Sandman (Marvel Comics)
| Sandman | |
|---|---|
| File:Imm-sandman.jpg Sandman. Art by Mark Bagley | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September, 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | William Baker |
| Team affiliations | Sinister Six Frightful Four Avengers |
| Notable aliases | Flint Marko, Sylvester Mann, Quarryman |
| Abilities | Earth manipulation, Body is made completely of organic sand, Can manipulate own body mass Shape-shifting, Density control, Superhuman strength and endurance, Mass manipulation |
Sandman (a.k.a. Flint Marko; born William Baker) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, traditionally an adversary of Spider-Man. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (Sept. 1963). His body has been changed into sand, which he can control completely. He may also absorb nearby sand and reconstitute it into his body.
Fictional character biography
William Baker was born in Queens, New York. At the age of three, young Billy was abandoned by his uncaring father and forced to live in poverty with his mother, who worked as a cleaning lady for a meager salary, and as a result, succumbed to alcoholism. Because she could not provide luxuries for young Billy, she sometimes took him to Coney Island beach, where Billy relished creating sand sculptures. He also enjoyed sculpting and working with sand in school, where he was encouraged by his teacher, Miss Flint, on whom he had a crush.
Billy was bullied by a boy named Vic and his two other friends at school, until he learned how to fight, inspired by his observations of the sand and water at the beach, to use a technique in which he used his opponents’ motion against them, “slipping through their fingers like sand”. After this, Vic and the other two bullies now became Billy’s friends all the way through high school, during which Billy channeled his anger through football, and adopted the nickname “Flint”, both because it sounded imposing and because it reminded him of Miss Flint. He also turned to theft and cheating to get through class and make ends meet at home.
After Vic incurred a large debt to the mob, he begged Flint to throw a football game in order to pay off the debt. After doing so, Flint’s coach threw him off the team, telling him that he had thought Flint would “make a mark” on the world, but that he now saw that Flint would never accomplish anything. Flint beat up the coach, and was expelled from school, after which he turned to a life of crime, and soon found work as a mob enforcer. He became involved in more and more illegal activity, and slowly developed a violent and bitter personality. Eventually he ended up imprisoned on Ryker's Island for his crimes, where he met his father, Floyd Baker. He befriended his father, but didn’t reveal who he was, giving only his nickname, Flint, and a false surname, Marko, which was inspired by his former coach’s taunts about “making a mark” on the world, and which would become his regular alias.[1] (He also changed his name to prevent his mother from discovering that her son was a criminal.[2]) Marko spent years in and out of jail, which was made bearable only by the presence of his father. After Floyd was released from prison, Marko decided to escape.[1]
Immediately, he fled to a nuclear testing site on a beach near Savannah, Georgia where he came into contact with sand that had been irradiated by an experimental reactor. His body and the radioactive sand bonded, and Marko's molecular structure was altered into a sand/dirt-like substance that could transform any or all of his body into sand. Impressed, he adopted the name Sandman to match his new powers.
Marko clashed with Spider-Man for the first time at the high school which the hero attended as Peter Parker. Marko was defeated by Spider-Man (who used a vacuum cleaner), but eventually resurfaced as a member of the Sinister Six led by Doctor Octopus. After being soundly defeated by Spider-Man several more times, Baker gave up and took a shot at battling other superheroes. Most notably, he joined the original Frightful Four to combat the Fantastic Four, but this fledgling group of villains were beaten by the experienced heroes. He also fought the Hulk. An emergency blood transfusion between Sandman and Betty Ross following one of these fights turned Ross into a glass statue, but Doc Samson was able to reverse the effect. During his encounters with the Hulk, Sandman wore a diamond-patterned green costume with a purple headpiece. This has not been seen again.
Art by Steve Ditko.
Sandman eventually discovers that — starting with his hand — his body is slowly transforming into glass, although he is able to reverse the effect. Afterwards, he decides to resume his struggle with his original adversary, Spider-Man, and allies himself with Hydro-Man to do battle with their mutual enemy. A freak accident briefly merges the two into an unintelligent and largely ineffective mud monster, but Spider-Man and the police managed to dehydrate it. Many months later, Sandman finally manages to disconnect from Hydro-Man. Afterwards, Baker becomes deeply depressed, and the Thing of the Fantastic Four supports him, and encourages him to use his power in the name of good. Sandman then makes sporadic appearances in various Spider-Man comics, assisting his former enemy. The first such appearance has him coming to the rescue of Spider-Man and Silver Sable, who are outnumbered and surrounded by the Sinister Syndicate. Silver Sable is impressed by Sandman's performance and recruits him as a freelance operative. Sandman also appears as part of the Outlaws, a group of reformed Spider-Man enemies such as Prowler, Rocket Racer, Puma, and Will o' the Wisp, who would turn up from time to time to help Spider-Man.
