Wesley Dodds is The Sandman—no, not that one—a 1930’s vigilante armed with a gas mask, a gas gun, and a pocketful of righteous indignation.
Every night, Dodds falls asleep and dreams horrible nightmares about the monstrous criminals who stalk New York City. The only way to silence his nighttime thoughts is to venture out in the night and bring these foul demons to justice. Yes, we’re in the land of the pulps, ladies and gentlemen. Delicious pulp adventure goodness is where my heart lives rent free, and Sandman Mystery Theatre serves up a nice plate of it.
This omnibus collects the first 36 issues of the comic and weighs about as much as a Heisman Trophy. If someone comes to rob your house while you are reading, throw this at them and you’ll be charged with murder.
Dodds makes for an interesting character. The son of a wealthy industrialist, he has the Batman backstory minus the murder. His dad succumbed to a mysterious family illness and now Dodds is the public face of his father’s empire. Unlike Bruce Wayne, who rocks the playboy disguise, Dodds is a bit of a nebbish fuddy-duddy who mostly wobbles around and collects strange looks.
His girlfriend is Dian Belmont, the daughter of a district attorney and a bit of a wild child who isn’t afraid to move out of step with the times. She’s there to fall in love with Dodds, figure out his deep dark secret, and throw tantrums when she learns the truth. Still, she rings true as a character, but, it feels a bit overshadowed by predictable beats and plotting.
The fact that Dodds isn’t a super-powered crime fighter is part of what makes this fun. He’s just a shlub in a trench coat. Sometimes he royally screws up in the heat of the moment, which is a nice change from most comic book characters.
Later, I found out that this is all laying the groundwork for the D.C. Universe and the first Justice League and I swear I groaned so loud I set off a car alarm. I’m just a simple man. I don’t have time for this nonsense. I just want to watch a guy in a fedora beat the hell out of some criminals. If he’s also drowning us in the roar of his blazing .45s, all the better.
Thankfully, Sandman Mystery Theatre seems to understand this. There are a couple references to other properties sprinkled throughout but they aren’t so on the nose that it takes you out of the story.
Each arc of the plot is laid out across four issues, each featuring a “monster of the week” criminal for Dodds to take down. Meanwhile, the story of Wesley and Dian and their changing circumstances plows forward like modern day serial television. It makes for some good reading, all in one sitting, but I read that it was hell for newcomers to the series back in the 1990s when it was coming out month-to-month.
By the end of this huge book, I felt like the four-issue arc structure caused more problems than not. At times, it seemed like writers Steven T. Seagle and Matt Wagner were forced to cram all their ideas into a framework that was often too wide or too narrow for them to maneuver in.
Still, if you’re in the market for a guy in a mask and a fedora hitting people—and I always am—then you could do a lot worse than Sandman Mystery Theatre. It’s a fun yarn to read through and you’ll totally tone your arms lugging this monster around with you.
Joe Johnson Writer 
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