The Sandman was originally intended to be the actual Sandman of popular myth, "eternal and immortal," although through a later retcon by Roy Thomas, he was "revealed" to be Dr. Garrett Sanford, a UCLA psychology professor who became trapped in the Dream Dimension. This Sandman battled demons and monsters, protecting children within their dreams, especially one young boy named Jed Walker. This character only appeared for a handful of issues and was generally unused for years thereafter.
In Infinity Inc #44 (October 1987), Hector Hall (formerly the Silver Scarab) supplanted the deceased Sanford as the Sandman.
In 1990, it was further revealed that the Dream Dimension was in fact a small universe in the head of Jed Walker, created by two escaped creatures from the realm of Dream (Brute and Glob - the Sandman's assistants in the original series). It turned out that Hall had in fact died some years before and his incarnation as the Sandman was merely a shell, which dissipated when Dream defeated the two creatures.
(Hall went on to be reincarnated as Doctor Fate. Hall's son, Daniel, eventually became the new Dream when the incumbent one ceased to exist.)
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