Sandy Hawkins
Encyclopedia
Sanderson "Sandy" Hawkins, formerly known as Sandy, the Golden Boy, Sands, Sand, and currently as Sandman
, is a fictional character
, superhero
in the DC Comics
universe
created by Mort Weisinger
and Paul Norris
. He first appeared in Adventure Comics
#69.
to the Sandman
. Created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, the character debuted as a tights-wearing youth (in the same vein as Robin the Boy Wonder) in Adventure Comics #69 (Dec 1941). This same issue also showcased a new yellow-and-purple costume for The Sandman.
and Hawkman. September 1961 saw the publication of "Flash of Two Worlds" in The Flash #123. This was the first new story using an original mystery-man character, namely, the Flash (Jay Garrick). The concept of an Earth-1 and Earth-2 began to be developed and soon other 1940s characters were being used in modern stories. Sandy the Golden Boy was reintroduced to the public by writer Len Wein
in Justice League of America #113 in 1974.
Len Wein wrote of his inspiration in the compilation book Crisis on Multiple Earths Volume 3 (2004):
"I had always been a fan of the Golden Age Sandman, and had always wondered why he'd been put back into his double-breasted Man of Mystery Gas-Mask outfit when he was revived, instead of the more traditional purple-and-yellow super-hero costume he'd worn in the latter days of the 1940s. This would make the perfect place to find out. Thus was born The Creature in the Velvet Cage."
World War Two era series The All-Star Squadron
(pre-Crisis) and the Young All-Stars
(post-Crisis). Sandy was brought into the Squadron storyline during the Crisis cross-over, beginning with issue #51 (Nov 1985). That book soon ceased printing and was replaced by the Young All-Stars (June 1987) where Sandy played a role in issues 2 through 8. This series states that Sandy is fourteen going on fifteen in the Spring of 1942.
Also written by Roy Thomas, the one-issue special Last Days of the JSA published in 1986 depicts the departure of the JSA characters. Although taking place in the modern era (within weeks of the Crisis), Sandy is still depicted as a teenager wearing his WWII uniform of yellow-and-red. The story relates how he and other JSA members are taken into Ragnarok
where they must fight forever. Published in 1992, the Armageddon Inferno miniseries written by John Ostrander
takes the JSA members out of Ragnarok and brings them back to earth, allowing writers to use them in future stories. Sandy is one of these characters.
. Issue 18 of the series, written by David Goyer and Geoff Johns
, introduced retconned history for the character including his "killing" of Johnny Sorrow
in 1944. The JSA/JSA storyline (JSA 68-72, 2005) has Sand time travel to 1951 and interact with The Sandman; writer Geoff Johns states the present-day age of the character as being "biologically 25," but his birth year is changed to 1926 (Roy Thomas had given the character an age of 14 in 1942 making the birth year 1928), the "Velvet Cage" story from the 1970s is also referenced and rewritten to an extent, the year of the silicoid accident is changed from 1947 (JSA Secret Files #1) to 1945. Issue #83 (2006) is part of the One Year Later reboot of the DC comics line; in this issue written by Paul Levitz
, Sand is no longer shown as a member of the JSA. Sand makes no more appearances in the series which ended with issue #87 (2006)
Man" doing more detective work in the process.
This character was brought in on issue #3 appearing in a cloud of smoke and speaking of nightmares, attributes more recognizable of Wesley Dodds than for Sanderson Hawkins. Issue #5 shows this version of Hawkins as more sober and serious than previous incarnations. For about a year the character is not used in the new series, his face and name are not part of the JSA roll call found framing the main story page. He is not seen again until issue #14 (2008) where Geoff Johns portrays the character as a man tormented by perverse and horror-filled nightmares.
, in his Sand persona making notable cameos in the stories "Initiation," "Clash" and "Panic In The Sky." His powers and origin are presumed to be the same as his comic book counterpart. Despite negligible screen time on the show, Sand was included as an action figure in Mattel's popular Justice League Unlimited toyline
in early 2007.
Sandman (DC Comics)
Sandman is the name of seven fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. All are connected in one way or the other, though there are three largely dissimilar concepts, with two or three persons having served in each role various times...
, is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
created by Mort Weisinger
Mort Weisinger
Mortimer Weisinger was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' Superman during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books...
and Paul Norris
Paul Norris
Paul Leroy Norris was an American comic book artist best known as co-creator of the DC Comics superhero Aquaman, and for a 35-year run as artist of the newspaper comic strip Brick Bradford.-Early life and career:...
. He first appeared in Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
#69.
Golden Age
The Character of Sandy the Golden Boy was created as a sidekickSidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
to the Sandman
Sandman (Wesley Dodds)
Sandman , is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman....
. Created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, the character debuted as a tights-wearing youth (in the same vein as Robin the Boy Wonder) in Adventure Comics #69 (Dec 1941). This same issue also showcased a new yellow-and-purple costume for The Sandman.
