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