Sandman Mystery Theatre, Vol. 8: The Blackhawk and the Return of the Scarlet Ghost

Product Description

In this series of noir detective tales of intrigue, bigotry and incest, millionaire Wesley Dodds takes on the costumed persona of the Sandman in 1930s New York donning a gas mask, fedora, business suit and cape to fight the forces of evil.

In this eighth volume, in the early days of World War II, the Sandman finds himself drawn into international intrigue when a brash young Polish pilot petitions him to finance the resistance efforts overseas. But a string of murders seems to follow this pilot, whom the Sandman will come to know as Blackhawk.

Then, the Sandman examines the seedy world of pulp publishing in 1930’s New York. With the market for dime novels dwindling, publishers are willing to try anything – even crime. Wesley Dodds sets out to learn why one publisher has become a target for sabotage and murder.

From Booklist

In these two story arcs of the 1990s comic book, the trenchcoat-garbed 1930s crimefighter has a run-in with a young Polish pilot and freedom fighter who will later become the WWII comics star Blackhawk, and his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, launches a writing career that leads her—and the Sandman—into the sleazy world of pulp publishing. Only tangentially related to Neil Gaiman’s phenomenally popular Sandman character, this grittier spin-off developed a far smaller but equally enthusiastic following, thanks to the intricate plotting and nuanced characterization provided by writers Wagner and Seagle and Guy Davis’ pen-and-ink drawings, which effectively evoke the pulp illustrations of the era. –Gordon Flagg