Dian Belmont is a fictional

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

character, associated with the golden age

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

, a socialite and amateur detective, she assisted Sandman on most of his adventures as his aide and confidant. She made her first appearance in ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' #47 (February 1940), created by

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

and

Ogden Whitney John Ogden Whitney (May 1, 1919 – August 13, 1975) was an American comic-book artist and sometime writer active from the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comics through the 1960s Silver Age. He is best known as co-creator of the aviator hero Skym ...

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

In Dian Belmont's first adventure she was originally a thief named the Woman in Evening Clothes whom Sandman foiled a robbery by. After a few more stories her past as a gentlewoman thief was entirely forgotten and she now became the rich socialite girlfriend of Wesley Dodds and a fellow detective in his guise as Sandman. A distinction between Dian and most other superhero girlfriends was that Dian was fully aware of Wesley's Sandman identity and was a constant aid in his war on crime and less a damsel in distress. in Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941) Sandman was given a new look and sidekick in Sandy the Golden Boy, Dian disappeared from the strip and would not make an appearance for several decades until it was explained that Sandy was her nephew and that she had died sometime before the Second World War. In ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its se ...

'' 18 (dated February 1983, but set on Earth-2 in the early 1940s), writer Roy Thomas explained Dian's disappearance from the series by having Nazi spies murder her after mistaking her for the Sandman. She had donned the Sandman's gas mask costume and was investigating a suspicious fire while Wesley Dodds was out of town.

Post Crisis and Sandman Mystery Theatre

Starting in ''Sandman Mystery Theatre'' Dian Belmont's history is altered. Dian and Wesley relationship is now modeled on Nick and Nora Charles of ''The Thin Man'' with a more lighthearted rapport between the two but a much more mature view of their personal relationship. Dian's father is the District Attorney and she in now seen as a flighty party girl who after an encounter with the Sandman joins in his fight against crime. In later adventures Dian jokingly refers to herself as Sandy due to a comic that she read about a fictionalized version of herself and Wesley (in itself based on the golden age adventures of Sandman and Sandy). In her twilight years Dian Belmont became an award winning crime novelist and attracted such high profile fans as Jack Knight, also known as Starman, helping him solve one of his crimes. Dian died of natural causes and was later joined by Wesley soon after.''JSA'' #1 (August 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belmont, Dian Comics characters introduced in 1940 Characters created by Gardner Fox Fictional amateur detectives DC Comics female characters