Sandman- JSA Legacies Project Day 7 #JSApril
What is JSApril?
The Justice Society of America made their debut in All-Star Comics #3 in 85 years ago. In celebration, the folks over at Fire and Water Podcasting Network have assembled bloggers, podcasters, and many more creators to honor the world’s first superhero team. Find the full list of participants and more over at Fire and Water Network’s webpage and I truly encourage you all to check out some of the amazing things people have been creating.
For 15 days this April, I will be posting JSA members and their legacies characters whether it’s their successor, former sidekick, or even their kid.
Today subject is one of the oldest members of the JSA and one of my personal favorite:
Sandman and Sand
In terms of publication date and in-universe age, The Sandman is one of the oldest members of the JSA outside of Superman and Batman, (and they really don’t count). Sandman was originally a true mystery man in the sense he was armed with just his two fists, a business suit, a gas gun, and a WWI-era gas mask. He would get a revamp to be more of a superhero and gained a sidekick in Sanderson Hawkins aka Sandy!
Jack Kirby and Joe Simon did a lot of amazing comic work and character designs. This is not one of them.
In the 1990’s- Dodds would get his own Vertigo series in Sandman Mystery Theatre that is a mature, noir-tinged tale of Dodds early years as he battles crime and meets and falls in love with his lifelong partner- Diann Belmont. We also see Dodds be cursed with prophetic dreams of crime that drive his insomnia. This is his only real “power” and one that will be passed along to future incarnations of the character.
As for Sandy, he got turned into a sand monster, but got better. He would become a major player in the 90’s JSA series by Robinson and Johns as the character Sand. Sandy’s primary power is that he transforms into sand at will and is later gifted the ability of prophetic dreams when Dodds passed away. Sand is still around in the current Lemire-penned JSA series.
If you want to learn more about Wesley Dodds, I recommend reading this article by professional DC Comics expert Alex Jaffee that gives a great rundown on Dodds, Sandy, and other people named Sandman.
Sandman (Wesley Dodds)
The final piece may be one of my favorite things I’ve painted so far in this project. I decided to follow Guy Davis rendition of Dodds over his original Golden Age appearance. It is just iconic and how Davis uses hatching and intricate line work to create this almost scratchy looking character makes it feel so unique. This comic was not something you would expect to see in the 90’s
Words by Matt Wagner. Art by Guy Davis
The Process
I am not the best at crosshatching. That said, I wanted to do my best rendition of Sandman Mystery Theatre Wesley Dodds. The color palate was difficult to nail down. Dodds is famous for wearing a green suit and purple overcoat/cape. Yet, Mystery Theatre doesn’t really have that show up that often. I decided to go for a very cool blue/gray overcoat. I did this by mixing red and blue pigments to get the gray and then laying a Prussian blue wash over top. This created a lovely richness to the the jacket. As for the brown suit, I mixed this pigment as well in an attempt create a warm brown to standout from the jacket.
As for the background, I left it white and did a quick ink wash of India ink around the image. Also, opted to leave the JSA logo white to create this stark contrast. I really liked how this piece came together.
Sand (Sanderson Hawkins)
Sand only has one major costume design: A slick body suit with a modern gas mask and occasionally wears a trench coat. This made the decision process pretty simple as there wasn’t any particular style I was trying to emulate.
The Process
Again, the color palate proved to be tricky. I decided to only paint him with a gray body suit and brown trench coat. I experimented with salt to get the sand texture effect. Salt absorbs some of the water and pigment as the paint dries. This creates an unique drying effect on the paper and I think it was quite successful
Closing Thoughts
I got experimental with these characters I truly love. I find myself wanting to try more new things as I continue this project. This could be due to my ADHD demanding change so I don’t get bored by the project or my growing confidence in the medium. After all, I have only been using watercolors since August.
Join us next time as we take a look at another JSA member who is technically their own legacy, but not- Wonder Woman.
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