The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Allen Bert Christman.

He was originally one of the "mystery men" to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s, but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring a sidekick, Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America (JSA).

Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.

[1][full citation needed] Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.

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 Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.

[8] Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.

Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.

The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world.

[11] Dodd's sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America.

He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a silicon-based life-form.

In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant.

Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of Kingdom Come, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans.

Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to his friend Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.

When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.

[25] They are later assigned by Commander Khan to a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.