Sandman (Marvel)

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Sandman in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #615.

Sandman is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.

Contents

Biography

Origin

The Sandman in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #4.

Flint Marko was a male human born in the modern age as the son of Floyd Baker. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man v1 #17) It was said that his father had deserted him and his mother leaving them to fend for themselves. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #86) To support them, his mother worked as a cleaner where she barely earned much where her long hours meant that her son had little time to go to places like the beach. During that time, he was noted to have had a talent for sculpting with him making impressive sand sculptures whilst studying under his teacher Miss Flint. In those years, he was noted to had been beaten up by bullies but he came to resolve himself to be a man and defend himself. This saw him fighting back and winning against his bullies were people came to fear and respect him as a result. He trained himself to be big and imposing where his former bullies began to work under him as he began to go by the name Flint. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual v1 #1) He grew up in one of the roughest sections of the city where he learnt to steal before he could walk. By the time he started school, he wanted his mother to be proud of him and tried to succeed in his studies. However, he claimed to had lacked the 'brains' for the task and he resolved this by bullying smarter students into helping him cheat. However, no matter his attempts, the teachers always came to learn that he cheated. Things were only said to had come together in high school for him when he discovered football and became the star of the team due to being the toughest as well as most aggressive player. He was noted for being rough in the sport but did not care as he was a good player. Such was his success that he was assured a scholarship and a chance to go to college giving him a shot at the pros. It was then that local gamblers approached him where they offered him easy money if he missed key shots or fumbled the ball at major moments. His coach came to find out about these deals and kicked Flint off the team which led to him being expelled from school. Both Flint and his mother were said to had been disappointed that he never got his high school diploma with him using his strength to operate as a hired muscle for protection rackets. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #86)

Months ago, Flint Marko was an in-mate on an island prison where he was placed in a maximum jail cell. This was until one night when he managed to escape from an unguarded drainage tunnel and vowed to never be captured again. A police dragnet was made to arrest him and as it closed on him he attempted to hide at the site of an atomic devices testing center. He was unaware that at the long forbidden beach had a test for a nuclear explosion that transformed him and gave him superhuman abilities by merging him with sand. With his new powers, Flint decided to take the name of the Sandman and engaged in various robberies across the country. In time, he came to be infamous where he was wanted by the police from Maine to Mexico. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #4)

Sandman

Their remains were later taken to the downtown police laboratory where Dr. Cahill and his team performed a series of tests on them. Everything ranging from chemical stimulus to X-Rays were used but the remains did not react and instead stayed as a pile of wet sand. Ultimately, it was believed that the Sandman was dead and the project was closed where the remains were placed in a steel container that was left at a designated dump site. It was then that the remains reacted where the recent radiation provided Sandman and Hydro-Man enough energy to separate from one another. Thus, the two were restored to life where they decided to part ways after their recent horrifying experience. Marko decided to keep a low profile and try to gather his strength as he did some heavy thinking on his next course of action. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #86)

Reformed

Later on, Baker came to learn that the same accident that gave him his powers had also given him terminal cancer. This saw him being admitted to the West Coast Medical Centre in Manhattan that was a research hospital which dealt in the treatment of fatal diseases. He as brought there in the hopes that a study of his affliction might lead to a breakthrough in cancer treatment for normal people. However, all the efforts failed but in that time Sandman came to hear of special experiments being conducted in the complex's basement labs. Baker heard that these consisted of megadose radiation treatments which showed promise but were still too dangerous to try on human subjects. As a result, Sandman escaped detention where he took over the basement lab with the unbalanced and desperate Baker releasing random doses of radiation on himself in the hope that one combination would cure him. The site's heavy shielding protected everyone outside but constant use would eventually result in a reactor meltdown which would turn Manhattan into an atomic wasteland. The Avengers recruited Wonder Man to help stop the crisis as being an energy being he was immune to the effects of the radiation. Whilst there, he encountered the crazed Baker who attacked Wonder Man when he attempted to stop the Sandman. With his sand powers, he was able to get he upper hand over Wonder Man who ultimately let himself be knocked into a water main that the hero used against Sandman. This turned him into sandstone and left him trapped allowing for Wonder Man to stop the reactor meltdown. The hero then used the damping rods to drain the radiation from Sandman's body thus saving the villain. In the aftermath, it was discovered that the megadoses of radiation had sent Baker's cancer into rapid remission but the incident meant that any cure for other cancer patients was lost as a result. (Wonder Man v1 #1)

With his retirement from crime, Marko decided to take a walk past Coney Island where he came to sight Spider-Man and the international mercenary known as the Silver Sable who were involved in a battle against the Sinister Syndicate. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #280) Despite his prior conflicts with the Wall-Crawler, Sandman intervened where he helped the two heroes defeat the Syndicate. This led to Silver Sable being impressed at his skill where she offered him a job as a freelance operative attached to her organization. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #281)

With his rehabilitation, Sandman came to receive a presidential pardon and later came to be accepted into the ranks of the Avengers. (Avengers v1 #329)

Return to Villainy

He later heard that his father had been arrested and held guilty over the murder of a homeless man. Sandman though refused to believe that and thought Floyd Baker was innocent. This led to him breaking into Riker's Island prison in an effort to free his father. However, his efforts were stopped by security and Sandman was forced to flee through the sewer pipes. Unable to save his father on his own, he decided to seek out Peter Parker and enlist the help of Spider-Man after stating that the entire case after Floyd Baker was fake. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man v1 #17)

Octavius had Marko deployed to the Sahara Desert to defend one of the Octavian Lens locations. The large quantities of sand present allowed Flint to be incredibly powerful where he faced off against Spider-Man, Black Widow and Silver Sable. However, Spider-Man came prepared as he had isolated the single molecule within Sandman's body that contained his consciousness. Once this was separated, he was defeated thus allowing the Wall-Crawler to neutralise one of the sites. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #684)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Sandman in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #684.

