History ComicBook / SandmanMysteryTheatre

Dateline: New York City, [[TheThirties 1938]]. America has seen off the worst of TheGreatDepression, but all is not well in the big city. In the midst of the towering skyscrapers, rowdy jazz clubs & high society glamour, crime, poverty & prejudice run rampant in the streets. One man follows his dark dreams, to take up arms against this sea of troubles.

* YouKilledMyFather: The killer in ''The Scorpion'' blames the oil executives for the death of his father. Not that they cheated him out of pairing a fair price for his lands, but that they shunned him once he became rich.

* MyBelovedSmother: [[spoiler: The villain of ''The Crone'' was trying to frame his mother, a literary professor and avid hater of the radio by dressing up like an old woman and leaving behind books which he had taken from her personal library. He did so because she never supported his desire to become a radio star, however, he was also doing it in order to rise up in the show's cast and to win the affection of the female lead. His mother claims, however, that she never directly disapproved of his aspirations because he wasn't even as good as his father.]]

*** At one point, a Dr. [=McNider=] (aka ComicBook/DoctorMidNite) is mentioned.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[spoiler:Rather than get the help he needed for his psychopathic tendencies (such as was available in the early 1900's), Roger Goldman got a black-sheep inheritance and his early crimes were covered up]].

** For instance, Wes is the one who first confronts the scientist who would become the Mist, one of Starman's bitterest rivals, and meets with Ted Knight in the same arc. This is confirmed as {{Canon}} in the ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}'' storyline "Sand and Stars".
** At one point, a Dr. [=McNider=] (aka ComicBook/DoctorMidNite) is mentioned.
** [[ComicBook/TheSpectre Jim Corrigan]] shows up prior to his death during the "Phantom of the Fair" arc.
** There's also an entire four-issue story arc where he teams up with Rex Tyler, the ComicBook/{{Hourman}}.

* GoodBadGirl: Dian doesn't have a cruel bone in her body, but loves partying and enjoys being sexually active, often the more aggressive in bed between her and Wesley. While it's implied Wesley is a virgin before being with Dian, she absolutely isn't.

* PoisonedWeapons: The Scorpion uses a poisoned bullwhip.

* WhipItGood: The Scorpion uses a bullwhip [[PoisonedWeapons tipped with a poison]] that kills in seconds.

* TheSandman: Created originally based on the original folklore, in this series is {{retcon}}ned to be based on [[ComicBook/TheSandman the 80s series]] by Creator/NeilGaiman.

Instead of SuperHero comics of the period, Wagner's work draws more heavily from detective stories and TwoFistedTales-style pulp fiction. It has a strong Noir vibe, brought to life by the various artists' dark visuals and period setpieces. The main character has also been heavily altered. Rather than the classic RichIdiotWithNoDayJob persona affected by the likes of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] or [[Radio/TheShadow Lamont Cranston]], Dodds comes off as a bit of a short, podgy-faced, bespectacled geek, more in the style of [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Dan Dreiberg]] than anything. Were it not for occasional prophetic dreams he receives unconsciously through an ill-defined connection with the other Sandman, Morpheus, he would be the quintessential BadassNormal, just a guy in an army surplus gasmask with a fancy gun.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Averted. Wesley is too essentially serious to play a fribble role at all, and instead is assumed by most people to be a dull, puritanical workaholic too boring to be a vigilante.

* {{Workaholic}}: Rather than a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, Wesley pretends to be one of these in order to deflect suspicion about his activities.

* KillEmAll: Some of the bleaker story arcs end with nearly all the main characters introduced dead by the end. [[spoiler:''The Brute'']] is a particularly good example.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: [[spoiler:A notable subplot that emerged in the later half of the series involved Dian getting pregnant. The pregnancy was dealt with in ''The Crone'', where Dian decided that it wouldn't be right to bring a child into the world during a time of war and with parents who aren't ready for the responsibility, so by the end of the arc Dian (with Wesley's extremely reluctant agreement) decides to have the pregnancy aborted. The aftereffects of this decision are felt up to the end of the series. In ''The Cannon'', Wesley dreams of their child growing into an adult and telling Wesley that, while he forgives his parents, God may not be so forgiving. In ''The Goblin'', a head injury is the catalyst which causes Wesley to undergo a breakdown/willing SplitPersonalityTakeover which is implied to be his way of escaping his guilt and anger over the issue (he comes out of it sobbing and saying he misses their child). Dian's father also has a heart attack when he learns of the abortion.]]

* BroadStrokes: Although the Vertigo imprint has a peculiar relationship with mainstream DC comics, the events of ''Mystery Theatre'' seem to have been made more-or-less canon.

* BastardBoyfriend: Ray Kessler is the boyfriend of Dian's cousin, and a despicable human being who neglects her, mistreats her in bed, cheats on her and finally rapes her when she stands up to him.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Linda from ''The Crone'', who passive aggressively drops information to get Patricia Honeywell fired so she can replace her.

* DaddysGirl: Dian at times. Then there's Cassandra from ''The Scorpion'', who realizes who the killer is and sends an anonymous tip to the police before confronting the killer herself.

** [[spoiler:Miriam Goldman and her son Roger during the Tarantula arc are kidnapping and torturing beautiful women to death. In ''her'' case, she's infuriated over her husband's affairs, particularly the one she's all but certain he's having with their daughter. In ''his'' case he's frustrated with both that, ''and'' his own uncontrollable sadism]].

* AdultFear: Poor Rocket Ramsey is an honest boxer trying to make a good living. His little girl, Emily, has a bronchial infection, forcing him to try to get her medicine so she can live. [[spoiler:And then he comes back to find a seemingly kindly old tramp he trusted to watch out for Emily raped her when he was away at work.]]

The revival title's genesis was Dodds' brief appearance in the opening issue of Creator/NeilGaiman's [[ComicBook/TheSandman celebrated series of the same title]], only tangentially connected to Gaiman's work via {{Retcon}}.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: Averted. It's strongly implied Wesley has never been with a woman before Dian (whereas she ''clearly'' isn't and makes no apologies for it.). That said, some time before the deed proper is done, he does do her a...personal favor...that she quite enjoys.

** At one point, a Dr. [=McNider=] (aka Dr. Mid-Nite) is mentioned.
** There's also an entire four-issue story arc where he teams up with Rex Tyler, the Hourman.

* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Miriam Goldman, a heavy, '''heavy''' drinker, has a skin-tone just a shade darker than white, and [[spoiler:is pressuring her son to kidnap and kill women, so that he can eventually kill his sister]].

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: A very tragic example in ''The Brute''. [[spoiler:Arthur Reisling did nothing to help his hideously deformed daughter after she was locked in the closet for three years, but when his Mafia business partner shoots her, Reisling lets out a BigNo and kills the partner, sobbing "''That was my little girl''...."

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Albert Reisling neglected his illegitimate children, uses his mentally handicapped daughter as an assassin, runs violent underground fight rings and will happily murder those who cross him, but when his daughter is shot, he screams "my little girl" in genuine grief.

** At one point, a Dr. McNider (aka Dr. Mid-Nite) is mentioned.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: [[spoiler:Miriam Goldman, a severe alcoholic who has been constantly drinking throughout ''The Tarantula'' -- to the point where she's shown to have blacked out at the dinner table at one point -- partially recovers from a shot of gas after a couple of minutes, and tries to attack Wesley from behind with an ax. He asks Celia about it afterward, suggesting that it's a known flaw in his formula.]][[note]]In real life, anesthetic and sedative dosages have to be reduced for patients with histories of alcoholism, as liver damage impairs chemical filtration.[[/note]]