Baker briefly joins the Avengers as a reserve member. Later, he becomes a full-time mercenary in the employ of Silver Sable, as a member of her Wild Pack, serving alongside heroes such as Paladin and Battlestar.
He eventually reverts to his villainous ways, claiming to have faked his heroic career, although it is revealed that the Wizard used his mind-controlling "Id Machine" to force him to act as a villain.
Sandman then rejoins a new incarnation of the Sinister Six, which is working with one of Spider-Man's deadliest enemies, Venom. Venom reveals that he had joined the team to make sure no one else kills Spider-Man, and turns on the remaining five. Dealing with Baker, Venom rips off and swallows a chunk of sand, which apparently destabilizes Sandman's body structure. His body slowly begins to crumble away. He blames Spider-Man, but ultimately asks him to deliver a message to his mother. He also expresses remorse that he could not pull off the task of becoming an official superhero. The Sandman then crumbles to pieces and seems to die, washing away down a sewer and ending up as part of Jones Beach, New York.
Sandman's body and mind scatter with the grains of sand. The major part of his mind merges with the beach and begins swallowing people in an attempt to piece himself back together. Spider-Man tries to free the captured people from Sandman's beach consciousness, which is his evil mindset, and succeeds when Baker explodes from too many clashing mindsets. Soon the sand of the beach begins to spread to different areas around New York, and all of the different aspects of Sandman's shattered mind form individual beings: Baker's good side, evil side, feminine side and childlike side. Spider-Man locates all of the different versions of Sandman and attempts to convince them to return to one being. Sandman's evil side merges with his child and feminine sides, but Sandman's good side doesn't want to allow evil to become a part of him again. The new Sandman responds by abandoning his good side completely, which eventually crumbles into lifeless sand and blows away. While the new Sandman is not the sadistic monstrosity that his purely evil side was, he is a criminal and seems to lack any desire to become a hero or do good.
Sandman is one of the villains recruited to recover the Identity Disc, but is seemingly killed due to mutinous behavior. At the series' end, Sandman is revealed to be alive and working along with the Vulture to manipulate the other villains.
According to Spider-Man: Chapter One by John Byrne, Baker is related to the Osborn family. This has not been referred to by other writers, mostly because the series' critical failure rendered it non-canon.[citation needed]
In the storyline "Sandblasted", which ran in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17-19 (April-June 2007), Sandman asked Spider-Man for help in clearing the name of his father, who has been imprisoned for murdering a homeless man. Baker admitted that his father was a petty criminal, but insisted he would never kill anyone. Baker also mentioned that the victim bears an uncanny resemblance to a picture of Peter Parker's Uncle Ben. Sandman and Spider-Man found the true killer, who turned out to be Chameleon 2211. Chameleon 2211 killed the Uncle Ben that Hobgoblin 2211 brought from an alternate universe (in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8) and was posing as him after that. Thanks to Spider-Man, Floyd Baker was switched with Chameleon 2211 and saved, for which Sandman was grateful to Spider-Man.
Powers and abilities
The Sandman has the ability to transform into a malleable sand-like substance which can be hardened, dispersed, or shaped according to his will, something akin to a type of geokinesis limited to sand and small rock particles. Even if his body is blown apart, he is capable of reforming it. His striped shirt and cargo pants are both a part of his mass sand-like body. They are colored to appear as if he were wearing actual clothes. He rarely wears shoes, most of the time he makes it appear as if he has long pants, so no shoes can be visible.
Most of the time, he is mainly seen transforming his arms and hands into a sand mace or a sledgehammer to battle Spider-Man and his other enemies. He can merge with natural sand if it is in his direct vicinity like a beach or desert, thus he can manipulate normal sand like his normal body, add it to his physical size and strength, or use it to reform himself. Sandman has mental and physical control over every particle of sand in his body.
