Airing as though it were May 26, 1940, this episode of Distinguished Comics Radio follows Wesley Dodds through Adventure Comics #40–45 and New York World’s Fair Comics, with a deep dive into the eerie first Sandman tales and the strange mood they brought to early DC.

Robert Reed returns to the microphone alongside George Wilson as the hosts explore Sandman’s gas mask, fedora, sleep gun, pulp-noir atmosphere, and the way Gardner Fox, Bert Christman, and early DC shaped one of the line’s great mystery men against the anxious backdrop of 1939 and spring 1940.

The episode also touches on Vincent Sullivan’s editorial hand, gives a brisk tour through issues #41–45, and closes like an old radio sign-off with reading assignments, mailbag directions, and the promised split between the short-band exclusive and the standard broadcast.