Carl Sands (Prime Earth)

Carl Sands, also known as the Shadow Thief, is a career criminal who uses technological means to imitate a shadow, becoming intangible. The Shadow Thief primarily battles the hero Hawkman.

History

The Dark Gift

Prior to his costumed career, Carl Sands was a criminal associate of "Eel" O'Brian.^[1] After saving the life of an alien being, Sands was rewarded with a Dimensiometer, a wrist-mounted device allowing him to become intangible by shifting into and out of a shadow dimension.^[2] Sands used the technology to further his life of crime, but never posed a real challenge for his arch-nemesis Hawkman, who was always able to outsmart him,^[3] though Sands was considered professional and intelligent by his peers.^[1]

One night, Sands was sent a message by Lex Luthor, who wanted to meet him on a rooftop in Midway City. The Shadow Thief went to the meeting spot, where he was greeted by a holographic projection of Luthor. Luthor offered Sands an upgrade to his equipment, free of charge, which would allow him to not only imitate shadows, but control them entirely. Sands gladly accepted the offer, as he craved the power to finally defeat Hawkman.^[4]

Desecrating History

Hawkman Vol 5 15 Textless — Shadow Thief toys with his arch-nemesis

Upon obtaining his upgrade, Sands sought to become the true "Master of Darkness." To do this, Sands knew he would have to defeat Shade, the elusive super-hero who held dominion over shadows and darkness. Thief formulated a plan to draw Shade out. Sands would steal Hawkman's shadow, which would allow him to track Hawkman wherever he went. He would then steal countless artifacts, until Hawkman would be forced to seek out the help of his friend the Shade, at which point Shadow Thief would strike.^[3]

Sands tracked Hawkman to Kenya, where he was meditating in a secret and sacred cave. With his new found powers, Shadow Thief was able to easily defeat his arch-nemesis when the latter was caught off guard. He then promised to destroy any remnants of the ancient cultures Hawkman cared so much about, proceeding to desecrate Hawkman's sacred meditation zone. The Thief then stole Hawkman's shadow as well as a sacred artifact, leaving Hawkman's beaten body behind in the cave.^[4]

Master of the Shadowlands

Hawkman Vol 5 16 Textless — Sands and a shadow dragon against Hawkman

A couple of days later, Hawkman fled to Shade for help just as Sands had foreseen. Shade, upon learning that Carter was missing his shadow, immediately understood Shadow Thief's intentions and evacuated Hawkman to a safe room made of pure light which shadows couldn't breach. Unfortunately for Shade and Hawkman, Sands was able to use the shadow cast by Shade's open mouth to breach the room. After breaching the room, the Shadow Thief swiftly stole Shade's shadow, and fled to the Shadowlands, which he now controlled.^[3]

A short while later Shade and Hawkman entered the Shadowlands in an attempt to retain their shadows and defeat the Shadow Thief. In response to the invasion, Shadow Thief unleashed his minions, which were able to defeat Shade. However Hawkman was able to survive Shadow Thief's onslaught.^[5] The Shadow Thief set his foe's own shadow against him, with each attack Hawkman dealt against it harming only himself. He claimed premature victory over the battered Hawkman, who called his mace to himself, driving it into the Thief's back. Hawkman destroyed Luthor's enhancement, freeing the stolen shadows, but was prevented from killing the Shadow Thief by the intervention of the Shade, who sought medical attention for the villain before turning him in.^[6]

Dark Crisis/Dawn of DC/All In

The Shadow Thief was a member of Deathstroke's Secret Society of Super-Villains, following him in an assault on Titans Tower. There, he captured and delivered the Titan Beast Boy to Deathstroke with fellow villain Trident,^[7] and he later engaged Frankenstein in Metropolis.^[8]

After the heroes triumphed and the Secret Society scattered,^[9] the Shadow Thief went without work until accepting a lucrative but high-risk contract from the underworld merchants of the Mirror House: to steal Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth. Hiding in the shadow of a child visiting the Hall of Justice, he recovered and delivered the lasso, before celebrating his success at the bar Fat Tuesdays in St. Roch, Louisiana. There, however, he was confronted by Wonder Woman and "Eel" O'Brian—now the superhero Plastic Man—who together were able to restrain him and compel him to give up his employers and to pay for damages to the bar inflicted by their struggle, though they let Sands walk free.^[1]

Later, the Shadow Thief abducted the World Fiduciary Council from a train en route to Philadelphia by drawing them into the shadow dimension, and demanded half a trillion dollars in cryptocurrency for their ransom. When the train was boarded by the superheroes the Captain and the Creeper, the Shadow Thief fled and caused it to derail. The heroes survived, however, and the Captain was able to expose the Thief by calling down lightning and dissipating the shadows in which he hid, allowing the Creeper to seize him when he became tangible. The Shadow Thief was made to deactivate the Dimensiometer, freeing his captives.^[2]

The Shadow Thief later joined the Injustice Society, a villainous counterpart to the Justice Society, of which Hawkman was a member.^[10]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Thievery^[2]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Dimensiometer^[2]
- Shadow Manipulation: With Lex Luthor's upgrade, Shadow Thief had complete control over shadows and the Shadowlands. He could steal and control others' shadows, allowing him to track that person wherever they were.^[3]
  - Intangibility: Sands can take on a "shadow state," which effectively allows him to transform into shadow, making him untouchable.^[3]
    - Phasing: In his "shadow state", Sands can move through solid objects.^[3]
  - Shadow Construct Creation: Shadow Thief can create solid constructs made out of shadows.^[4]
  - Shadow Summoning (Formerly): Shadow Thief can create humanoid shadows to fight for him which will follow his commands to the letter.^[4]
  - Shadow-based Teleportation: Sands can teleport anywhere in the world instantly by warping between shadows. The gateway does not need to be particularly large, as he was able to teleport using the shadow cast by someone opening their mouth.^[3]
    - Dimensional Travel: Sands can teleport himself to the Shadowlands.^[5]
"Special Gloves": The Shadow Thief wears gloves that that allow him to interact with matter while he is in his shadow state.^[2]

Notes

Shadow Thief was created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, first appearing in The Brave and the Bold #36. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Shadow Thief first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Hawkman (Volume 5) #14 by Robert Venditti and Patrick Olliffe.
- However, he was first mentioned in Hawkman (Volume 5) #3.
In Hawkman (Volume 5) #15, Shadow Thief is said to be empowered by a Shadow Vest, as was the case in post-Crisis continuity.^[11] Shazam! (Volume 5) #9 later reintroduced his pre-Crisis origin, including the Dimensiometer as the source of his power.^[12]

Secret Society of Super-Villains member
This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.

[BatB19-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Volume 2) #19

[Shazam9-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Shazam! (Volume 5) #9

[HM-V5-15-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 ^3.6 Hawkman (Volume 5) #15

[HM-V5-14-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Hawkman (Volume 5) #14

[HM-V5-16-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Hawkman (Volume 5) #16

[HM-V5-17-6] Hawkman (Volume 5) #17

[DC1-7] Dark Crisis #1

[DC3-8] Dark Crisis #3

[DC7-9] Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7

[JSA-10] JSA (Volume 2) #1

[WW9-11] Who's Who in the DC Universe #9

[WW20-12] Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #20

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