His body seems to take the physical and chemical qualities of sand, as once he was mixed with cement ingredients and was turned into solid cement. Despite this weakness to cement, he remained alive like this but in a coma-like state, and returned to normal later. He possesses superhuman strength several times in excess of Spider-Man's, making him roughly equal to the Thing.[citation needed]
He once wore a uniform devised by the Wizard, which enabled him to mix chemicals into his body for various effects, but he has long since discontinued its use. This uniform, like his usual clothing, turned to sand and back when he did. If exposed to extreme heat, Sandman will turn to glass, but if shattered, he can control his glass shard form and reform himself. This, however, takes time to complete.[3] He is invulnerable to most physical attack and projectiles from most firearms simply fly right through him, but he is vulnerable to large amounts of water and ice. He once disintegrated when the supervillain Venom bit off a piece of him, separating it from the main part of his mass and thus causing him to lose control over the rest of his body; after a prolonged period of disintegration, he appeared to die, but washed up on a beach, where he re-formed himself using the sand he had found there.
Other versions
1602
1602: Fantastick Four, a sequel to Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 written by Peter David, features the 1602 version of the Marvel Sandman. While he physically resembles Flint Marko, he has the pale skin and glowing eyes of Gaiman's Morpheus. He also alludes to an ability to summon nightmares. In the fourth issue he is able to send Ben Grimm to sleep by blowing a vapor or dust at him. He has not yet shown any signs of his traditional powers.
Spider-Man: Reign
In Spider-Man: Reign Sandman is a part of an elderly Sinister Six, but when his daughter is killed he changes his mind and helps Spider-Man defeat Venom and the Sinister Six.
Spider-Ham
In Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #12 Sandman appears as a manatee called Sandmanatee.
Ultimate Sandman
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Flint Marko (which is his birthname) is a genetic mutation of the industrialist Justin Hammer, one of the results of an attempt to recreate the super soldier formula. Shortly after Hammer was killed by Dr. Octopus, S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrated Hammer's factory to take care of any experiments Hammer was working on. Marko used this opportunity to escape and wreak havoc upon New York. S.H.I.E.L.D., with the help of Spider-Man, managed to contain him and imprisoned him in a S.H.I.E.L.D holding facility. There, he met fellow genetic fugitives Norman Osborn (Green Goblin), Dr. Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus), Max Dillon (Electro), and Kraven the Hunter. Under the Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus's leadership the five broke free and captured Spider-Man to form the Ultimate Six. Marko participated with the group in an attack on the White House. However, he was defeated by Iron Man. After the battle, S.H.I.E.L.D. sealed Marko in various jars and kept them frozen.
In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, it is shown that Ultimate Beetle stole one of the vials containing Flint Marko. The ramifications have yet to be seen.
Artist Mark Bagley, who drew the first 100+ issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, noted in his rough designs for Ultimate Sandman that he would appear "Nekkid" most of the time. As he wanted to go with the more 'realistic' feel of the Ultimate imprint, he doubted whether Flint Marko's clothing had unstable molecules like his body.
In other media
Television
- Sandman appeared in the 1960s Spider-Man episode "The Sands of Crime".
- Sandman appeared in the 1970s Fantastic Four episode "The Frightful Four".
- Sandman also appeared in the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon in "The Sandman is Coming".
- He later appeared in a similar episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, "Spider-Man: Unmasked!", where he was voiced by Chris Latta.
- Sandman did not appear in the Spider-Man animated series of the 1990s because the series did not want to interfere with the continuity of James Cameron's proposed Spider-Man movie, in which the Sandman and Electro were supposed to be the villains. Although Electro was belatedly introduced into the series when Cameron's film fell through, Sandman remained unseen in the series, the only major Spidey villain not to appear in the show (although Hydro-Man fulfilled many similar roles, and it has been stated that he was indeed essentially used as a replacement for Sandman[4]).
- Also because of Cameron's film, Sandman did not appear in the Fantastic Four cartoon in the 1990s, most notably the episodes featuring the Frightful Four. Instead, he was replaced with Hydro-Man, a character who has similar powers to Sandman, only with water instead of sand, and had already been featured in the Spider-Man cartoon.
