Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodd version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics No. 40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1 while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.

Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through No. 102 (March 1945). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.

In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.

Attired in a green business suit, fedora, and gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930's.

He was later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a more modern image of a superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.

Though in the 90's series "Sandman Mystery Theatre" he would return to his more Pulp hero based roots

5936619
My favorite Sandman is the Lord of Dream (and reality) Dream of the Endless.

5936653 That one and Marvel's Sandman are the only ones anyone cares to know about anymore.

5936619 I always thought the Wesley Dodds Sandman was an interesting character. I loved Sandman Mystery Theater, but I've only read one or two of the original comics. Hopefully this character gets more recognition in the future.

5936619 I need to get back into Sandman Mystery Theater. I never did finish that series, but I loved the noir-ish detective stories I got through.