<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993-1998) is a comic book series by DC Comics' Vertigo line. Vertigo is the label DC uses for its adult horror, mystery, and fantasy comic books.

The series stars the Sandman (Wesley Dodds), a character that had a short run during the Golden Age of Comics, the 1940s. The Sandman was a mystery man, who wore a gas mask and used a gas gun to bring criminals to justice. The gas he employed would either put criminals to sleep or hypnotize them to reveal information. Wesley and Dian, his "female companion", solved mysteries and brought serial killers and demented villains to justice.

In this series, Wesley would dream of violent crimes and criminals. These precognitive dreams would compel him to try and put a stop to these same criminals. The series was famous for its "film-noir" feel and gritty adult sensibility. Dodds relationship with Dian Belmont (they had a love affair that would last for decades, but never married) was realistically depicted and placed in historical context taking into account the mores of the time.

The series established a connection between this seminal superhero character and Neil Gaiman’s new The Sandman (Vertigo) comic book character, who was a mystical ruler of the Dream world named Morpheus. This, however, was not the focus of the series.