- Sandman will appear in The Spectacular Spider-Man. [citation needed]
Film
Thomas Haden Church played Sandman in the 2007 feature film Spider-Man 3. In the film, Sandman's origins are similar to the comics except for his connection to Spider-Man's origin. Flint Marko steals to pay for medical treatment for his daughter Penny, who has an unspecified illness. While on the run from the police after escaping from prison, he accidentally falls into an experimental particle accelerator that molecularly binds him with sand, giving him shapeshifting sand abilities. A major focus of the plot of the film involves Marko's connection to the murder of Peter's Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) in the first film.
Sandman is later spotted by police officers walking down the streets of Manhattan. Sandman gets on top of a dump truck filled with huge amounts of sand. When one of the policemen climbs atop the truck, he is assaulted by a huge fist made out of sand. Having absorbed the truck's sand to add to his mass, a giant Sandman then emerges. The police shoot at Marko, but he manages to escape by turning into a sandstorm and flying away. At the Spider-Man fair, the sandstorm is spotted, and Spider-Man is asked to investigate. In doing so, Spider-Man confronts Sandman, foiling his attempt to rob an armored truck. At the police station, it is revealed by Police Captain George Stacy (James Cromwell) that there is evidence implicating Marko as Ben Parker's killer, and he also tells Peter and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) that the carjacker, Dennis Carradine, that Peter confronted years earlier was really Marko's accomplice, and did not fire the shot that killed Ben Parker. Peter is left feeling guilt over causing the death of the supposedly innocent carjacker, and letting the real killer get away. In the meantime, Sandman robs a bank, and Spider-Man, now with enhanced abilities due to his new black suit, chases him to the subways. During their fight, Spider-Man manages to burst a water tank, flooding Sandman in water and turning him into mud, which is swept through a sewer grate. Believing that Sandman is dead, Spider-Man leaves in satisfaction; but unbeknownst to him, Sandman, who is washed out to the river, is able to eventually reconstitute himself.
Later, Spider-Man tears the symbiote off his body in a bell-tower after learning of its parasitic nature, and it merges with Eddie Brock, Jr. (Topher Grace) to become Venom, who convinces Sandman to team up with him to destroy Spider-Man. The two kidnap Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and take her to a construction site, forcing Spider-Man to face them both. During the fight, Sandman uses the site's sand to again increase his size, turning into a version of himself several stories high. After Venom restrains Spider-Man with his webbing, almost strangling him, Sandman nearly beats Spider-Man to death, but for the intervention of Harry Osborn (James Franco), under the guise of the New Goblin, who comes to his friend's aid with his Goblin arsenal. Harry explodes a pumpkin bomb at Sandman, and then distracts Venom enough to free Spider-Man. Working together, the two manage to save Mary Jane and defeat Sandman and Venom, though at the cost of Harry's and Eddie's lives. Sandman returns to his normal size, and having discovered Spider-Man's real identity, he reveals that his shooting of Ben Parker was an accident while he was trying to carjack Uncle Ben. During the incident, Ben attempted to reason with Marko, but Carradine arrived and startled Flint, causing Marko to shoot Ben by accident, over which Marko was deeply distraught. Sensing that Marko is telling the truth, and understanding the importance of forgiveness over revenge, Spider-Man forgives him, and Marko, who accepts his forgiveness, shapeshifts and flies away.
Video and computer games
- Sandman appears in the Spider-Man Questprobe game.
- Sandman is a boss character in the game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin. He rises from a sandbox and must be dissipated by striking him with water.
- Sandman is the second boss in Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six for the NES.
- Sandman appeared as a villain twice in Spider-Man: The Video Game.
- Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six.
- Sandman appeared in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro for the PlayStation. He chases Spider-Man all over a construction site, and the hero must turn industrial hoses on him to disrupt his integrity.
- Sandman appears in the 'Spider-Man 3 video game, which is based on the film.
Action figures
Sandman was one of the action figures included in Toy Biz's Spider-Man Classics series 12 and re-released in 2005's series 17.
Sandman is also one of the numerous characters produced in the Marvel line of the block-figures called Minimates.
References
- ^ a b David, Peter; Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1; July 2007
- ^ DeFalco, Tom; Marvel Two-In-One #86; April 1982
- ^ Larsen, Erik; Spider-Man Vol.1 #18-23; January 1992-June 1992
- ^ Marvel Animation Age Presents: Spider-Man