One account claimed that his real name was William 'Flint' Marko. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #86) In high school, he stopped going by he name of William and started to use Flint as it sounded tough and imposing but also because it reminded him of his old teacher Miss Flint as well as a reminder that he never wanted to be weak again. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual v1 #1) After getting his powers, he gained a fearsome reputation when he came to be known as the Sandman. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #4)

As a young boy, he was shown to had been weak which made him the target of bullies. Due to his poor background, Bill's was deprived of much in his life and he came to believe money was important. In fact, he believed that people with money got all the pretty girls. Those that were successful were rich whilst the poor were kicked in the dirt. This eventually led to himself resolving to be a man where he could defend himself. He came to fight back against them where he came to be feared and respected by others. It was then that he came to a realisation that he had spent his years being good and got beaten for it. By standing up for himself, he was disciplined and seen as a threat but he liked the sense of power he felt as a result. He believed that those in a position of power such as principals or cops did not care about right and wrong or being just or unjust. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual v1 #1)

He claimed to had loved the thrill and excitement of the chase when he was on the run after successfully stealing from someone. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #86)

Flint was said to have headed the FBI's list of most wanted criminals. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #4)

He was the son of Floyd Baker who left him and his mother when he was just a boy. Sandman admitted that his father was a thief and a low-life but that he was not a killer. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man v1 #17)

Marko had said that in his youth that he wanted to succeed in his life and make his mother proud of him. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #86) She was noted to had worked as a cleaner where she worked many hours but earned very little in the process. Flint's mother was noted to had drank a lot back when he was young with her feeling as if she was dead to the world. His mother sometimes blamed herself as she felt that if she had been a better wife then perhaps her husband would not have walked out on them. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual v1 #1)

When he was a young boy, he had a crush on his teacher Miss Flint who admired his sculpting talents in making things from sand. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual v1 #1)

At some point, Marko came to be involved with Alma Alvarado who had a daughter named Keemia Alvarado. Flint came to see the child as his own daughter and even wanted her named Keemia Marko though the girl's mother wanted Sandman to have no part in her life. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #616)

Powers and abilities

Creating sand duplicates in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #616.

Originally, Marko was an ordinary human being until he was caught in the wake of a nuclear test explosion. The resultant radiation from the incident caused the molecules of his body to merge with those of sand allowing his body to take on its properties thus making him virtually indestructible. It was said that his body was no longer flesh and blood but rather composed of sand. With his powers, he could alter his form whereby his body could slip through the fingers of someone or have a punch go through him with no damage done to him. Alternatively, he could harden his body allowing him to take a punch where it was said that his jaw was like hitting iron. The Sandman could also change his body into any shape or form which he could use in imaginative ways. In one case, he jumped off a building where he then turned into small weightless sand particles that reformed his body once they reached the ground. He could also reshape his limbs such as turning his index finger into the form of a blank key. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #4) He could reshape his size in order to fit any clothing. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #86)

If separated from him, he could reform sand nodules around a target to hold them in place. Against invisible opponents, he could spread his sand over the ground and sight them by the prints them left on the surface. (Fantastic Four v1 #61)

With complete control over his molecules, he could form a giant body of sand and turn it into a castle. Marko gained a fine degree of control over this substance to the point that he could operate multiple independent bodies of himself all of whom were composed of sand. Though he could create multiple bodies, he struggled in compartmentalising his mind which meant that these other copies of himself could develop their own thoughts and motivations born from Marko's subconscious. In one case, one of them even committed a number of murders though Sandman could not recall these events and believed himself to be innocent. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #616)

Within his body, there one constant grain of sand that contained Sandman's consciousness, heart and soul which was responsible for directing the others. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #684) This prime molecule was also known as the soul molecule and if captured rendered the rest of his mass inert. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #700)

At one point, he took the Wizard's suggestion and took a refresher science course in order to help him construct a new costume for himself. It contained built-in devices that allowed him to mix a variety of chemicals with his sand to achieve various effects. These could be operated by a number of control buttons that were located on the suit. With them, he could mix slippery oil within it which he could shoot out as part of his sand that caused a person to lose their balance. The Wizard also helped install a feature whereby the costume could release a quantity of liquid nitrogen that caused the sand molecules to freeze immediately after which contact with any flames resulted in them generating a powerful poisonous vapor. These fumes did not affect Sandman himself whilst others could struggle to breath cause of the vapors. (Fantastic Four v1 #61)

Notes

  • Sandman was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #4 (September, 1963).

Alternate Versions

In other media

Television

  • In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Sandman appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Christopher Collins.
  • In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Sandman appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor John DiMaggio.
  • In Ultimate Spider-Man, Sandman appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Dee Bradley Baker.
  • In Spider-Man, Sandman appeared in the 2017 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Travis Willingham.

Films

  • In Spider-Man 3, Sandman appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Thomas Haden Church.
  • In Spider-Man: Far From Home, the Raimi Trilogy Sandman appeared in the setting of the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was voiced once again by actor Thomas Haden Church.

Video games

  • In Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Sandman appeared as a boss antagonist and playable character in the video game where he was voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
  • In Marvel: Future Fight, Sandman appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
  • In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Sandman appeared as a boss antagonist in the video game where he was voiced by actor Richard Epcar.

Appearances

  • Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1963)
  • Fantastic Four v1:
  • Marvel Two-In-One v1:
  • Avengers v1:
  • Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man v1:
  • Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual v1:
  • Amazing Spider-Man v5:

External Links

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