[2] He was also credited with co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.

Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as having co-created the original Wesley Dodd version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.

He was serving on the aircraft carrier Ranger in 1941 when he was recruited to join the American Volunteer Group to fight the invading Japanese in the skies over China and Burma.

In 1942, Christman's plane was shot down and he was killed while parachuting by the Japanese Army Air Force while flying in defense of the Burma Road.

He was buried with the full military honors due to being a colonel in the Chinese Air Force.