Sandman – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Jack Kirby & Mike Royer— Ragnarök at the North Pole

December 25, 2025 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

The Best of DC #22, March 1982 (Intended for Sandman #7, —Unpublished — 1975)

When Jack Kirby wanted to make an entrance, he didn’t tiptoe — he detonated. This Sandman title page kicks down the door, grabs you by the collar, and announces, “Strap in — things are about to get very weird.”

Only he could take a story called The Seal Men’s War on Santa Claus and treat it like Ragnarök at the North Pole. The floating spheres, extra moons, and cosmic backdrop all calmly insist, “Relax — this is exactly how dreams are supposed to look.”

Down on the ground, Sandman is carving a path through a crowd of angry Seal Men, cape swirling, fists flying, looking every bit like someone who rescues Santa on an annual basis. Jed is right beside him, doing his best with a staff that’s taller than he is, while poor Santa watches from the background, wrapped up like he’s on the world’s least festive gift list.

Mike Royer’s inks give the whole scene its crisp, confident snap — bold lines, clear action, and just enough shadow to keep the mayhem grounded.

It’s light, it’s wild, and it is unmistakably DC Kirby — a dream-world dust-up where everyone seems to believe in the moment.

Even Santa.

Has any comic story ever been cancelled twice? Jack Kirby holds a lot of comic-book records, but this one might be the strangest.

Sandman #7 was fully finished when DC pulled the plug on the series after issue #6 in 1975. The completed story went into limbo — filed away, forgotten, probably wondering what it did wrong. A few years later, DC tried again, planning to incorporate it narratively (don’t ask) in Kamandi #61… and then the infamous “DC Implosion” hit. Kamandi was cancelled too.

It finally escaped publishing purgatory in Best of DC #22, a digest-sized Christmas special from late 1981 — because if you’re going to rescue a lost Kirby comic, why not do it as a bite-sized stocking stuffer?

Sigh.

It arrived late, sure — but fortunately, Kirby pages age better than most publishing plans.

(And now, fortunately, you can find a full-size version collected in The Kirby DC Bronze Age Omnibus. The perfect Christmas present to give yourself.)

Marc Hempel — Spidey’s Bad Night

February 5, 2022 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Fanfare #27, July 1986

Marc Hempel showcases his witty sense of storytelling in an amusing short Spidey story from 1986. Hempel, best know for his work on Sandman, brings some welcome lightheartedness to the character without devolving into Not Brand Echh mode.

Stylistically, think Steve Ditko meets Los Hernandez Brothers.

I didn’t acquire a Ditko Spider-man original art page back when they were simply “very expensive,” and now that prices have soared into the stratosphere, it feels even more unlikely. Homages and tributes will have to do.

And that’s perfectly ok.

(Complete story presented below. As far as I can tell, It’s never been reprinted.)

Jack Kirby — Goodnight, Santa Claus

November 12, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Best of DC #22, March 1982; originally Sandman #7, February 1976 and Kamandi #61, November 1978 (Both unpublished)

Here is some big goofy fun from Jack Kirby (inks by Mike Royer) with a story involving the Sandman and… Santa Claus. (You can’t make this up.)

Even goofier than the actual narrative itself, however, is the fact this story fell victim to cancelation, not once, but twice, before finally seeing print nearly six years after it was completed.

Kirby’s Sandman series was cancelled after issue #6, although this story for issue #7 had already been completed. It sat in inventory for two years, until it was slotted to appear as a back-up in Kamandi #61, and then that comic, along with dozens of others fell victim to the “DC Implosion” and was cancelled as well.

It finally saw print in Best of DC #22, a digest-sized publication, that hit the stands shortly before Christmas 1981.

Which means… It did not actually appear in traditional color comic book format until DC collected it in 2011 in the Jack Kirby Omnibus — 35 years later!

George Pratt — Comics Noir

April 30, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Sandman Mystery Theatre #1, 1994

Continuing our celebration of the 80^th anniversary of the Justice Society of America, with each new post featuring a different classic JSA character.

Neil Gaiman’s extraordinary success with his Sandman series, had an additional and welcome consequence. DC added a retro Sandman title to its line-up featuring a retconned version of the original Sandman, with great noir-ish stories written primarily by Matt Wagner and Steven Seagle.

This terrific action splash page comes from the often overlooked annual, drawn by George Pratt. It’s a rare pen and ink example by the award-winning Pratt, who is known for his terrific painted graphic novels on Enemy Ace, Batman, and Wolverine.

The “original” Sandman never looked so good.

Fun fact: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created often over-looked version of Sandman in the 1970s. Simon dropped out after one issue, Jack took a few issue break, and the final issue, #7, featuring Santa Claus (yes, you heard right) was cancelled prior to publication and didn’t appear in print until a few years later.

That Simon and Kirby Issue, originally intended as a one-shot, was their final collaboration.

This version of Sandman makes an unexpected comeback appearance in Wonder Woman #300, with versions by both Gene Colan and Kirby fanatic Keith Giffen. More on all of this in a future post.