Sandman Mystery Theatre #1 - “The Tarantula - Act One”

Original Release Date: April 1993

Words: Matt Wagner
Art: Guy Davis
Colors: David Hornung
Letters: John Costanza
Assistant Edits: Shelly Roeberg
Edits: Karen Berger

New York, in the year 1938, is about to be home to one of the strangest, most perverse cases of kidnapping and murder to ever take place. Fortunately, it’s also going to be the year of the birth of the Sandman.

In a rather spacious apartment in one of the more affluent New York neighborhoods live a man and his daughter. The man, District Attorney Lawrence Belmont, is having a bit of trouble with his society-friendly daughter, Dian.
She’s just graduated college and has decided to take in all the fruits that the city’s nightlife can offer. Within reason, that is. Tonight is no different; the argument between the two is no different either. Lawrence just simply doesn’t want her out on the town; Dian just simply doesn’t want to be cooped up inside the house; she’s young, vibrant, and ready to live! Prohibition is over; fun can be had again… legally!
In the end, the argument doesn’t matter; Dian gets her way just as any spoiled young woman will. The father reluctantly bids his daughter goodnight and watches as she gets inside the taxi and speeds off to her late night destination. He hopes she makes it in okay.
Turning back and entering the house, Lawrence is shocked to find a strange site at his hidden wall safe in his office: a creature… no, a man in a strange suit, peering inside the small vault. Lawrence shouts, but the man just turns and points a gun, matter-of-factly. Before D.A. Belmont knows what hit him, he’s down and out cold on the floor.
Later, he awakes, sitting upright in a chair. He had been on the floor. Strange for a burglar to be so kind…

Sunrise in the city can be either beautiful or painful; it just depends on how much you’ve had to drink the night before. The two ladies sharing the cab, one Dian Belmont and one Catherine Van Der Meer, are of the opinion that it might be a trifle annoying.
Dian is quite surprised to be sharing a cab with Miss Van Der Meer, especially considering all the men Catherine had been speaking to all night. She explains that, although she is a bit of a flirt, there is someone her heart momentarily belongs to. Dian is quite surprised to hear this; Catherine has never spoken of him before. Catherine, a woman of high society herself, explains that this man is quite the “off-the-floor” type, meaning he’s something of an other-society person, so to speak. Dian fully understand why her friend hasn’t mentioned her before; her father would kill her if he ever found out she was dating such a person!
The taxi stops and Catherine exits; the two have a laugh at the thought of the relationship; Miss Van Der Meer knows it won’t last long, but hell, why not enjoy it while it does? The two bid each other good night-or morning, rather, and the taxi speeds off with Dian in it.
Catherine fishes for her keys in her purse as she approaches her front door. Before she can get halfway up the front walk to the door, a hand wraps around her mouth, suppressing a scream; a minute later, she is gone.

Night again; this time the setting is the Warwick Library. Tonight, the mayor is holding a charity benefit for the old library. It’s yet another high society event; anyone who is anyone is there. This includes D.A. Lawrence Belmont.
He is having a surprisingly good conversation with former Judge, Thomas Schaeffer. It would be a lot better if Lawrence weren’t looking around nervously all the time. Schaeffer calls him on it and just as Belmont is about to answer, the reason for his nervousness arrives. He had invited his daughter, Dian, to the function and was truly wondering whether or not she would arrive. Fortunately, she did.
Pleasantries are exchanged before yet another person arrives. Schaeffer eagerly introduces a young friend of his to the group: Wesley Dodds. Dodds is a friend of the Judge Schaeffer’s via his deceased father, Edward Dodds, who owned quite a lucrative business in New York.
Dodds explains that he is collecting old memorabilia relating to his father, who D.A. Belmont knew, and asks if Lawrence might have any photographs or letters. Lawrence smiles and says that he does somewhere around his home and invites Wesley to drop by any time.
The night wears on; the mayor brings out celebrities to endorse the charity, but Dian and Wesley both seem to be preoccupied. Wesley with his thoughts and Dian with Wesley; she has found herself quite intrigued with the man.
Over at one side, a man enters and approaches Lawrence. He explains that something has happened. Short bursts of the conversation are heard; something had happened that morning; a note had arrived just a short time ago.

Outside the library, after the event, Wesley Dodds offers Judge Schaeffer a ride home. Inside the car, Schaeffer begins to tell Dodds what he overheard at the library via Belmont. Apparently there’s a new kidnapper in town; he calls himself the Tarantula.
Wesley is intrigued, but Thomas doesn’t have much more info to offer. The old Judge is dropped off at his house and Wesley continues on home.

Across town at the Belmont residence, Lawrence finally tells Dian that Catherine has been kidnapped. Dian is surprised to find out; she had just seen Catherine earlier that morning. Lawrence nods and explains that she just never made it home.

