The book also serves as a nice prequel to the upcoming Justice Society of America book.
[One somewhat annoying anachronism: one of the female characters is continually referred to as Ms. Belmont. The title Ms. didn’t really take off, however, until the ’60s and ’70s.]

[James Buckley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Wagner and Steven Seagle’s Sandman Mystery Theater was a comic noir masterpiece, gifting us with the adventures of the Sandman/Wesley Dodd in a more grounded setting than the hero’s later exploits with the JSA. In this new graphic novel, Robert Venditti takes us back to the years just before the U.S. entered World War II. Dodds is frustrated when his efforts to convince the military to use his research as a non-lethal means of warfare fall on deaf ears. And even worse, his home is invaded by a new foe who is a dark counterpart to the Sandman, and who is determined to use Dodds’ inventions in a much more deadly manner than Dodds’ ever contemplated. The storyline is compelling, the art is great, and the Sandman’s new nemesis (The Fog?) has a very cool design. All in all, a welcome return to one of my favorite comic book series. And with a pretty cool ending …

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every story of Wesley Dodds will always be held up against Sandman Mystery Theatre for comparison, and shockingly, Venditti does a great job of meeting that standard. This is a deep, dark story of 1940 that's very human, just like the best SMT stories. It's also a mystery with multiple layers. The more colorful artwork is certainly different from Guy Davis' subdued palette, but it works! By the final issue, Venditti offers some twists and turns that would have fit right into Wagner's work.

So, this is a great sequel, a fun story, and ultimately a decent bridge to the JSA.

(I checked it out from the library as I couldn't imagine these one-off miniseries would be any good, but it looks like I might have to add them to my JSA collection.)

[Shannon Schmelzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, but not great.

For me, it was a bit of a disappointment. Sandman Mystery Theatre was a book I read a long time ago and loved. It made Wesley Dodds easily my favorite Justice Society member. But this series went for that same pulp feel, but just didn't quite land the plane. The art was good, but just not quite "down to earth" enough for what this series was trying to do. Honestly, it was way too "superhero-y." The story itself was fine, but just wasn't a very good mystery in the same way as those old SMT stories were.

So if you really like the character of Sandman, I'd say sure, go ahead and pick this up. You get to see Wesley and Dian in action one more time. But otherwise, save your money.

[Rodolfo Santullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Para alguien que dice leer poco y nada de superhéroes, este mes desmiente mi propia percepción. Miniserie autoconclusiva con uno de mis personajes favoritos de la Golden Age que fui leyendo mes a mes hasta completar sus seis números, tenemos aquí un maravilloso noir con traiciones, conspiraciones, una investigación policial bien armada y un mensaje antibélico sólido y coherente con las convicciones del personaje. Y tenemos también el arte inmenso de Rossmo, un tipo al que me gustaría verlo dibujar cuantas más historietas pueda. Es fresco. Es dinámico. Es asombroso. Es todo lo que una historieta de aventuras debería ser.

[Barbosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wesley Dodds: Sandman es lo que se esperaría de un personaje que lleva demasiados años escondido en un cajón. Esta es su presentación, no puedes arriesgar a tener una historia realmente compleja en personajes que no conocemos o por lo menos estas son las directrices de DC Comics. El problema llega cuando toda su historia ya nos suena y es un conjunto de clichés que solo nos llevan a un final que ya hemos visto venir hace 40 páginas. ¿Esto es un gran problema? No, es ampliamente disfrutable tanto su acción retro como sus magníficos diseños, por mucho que el guion no quiera arriesgar ni un poco.

https://freakelitex.com/resena-wesley...

[Rhys Causon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew off Wesley Dodds only in a passing manner from cameo appearances in other stuff, such as Gaiman’s Sandman and the occasional piece of media I’ve seen the Justice Society in, so it was fun to read an adventure that followed him in the 1940s when he was active.

This is one of the more fun reads I’ve had in a while, in terms of comics and despite the subject matter and depictions of chemical warfare, so it’s an easy 4 star read for me personally.

Might have to check out more of this character if I find more.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relaunching the stories of the JSA can't be an easy task...

There's a LOT of history you have to parse through. It definitely benefits from the 40's era noir feel to the book. Having your lead be an emphatic pacifist is a rough sell, but they expertly state his case and show how he can be such a strong individual in the 'new' age of Golden Age heroes.

===
Bonus: Think they'll expand on the classic storyline with Dodd's connection to Gaiman's, 'Sandman'?

[Mik Cope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as individual issues. I really enjoyed this: the plot is complex, full of action, intrigue and betrayal. With WWII looming, Wesley Dodds has to face up to the genie he has let out of the bottle in his attempt to perfect a non lethal weapon. But not everyone shares his pacifist ideals. The artwork initially put me off, but I got to like it.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat 1940s detective story reminiscent of Batman and presumably pulling from the same old genre stories that both arose from. Rossmo’s idiosyncratic art style looks great here.

“Exactly the point of society parties—pretending nothing is wrong in the world anywhere at all.”

“Is it the immutable nature of humanity that we create the means of our demise?”