Fire & Water #198 – Whatever Happened To…? Sandman/Sandy The Golden Boy

Shag & Rob discuss the next installments of "Whatever Happened To...?" We love these back-up strips from DC COMICS PRESENTS! This time we're covering adventures from DCCP #42 & 47, featuring Sandman and his partner Sandy the Golden Boy! We wrap up with YOUR Listener Feedback!

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22 responses to “Fire & Water #198 – Whatever Happened To…? Sandman/Sandy The Golden Boy

  1. Great episode guys~ FYI When you were discussing the Air Wave feedback I think Shag was recalling Reddy Killowat, a corporate logo/character used by many utilities companies across the USA from the 1920s to the 1979s:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_kW2KZ04wk

    I have really enjoyed these “Whatever Happened To?” episodes. The Back-Up features were dying off when I started reading comics but they do deserve some attention. I recall reading Nemesis and a few others from the era but don’t know what else was out there.

  2. As a follow-up to these “Whatever Happened To….” shows, I can’t wait for the Back-Up Stories Podcast. Elongated Man, Jason Bard, the Adventurers Club, The Human Target, Green Arrow, Captain Fear and (sometimes) Aquaman demand it.

    1. That could be a great show. I’m still wanting F&W to do a simple 60-minute chat show focussing on one character per podcast, with rotating host and guests… Hero of the Hour.

  3. I remember at the end of the JLA story that revealed Sandy as the silicon monster, that Wonder Woman (of E-2) was offering to take the boy to Paradise Island and use the Amazon technology on him. That apparently didn’t happen.

    Also, Wes Dodd seems to have a lot of tragedy around him. One of Roy Thomas’ All-Star Squadron retcon/reveals s was that Dian Belmont was also killed, in an incident that involved fellow super-hero Tarantula. This incident was ignored in Sandman Mystery Theatre/ Starman crossover, since Dian apparently survived into the 1990s. Did Wes Dodd have her asleep in a test tube as well?

  4. Another great show. I had these as a kid so hearing them again brought back memories.

    A couple of comments. I chuckled that Shag thought the Sandy story might have happened the month before these issues. Seems too soon for a ‘whatever happened’. I can imagine the house ad – “Whatever happened to that story we published last month!’

    I laughed at the overly elaborate death trap of the hourglass. I always wonder about the discussion the gangster has about budget. “Which way to kill Sandman? 18 foot hourglass with frame, 1000 lbs of sand, moving costs, construction to break wall and bring it into my house. Total cost: $30,000. One bullet: 15 cents. Let’s go with option A!’

    And the comic book science in the Sandy story is great. ‘Let me explode a carbon bomb. It’ll cure you!’ Awesome.

    1. Anj-

      I wonder if it isn’t one of those yearly budget things. Henchmen get X amount to spend on rub-outs, If they don’t spend it, then they get less the next year. Hence, elaborate death traps for no good reason. Maybe this story took place at the end of Snooze’s fiscal year?

  5. Man, the Shatterer has one of the goofiest costumes… Well, at least the Sand Family made a comeback later, This really oughtn’t have been their last chapter.

  6. I missed both of these issues of DCCP, which crushed me since I was a HUGE MOTU fan back then, owning EVERY toy in the line through 1986 (yes, DAG, I was a Richie Rich too). I first met Sandman in like two panels in All-Star Comics #74, the final issue, and my first exposure to the JSA. I then encountered him and Sandy in All-Star Squadron and the reprints of their Simon and Kirby adventures over in the Adventure Comics digests. Reconciling that the two Sandmen were the same character was a bit hard for my young mind.

    I didn’t know about Sandy’s “condition” until his Who’s Who entry, and then he showed up long enough in the present to go off with Wes and the JSA into that Ragnorok loop in “The Last Days of the JSA” special. So the poor kid resurfaced in JLA after a near 30 year abasence, waited 10 years to get cured just to be ignored, and then shuffled off the stage a few years later. Kind of surprising Roy Thomas didn’t make any time for him in Infinity, Inc., as he was a tailor-made legacy character just waiting to be called into service there. Clearly Robinson, Goyer and Johns made up for this in JSA.

    As for these stories…I’m a fan of Mike W. Barr as evidenced by Batman: Knightcast (do I get unemployment checks on that until Ryan’s kid grows up?), but yeah…these weren’t his best work, just by what I heard and read here. They resolved a truly goofy plot development (you nailed the Haney-like nature of Wein’s story Rob), but that was about it. I think Jose Delbo was a lot better on Wonder Woman, where his penchant for drawing attractive females and less flashy style gave the book a semi-romance comic feel, back when there were none on the shelves.

    Fun show guys! Too bad Tiefenbacher didn’t get his way, as I’d love to hear you guys cover every one of those tales.

    Chris

  7. Great episode guys!
    Hey Shag! I think you were referring to Captain O from the old Olympic ads. Ine of those, “Hey Kids! Sell our products for cash and prizes!” Then show a bunch of prizes you had no hope of ever obtaining

  8. Ask Us Anything:

    1. What are your other hobbies/interests outside of comics?
    2. If you had to cast each other in a F&W film, who would you choose to star?
    3. How do you feel about pineapple on pizza?
    4. If you had to be a citizen of a fictional DC city, where would you choose to live?

  9. Great episode, gentlemen. I consider myself to be a pretty positive and laid-back guy, but Sandy has me beat hands down. After decades of abandonment, he welcomes Wes back with a, “Good to see you again.” Of course, having one’s brain turned to sand may have unforeseen effects on one’s mood and personality.

  10. I remember these two issues. The big question for me was, how selfish was Wesley Dodds – he says Sandy might be cured, but he needs help… and he wants to be hypnotised to forget. In which case, who’s going to help Sandy?

    I actually prefer Giella on Delbo, even though I’m a big Calnan booster. Who knew that Delbo + Calnan = Schaffenberger, seriously, check out that splash panel.

  11. I find the comments on parenthood interesting. First in Denmark like most medical things he cost is covered by taxes. Second there is no great rush to push the mother/parents out. Basically assuming there is no problem have up to 4 hrs. for questions concerns. Third a midwife is assigned to the parents who then makes house calls to help check on the health of the kid and answer any question parents might have. All of this is covered in the taxes. There really is no your a parent now go away mentality.

  12. I’m really getting behind on listening to these. My apologies. This episode was rather a revelation for me. If Rob has such negative feelings about Jose Delbo, it explains quite a bit of his disdain for Transformers (Delbo did a significant portion of the Marvel Transformers comic).

  13. After repeatedly disparaging Alex Saviuk and defending Jose Delbo in this forum, I totally thought these Delbo pages were Savvy Yucks.

    After Sandman Mystery Theater, I’m incapable of seeing Wesley Dodds as a square-jawed generic leading man type with a thick head of dark hair.

    At SDCC 2000 I walked up to Goyer and Johns as they chatted with fans after a panel and in more wheedling words still basically said “Are you serious with this Sandy crap?” They said they were and I walked away from them and the JSA relaunch.

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