 " Competition " was written by Kevin Hopps and directed by Troy Adomitis . Hopps and Adomotis each had their respective roles previously in " Interactions . " Victor Cook , a developer , producer , and supervising director for The Spectacular Spider @-@ Man , was thrilled to use Sandman because he felt he was " a perfect character for animation . " " Competition " aired on March 29 , 2008 , on the Kids WB ! block for The CW . The episode received warm reviews from television critics - IGN wrote that the fight scenes were the greatest of the series at the time . 
