Sandman Mystery Theatre was one of two new ongoing series created to launch the Vertigo imprint, and the skillful and mature depiction of 1930s New York and its mysterious crimefighter, The Sandman (a.k.a. Wesley Dodds) by Matt Wagner, Guy Davis, John Watkiss and others was almost certainly a big part of why the line had such cult appeal. However, while the Vertigo line has been well-supported by trades in general, many of the books that really made up the foundation of the line, including Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade the Changing Man, Kid Eternity and Sandman Mystery Theatre have languished in the back issue bins unloved and effectively out of print. The Tarantula is actually a new printing of the first Sandman Mystery Theatre trade, which came out several years ago but had no follow-up volumes, probably due to the arcane profitability formula that is reportedly used to judge DC's trade paperbacks. Finally, more than 10 years later, DC is finally giving this book a chance to shine in trade paperback format, and it is my great hope that the readership will respond and make it a profitable venture, because I'd sure like to see the entire series printed. I suspect that after reading a couple of these trade paperbacks, more than a few readers will agree with me.
The first arc of Sandman Mystery Theatre, collected in this volume, is but the tip of the iceberg for the series, but it definitely establishes the tone and style of the book. Wagner works to create a comic series that has some of the lurid language and subject matter of the pulps that have ties to both the birthplace of the character (in comics) and to the periodicals that helped define the era in which he lives. These pulp sensibilities include casual racism, brutal violence and a sometimes lurid use of sexuality, but Wagner's work feels simultaneously very modern.
This is in no small part thanks to his protagonists. Protagonists, plural? Yes, because while Sandman Mystery Theatre focuses on Wesley Dodds, a young man who has inherited his father's company and developed nightmares that cause him to adopt a costume and fight crime, it is clear even in this first volume that the series is as much about Dian Belmont, daughter of district attorney Larry Belmont. Both Wesley and Dian are ahead of their time in personality, which sets them apart as heroes as much as their intelligence, their social stature or (in the case of Wesley) their training. Dian enjoys the nightlife of dancing and drinking, but she's also a natural investigator who is unafraid of most terrors and unwilling to submit to the chauvinistic practices of the era. Wesley is a gentle man who eschews drink and presents a mild exterior that is not a mask, as Bruce Wayne is for Batman, but which is instead his true personality, even if he has a core of steel that allows him to act as a masked vigilante.
There's a lot accomplished in the story of The Tarantula in terms of setting up the status quo of Sandman Mystery Theatre. The period and the loose morals and dangerous crime that surrounds it is established, the stirrings of interest between Dian and Wesley are introduced and the notion of corruption leading to brutality is at the core of the plot. Wagner's revelations about the true nature of the Tarantula and his scheme are not too hard to come to if you're paying attention, but they're shocking nonetheless for the social taboos that it breaks and the madness that seems to drive the villain. Wagner does not shy away from the darker side of the villain, playing up the brutal effects of torture and murder and showing what a fractured family built on greed and lawlessness can bring.
While Sandman Mystery Theatre had a number of artists during its run, when I think of the book, it is Guy Davis's visuals which always come to mind. His work here is not as breathtaking as his modern work on B.P.R.D., but it is still exquisite, gritty and stylish and perfect for capturing the period of the '30s and the realistic nature of the storytelling. His Dian Belmont is beautiful, not as a result of a picture-perfect body or movie star looks, but because the kindness and intelligence comes through in her very appearance. Wesley's gentle and giving nature is likewise clear in his design and body language, and Davis is capable of going the other way too, capturing the dilapidated nature of the Goldman family or the rough and tumble style of Detective Burke.
The Tarantula is just the beginning for Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp mystery that introduces the characters and their roles in the stories while still maintaining a strong central plot. It's a good story, and it deserved it's trade treatment the first time around, but now, reprinted as but the foundation for more to come, it is even better, because I know that we'll be seeing the payoff of so many stories that begin right here. 10/10
