Sandman (Wesley Dodds)

Sandman
Real Name	Wesley Dodds
First Appearance	Adventure Comics #40 (July, 1939)
Creators	Gardner Fox, Bert Christman
Team Affliations	Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron, Black Lantern Corps
Aliases	Grainy Gladiator, Wesley Dodd
Base of Operations	New York City
Powers	Prophetic Dreams, Can put enemies to sleep with his gas gun,
Skills and Abilities	Detective Expertise, Fighting Expertise, Athletic, Chemistry Expertise, Inventor
Tools and Weapons	Gas Mask, Gas Mask, Various Sleeping Gasses

The Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a superhero detective in the DC Universe and the first of many DC characters to bear the name.

Origin

Haunted by nightmares about crime, wealthy playboy Wesley Dodds decided to use what he learned about chemistry to create a weapon that shoots sleeping gas and fights crime as the Sandman.

Biography

Golden Age (Earth-Two)

Raised by his parents Edward and Marina (until her untimely death in 1917) Dodds, Wesley Dodds traveled to Asia at a young age (though exactly when is unclear, save it was likely in his teens or early 20s), where he was educated in martial arts, origami and, most importantly, herbalism. After finishing college, Edward Dodds, a successful investor, passed away, leaving Wesley to inherit the responsibility of his estate and became an investor like his father.

In 1938, Wesley began to have vivid nightmares of crime that plagued his sleep. Using his fortune to create a laboratory, Wesley used his resources and knowledge to develop new chemicals and gasses that induced sleep and hypnosis. He then purchased several gas masks of different makes and created the identity of the Sandman to hunt down the criminals who haunted his dreams by haunting them in the waking hours. Later, he met an old college friend of his named Lee Travis, who he learned was also a superhero; the Crimson Avenger. The two initially fought each other, thinking the other was a villain, but eventually teamed up to stop the Phantom of the World's Fair. After they learned each other's identities, Lee (who had knowledge of firearms) helped Wesley design a gun that sprays sleeping gas.

He then made a name for himself by defeating some high-profile criminals, including The Butcher, Dr. Death and the Scorpion, leaving a poem folded into an origami work near the body of each defeated villain for the police to find. Later, Wesley Dodds met Dian Belmont, daughter of the DA and wealthy socialite and the two later fell in love.

In the 1940's, the Sandman was one of the heroes selected by Doctor Fate to fight against Nazi forces threatening America. Together with the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Spectre, Doctor Fate, Hourman, and the Atom, they became the Justice Society of America and teamed to fight evil as a team, later adding members such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. The Justice Society had many successes, but when the majority of the team was captured by the Nazi villain Per Degaton, Sandman was one of the heroes to form a new superhero team, the All-Star Squadron, to battle the Axis threat on the homefront.

After years of being celebrated heroes, the Justice Society found themselves trapped in a "Ragnarok dimension", eternally fighting a war that allowed the universe beyond to continue existing due to their sacrifice.

Post-Crisis

Following the event known as the Crisis, Sandman's existance was re-written.  Largely, the details were the same, save that Superman and Batman were never born yet and therefore never members of the Justice Society.

In 1941, during a mission with the Justice Society, Sandman faced off against the mad scientist and sorcerer Ian Karkull, who was plotting to murder every person who was destined to become President for the next 50 years.  The heroes where able to defeat Karkull who, upon death, released a form of energy called "chrono-energy" upon members of the Society, including Wesley Dodds.  Since then, Dodds' body (as well as the bodies of several other Society members) aged slower than the average humans, though he wouldn't become aware of this until later in life.

In other media

Appears in Smallville.

Appears in Batman The Brave and the bold.