Another home, a different person; the residence of Albert Goldman. Mr. Goldman is entertaining guests tonight. Just as Albert is about to take his friends into his office, his daughter, Celia, enters.
She explains that she is leaving for the evening and that he need not wait up. Albert looks a bit weary as his daughter leaves, but still continues on with his business; he opens the door to his office to find his son, Roger, sitting alone in the dark, drinking.
Albert excuses Roger from the room and invites his guests to sit. Unknown to them, outside the window sits a mysteriously dressed figure.
A short time later, in the lobby of the home, hands shake and pleasantries abound as the guests being to leave. Before they can do so, a pale, disgusting woman appears at the top of the stairs; it’s Miriam Goldman, wife of Albert. She’s drunk.
The guests finally exit the home to find all their drivers asleep at the wheels of their cars. Strange.

Back at the Belmont residence it’s business as usual: an argument. Dian is adamant about going out again, but this time her father is equally as determined to keep her in. It’s not just normal paranoia tonight; it’s warranted worry. A girl had been kidnapped that was close to Dian; it just simply isn’t safe to be out on the streets.
A knock is heard at the door: Wesley has stopped by, accepting Mr. Belmont’s invitation to come by any time. He is happily welcomed inside and Lawrence tells Wesley he isn’t intruding; they were just spending a night home.
Dian takes off her jacket and hat; she’s still intrigued by this young Mr. Dodds. Perhaps a night at home will prove somewhat interesting.
A discussion of Dodds’ father comes up and is interrupted by a phone call; Lawrence leaves the room to take the call. Wesley asks Dian how she spends her days and nights in Manhattan; she responds by saying they are mainly idle; nothing too exciting.
She asks the same in return and Wesley tells her that his father’s business takes up most of his time. All the while during this conversation, Wesley is folding and refolding paper; Dian asks him what he’s doing. Wesley explains that it’s just something he picked up on his travels; it’s origami.
Lawrence re-enters the room with a grave look on his face. Dian inquires about it, but Wesley excuses himself before Mr. Belmont can answer; it’s obvious to him that it’s not a good time to be there.
After Wesley has gone, Lawrence explains to his daughter that the Tarantula has claimed yet another victim.

At police headquarters, Judge Schaeffer arrives to find Dian sitting in the lobby by herself. He’s quite surprised to see her there. She explains that she insisted on coming along once her father heard the news of yet another kidnapping.
As a cop walks by, he accidentally spills a cup of coffee on Dian; she gives a bit of a shout. The officer offers to help her clean it off, but Dian tells the man that she’ll do it herself.
As she enters the women’s bathroom, she finds it quite odd that the lights are not just off, but completely burned out. Fortunately, she always carries a pocket torch with her. She pulls it out and turns it on, letting the beam follow her eventual path across the floor.
Unfortunately, the beam hits something she wasn’t expecting: a man in a suit with a strange mask on. Before she can shout, the thing is on her!

*****

I’m a casual fan of the Wesley Dodds Sandman through his JSA appearances and I’m a big fan of noir-ish type of stuff, so once I learned a little bit more about Sandman Mystery Theatre, I knew I had to check it out. I’m glad I did, too, because this has certainly become one of my favorite books.
Matt Wagner, who you may know as the creator of the also fantastic Grendel series of books, is on writing duties here. If you’re familiar with the Grendel and Batman stuff, then you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect as far as the quality of writing (a.k.a. excellence). But, honestly, I’ve found this book to be my favorite of his work.
On art is Guy Davis, who, by now, you may know from his work on Mike Mignola’s B.P.R.D. books. I do believe this was Davis’ first mainstream, major publisher comics work. What can I say about it other than it is amazing. It captures every bit of detail the 1930s era had as well as the absolutely dark grittiness that noir requires.
I need to mention that the women, in particular, all have a very classic look to them. The faces are not the slim, model-like quality that we’re used to today. Davis captures what was considered beautiful in the late 30’s; the elegant, yet strong faces; the curvaceous bodies. It’s perfect.
I skipped my usual introduction because I just wanted to jump right into this book. This comic is one of those I knew that I’d end up having a five-page column about. I wanted to throw in as many details as possible to allow you just a glimpse as the pure perfection this book is, but leave out just enough to make sure you’re not getting the whole thing. After all, the point of this column is to get you out there and buying stuff that you may not know existed or just haven’t wanted to try before; I shouldn’t spoil the whole damn thing, right? Right! That’s why I typically don’t cover a whole arc of a book; I just wanna whet your appetite!
The last book I was truly this excited about was Paul Chadwick’s Concrete or perhaps Rick Remender’s Fear Agent. It is absolute perfection wrapped up in a nice, shiny little cover.
If you get a chance to get a few copies of this, then by all means, do it!