Story: "The Tarantula Act One" (26 Pages)

Credits:

Matt Wagner (plot, script)
Guy Davis (pencils, inks)
David Hornung (colors)
John Costanza (letters)
Karen Berger (edits)

Feature Character:

Sandman I (Wesley Bernard Dodds)

Supporting Characters:

Dian Belmont (the daughter of Lawrence Belmont)
Lawrence Belmont (a New York District Attorney)
Judge Thomas Schaeffer (first appearance)
Ross O'Donald (first appearance; a New York police chief)
Mayor Lansky

Villains:

The Tarantula (Roger Goldman; the son of Albert and Miriam Goldman)
Miriam Goldman (the wife of Albert Goldman)
Albert Goldman (a mobster and former bootlegger)
Celia Goldman (the daughter of Albert and Miriam Goldman; first appearance of all four)
Lenny Green (the son of "Young Boy" Eddie Green)
Moses Berman (two mobsters; first appearance of both)

Guest Appearances:

Joe DeMaggio
Bert Lahr
Tallulah Bankhead
William Powell
Bugsy Siegel

Other Characters:

Catherine Van Der Meer (a friend of Dian Belmont's)
Pascal (a police officer)
Charlie Malloy (a taxi driver; first appearance of all three)

Comments: The first Sandman Mystery Theatre story arc, that begins in this issue and ends in #4, is a revamped version of the story in Adventure Comics #40.