Silver Age
The flourish of mystery-men comic books came to an end in the late 1940s. About ten years later DC Comics reintroduced some of the mystery-men characters in new books, but reimaged them as super-heroes, characters such as Green LanternHal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...
and Hawkman. September 1961 saw the publication of "Flash of Two Worlds" in The Flash #123. This was the first new story using an original mystery-man character, namely, the Flash (Jay Garrick). The concept of an Earth-1 and Earth-2 began to be developed and soon other 1940s characters were being used in modern stories. Sandy the Golden Boy was reintroduced to the public by writer Len Wein
Len Wein
Len Wein is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men...
in Justice League of America #113 in 1974.
Len Wein wrote of his inspiration in the compilation book Crisis on Multiple Earths Volume 3 (2004):
"I had always been a fan of the Golden Age Sandman, and had always wondered why he'd been put back into his double-breasted Man of Mystery Gas-Mask outfit when he was revived, instead of the more traditional purple-and-yellow super-hero costume he'd worn in the latter days of the 1940s. This would make the perfect place to find out. Thus was born The Creature in the Velvet Cage."
The 1980s and 1990s
The 1980s saw writer Roy Thomas'Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
World War Two era series The All-Star Squadron
All-Star Squadron
The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in a special insert in Justice League of America #193 . Created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway.-The concept:...
(pre-Crisis) and the Young All-Stars
Young All-Stars
The Young All-Stars are a team of fictional DC Comics superheroes. They were created by Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, and Michael Bair, and introduced in Young All-Stars #1, dated June 1987.-Publication history:...
(post-Crisis). Sandy was brought into the Squadron storyline during the Crisis cross-over, beginning with issue #51 (Nov 1985). That book soon ceased printing and was replaced by the Young All-Stars (June 1987) where Sandy played a role in issues 2 through 8. This series states that Sandy is fourteen going on fifteen in the Spring of 1942.
Also written by Roy Thomas, the one-issue special Last Days of the JSA published in 1986 depicts the departure of the JSA characters. Although taking place in the modern era (within weeks of the Crisis), Sandy is still depicted as a teenager wearing his WWII uniform of yellow-and-red. The story relates how he and other JSA members are taken into Ragnarok
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
where they must fight forever. Published in 1992, the Armageddon Inferno miniseries written by John Ostrander
John Ostrander
John Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.-Career:...
takes the JSA members out of Ragnarok and brings them back to earth, allowing writers to use them in future stories. Sandy is one of these characters.
JSA
The 1999 series JSA was preceded by a JSA Secret Files special. The special and the series reintroduced Sandy, but now as a young man calling himself Sand. This new and further development of the character was written by James Robinson and David S. GoyerDavid S. Goyer
David Samuel Goyer is an American screenwriter, film director and comic book writer.-Early life:Goyer was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended Hebrew school and has described himself as "half Jewish"...
. Issue 18 of the series, written by David Goyer and Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, where he has been Chief Creative Officer since February 2010, in particular for characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman...
, introduced retconned history for the character including his "killing" of Johnny Sorrow
Johnny Sorrow
Johnny Sorrow is a fictional character that appears in publications published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1 Johnny Sorrow is a fictional character that appears in publications published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in...
in 1944. The JSA/JSA storyline (JSA 68-72, 2005) has Sand time travel to 1951 and interact with The Sandman; writer Geoff Johns states the present-day age of the character as being "biologically 25," but his birth year is changed to 1926 (Roy Thomas had given the character an age of 14 in 1942 making the birth year 1928), the "Velvet Cage" story from the 1970s is also referenced and rewritten to an extent, the year of the silicoid accident is changed from 1947 (JSA Secret Files #1) to 1945. Issue #83 (2006) is part of the One Year Later reboot of the DC comics line; in this issue written by Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...
, Sand is no longer shown as a member of the JSA. Sand makes no more appearances in the series which ended with issue #87 (2006)
Justice Society of America
This book debuted in Feb 2007, written by Geoff Johns. The cover of this book shows the round table of the JSA surrounded by 17 heroes including Sanderson Hawkins, now wearing a black cape and fedora reminiscent of the original Sandman, but also gloves and a mask unlike any other incarnation of Sand or The Sandman - it appears to be a cross between the masks of Hawkins & Dodds, and mixed with designs borrowed from the Helm of Dream of the Endless. According to Geoff Johns' interview in Wizard Magazine # 180 (October 2006) Sand will become the JSA's "ReconReconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
Man" doing more detective work in the process.
This character was brought in on issue #3 appearing in a cloud of smoke and speaking of nightmares, attributes more recognizable of Wesley Dodds than for Sanderson Hawkins. Issue #5 shows this version of Hawkins as more sober and serious than previous incarnations. For about a year the character is not used in the new series, his face and name are not part of the JSA roll call found framing the main story page. He is not seen again until issue #14 (2008) where Geoff Johns portrays the character as a man tormented by perverse and horror-filled nightmares.
In other media
Hawkins has briefly appeared in a few episodes of the Cartoon Network animated series Justice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
, in his Sand persona making notable cameos in the stories "Initiation," "Clash" and "Panic In The Sky." His powers and origin are presumed to be the same as his comic book counterpart. Despite negligible screen time on the show, Sand was included as an action figure in Mattel's popular Justice League Unlimited toyline
DC Superheroes: Justice League Unlimited (toy)
DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection is an action figure line based on the highly popular Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Though it was based on the show, the line has continued well beyond it, and has been re-branded in 2008, as a Target exclusive...
in early 2007.