| Sandy Hawkins | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cover toJustice Society of America, Volume 2 #5 (2007), art byAlex Ross | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941) |
| Created by | Mort Weisinger (writer) Paul Norris (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sanderson "Sandy" Hawkins |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | Justice Society of America All-Star Squadron Young All-Stars Justice League |
| Notable aliases | Sandy the Golden Boy, Sand, Sandman |
| Abilities |
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Sanderson "Sandy"Hawkins, formerly known asSandy the Golden Boy,Sands,Sand and currently known asSandman, is a character appearing in comics published byDC Comics. He was created by writerMort Weisinger and artistPaul Norris, he first appeared inAdventure Comics #69.[1] After being unutilized for several years, he was reintroduced by writersDavid S. Goyer andGeoff Johns in the comicJSA in the late 1990s and with a greatly expanded set of powers and responsibilities. He eventually took on the name of Sandman, succeedinghis former mentor.
The character ofSandy the Golden Boy was created as asidekick to theSandman.[2] Created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, the nephew of The Sandman's girlfriendDian Belmont, the character debuted as a tights-wearing youth (in the same vein as Robin the Boy Wonder) inAdventure Comics #69 (Dec 1941).[3] This same issue also showcased a new yellow-and-purple costume for The Sandman.
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 reimagined them as super-heroes, characters such asGreen Lantern andHawkman. September 1961 saw the publication of "Flash of Two Worlds" inThe Flash #123. This was the first new story using an original mystery-man character, namely, theFlash (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 writerLen Wein inJustice League of America #113 in 1974.[4]
Len Wein wrote of his inspiration in the compilation bookCrisis 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 bornThe Creature in the Velvet Cage".[5]
In this story, it was revealed that, in the 1940s, Sandy had been transformed into a huge, sand-like creature when an experimental weapon Sandman was testing exploded. Wracked with guilt, Sandman stopped wearing the costume he'd worn as Sandy's partner and went back to his original outfit. The transformed Sandy had been kept in a glass cage for decades. In a later story (DC Comics Presents #47, July 1982), Sandy was finally turned back into his human self and found that he hadn't aged in all that time; physically, he was still a teenager.[6]
The 1980s saw writerRoy Thomas' World War II era seriesThe All-Star Squadron (pre-Crisis) and theYoung All-Stars (post-Crisis). Sandy was brought into the Squadron storyline during theCrisis crossover, beginning with issue #51 (Nov 1985). That book soon ceased printing and was replaced by theYoung 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 specialLast 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 World War II uniform of yellow-and-red. The story relates how he and other JSA members are taken intoRagnarok where they must fight forever. Published in 1992, theArmageddon Inferno miniseries written byJohn 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.
The 1999 seriesJSA was preceded by aJSA 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 byJames Robinson andDavid S. Goyer. Issue 18 of the series, written by David Goyer andGeoff Johns, introduced retconned history for the character including his "killing" ofJohnny Sorrow in 1944 (Sandy shot Sorrow's dimension-shifting equipment and the damage trapped Sorrow in another dimension). The JSA–JSA storyline[7] 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 and the year of the silicoid accident is changed from 1947[8] to 1945. Issue #83 (2006) is part of theOne Year Later of the DC comics line; in this issue written byPaul 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).
This book debuted in February 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 inWizard #180 (October 2006) Sand would become the JSA's "Recon Man" doing more detective work in the process. He 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 was not used in the series, nor were his face and name shown in the JSA roll call found framing the main story pages. He was not seen again until issue #14 (2008) where Johns portrayed him as tormented by perverse and horror-filled nightmares. He was briefly freed of these dreams by the powerfulGog, as part of a series of gifts Gog gave to those who confronted him,[9] but Sand came to reject this gift as he felt it made him a less effective investigator, discovering a dead child that he was sure he could have saved if he still had his dreams. When the JSA discovered that Gog was forming a parasitical bond to Earth that would make it impossible for him to leave without destroying the planet if he wasn't driven off now, Gog took back his gifts in a fit of pique.[10]
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Hawkins returns alongside many other superheroes to the DC Universe whenDoctor Manhattan, inspired bySuperman, undoes the changes that he made to the timeline that erased the Justice Society and theLegion of Super-Heroes.[11]
In the pages of "The New Golden Age", Sandy's history of being Dian's nephew is still intact. Following the death of Wheeler Vanderlyle, Dian brings him to an almost-rebuilt Dodds Mansion where she introduces him to Wesley Dodds.[12]
Like his mentor, Hawkins developed prophetic dreams. He later gained a silicon-based body that is elastic, highly durable, and able to transform into sand. Additionally he gains control over seismic energy.
Hawkins is proficient with many handgun-based weapons such as gas guns and wirepoon guns.
