Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: golden age, sandman

How Do DC Comics Make Wesley Dodds' Sandman a Pacifist Superhero?

Wesley Dodds: The Sandman by Rob Venditti and Riley Rossmo is being pitched as a pacifist? Can you have a pacifist superhero?

Wesley Dodds: The Sandman by Rob Venditti and Riley Rossmo is a new six-issue mini-series from DC Comics beginning in October, out this Tuesday just in time for New York Comic Con. And telling the Golden Age stories of Wesley Dodds, the original Sandman and member of the Justice Society Of America. Created by Gardner Fox and Bert Christman, he was a street vigilante created in 1939 alongside many others. He was rather overshadowed by Neil Gaiman's reimaging of the Sandman in the eighties, but that also lead to the long-running Sandman Mystery Theatre starring the gas-masked superhero from DC Comics' Vertigo line, and gave DC two ongoing, if very different, Sandman comic books at the time.

So how come he is being pitched as a pacifist? Can you have a pacifist superhero? The first issue shows Wesley Dodds working on a different approach to warfare.

"Having learned about the battlefield horrors of World War I from his father, he sought to create a sleep gas that would allow for "humane" warfare." And that means something that could simply knock out, rather than kill, the opponent's army. Not that this seems to go down well. And then his research is stolen…

Wesley Dodds; The Sandman #1 is published by DC Comcis on Tuesday. It's one of a number of new titles that will be under The New Golden Age banner showrun by writer and former DC Comics COO Geoff Johns and will launch in October 2023. Wesley Dodds: The Sandman joins Jay Garrick: The Flash and Alan Scott: The Green Lantern. Here's a preview that ran in DC Comics last week.

WESLEY DODDS THE SANDMAN #1 (OF 6) CVR A RILEY ROSSMO
(W) Robert Venditti (A/CA) Riley Rossmo
THE GOLDEN AGE SANDMAN RETURNS IN A NEW NOIR MYSTERY! No one escapes the Sandman's dark dreams, not even Wesley Dodds himself. After years of testing and experimentation, Wesley perfected his sleep gas as the optimal weapon to fight crime without causing undue harm. But when his journal detailing all his failed and far more deadly formulas is stolen, the Sandman must hunt down the thief and the people in the shadows pulling the strings before the contents of the journal are released! Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 10/10/2023

WESLEY DODDS THE SANDMAN #2 (OF 6) CVR B DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON CARD STOCK VAR
(W) Robert Venditti (A) Riley Rossmo (CA) Daniel Warren Johnson
Wesley's journal of deadly gases is out there in the city, in the hands of a villain who knows he's the Sandman! Can Wesley solve the mystery of who broke into his home before these noxious weapons are unleashed on the world, or is Sandman fated to fade away into the mists? Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 11/14/2023

WESLEY DODDS THE SANDMAN #3 (OF 6) CVR A RILEY ROSSMO
(W) Robert Venditti (A/CA) Riley Rossmo
Wesley's search for answers brings him to the city morgue as he learns the man who broke into his home didn't die from the fire. But the clues he finds land him face-to-face with the true villain, and he's already begun using the Sandman gear. Enter: the Fog! Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 12/12/2023

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