Sparky (comics)

British comic

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Sparky

Publication information
Publisher| DC Thomson
Schedule| Weekly
Format| Ongoing series
Publication date| 23 January 1965 – 9 July 1977
No. of issues| 652

Sparky was a British comic published weekly by DC Thomson, that ran from (issue dates) 23 January 1965 to 9 July 1977 when it merged with The Topper after 652 issues. From 1965–1980 the comic published an annual entitled The Sparky Book. It was a DC Thomson comic, originally aimed at a slightly younger audience to The Beano and The Dandy later it was aimed at the same audience. It changed its name to The Sparky Comic in 1973.

## List of comic strips

[edit]

Strips which featured in Sparky at some point during the course of its 12-year run included. All numbers refer to issues of Sparky.

Strip title  | Artist  | First appearance  | Last appearance  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Sparky |  | 1  | 210  | The adventures of a Golliwog style black boy who wore a grass skirt. The character was almost identical to the Sooty Snowball character that had appeared in the earlier Magic Comic. Sparky was the original cover story until replaced with The Moonsters.
The Moonsters | Bill Ritchie | 2  | 199  | Green aliens living on the moon. Originally on the back page, but soon became the cover story.
Dreamy Dave and Dozy Dora | Pamela Chapaeu | 1  | 204  | A brother and sister who constantly dozed off and shared the same bizarre but vivid fantasy dreams.
Hungry Horace | George Drysdale | 1  | 652  | (originally from The Dandy) A boy who thought of nothing but eating.
Keyhole Kate | George Drysdale | 1  | 488  | (originally from The Dandy) She was a nosey girl with pigtails and glasses who spied through keyholes. Later moved back to The Dandy.
Joe Bann and his Big Banjo |  | 1  | 138  |
Freddie the Fearless Fly |  | 1  | 91  | Originally in The Dandy.
Jeff ye Jolly Jester |  | 1  | 89  |
Hockey Hannah |  | 1  | 76  |
Minnie Ha-Ha |  | 1  | 55  |
Flubberface |  | 1  | 59  |
Hairy Dan |  | 1  | 29  | This strip was originally in The Beano.
Dick Turpentine |  | 1  | 12  |
Nosey Parker  |  | 1  | 139  | The character was originally featured in The Rover in 1925. It also featured in The Sunday Post and The Beezer.
Stoneage Steve |  | 1  | 5  |
Pansy Potter | John Geering | 2  | 567  | Revival of a strip from The Beano.
Frosty McNab |  | 2  | 4  | Revival of a strip from The Beano.
Cuckoo in the Clock |  | 2  | 139  |
Black Jack the Chimney Sweep |  | 2  | 5  |
Grandma Jolly and her Brolly |  | 2  | 17  |
Peter Piper |  | 3  | 652  | A boy with magic pipes which could make objects and pictures alive, revival of story from The Magic Comic.
Winnie the Witch |  | 25  | 122  | A strip with the same name appeared in The Beano.
The Slowdown Express |  | 25  | 137  |
Fireman Fred |  | 63  | 131  |
Granny Cupp and her Flying Saucer |  | 80  | 139  |
My Grockle and Me | George Drysdale | 86  | 140  | Revival of a strip from The Rover and later The Dandy
Harry Carry |  | 123  | 209  |
Meddlesome Matty |  | 140  | 224  | Originally in The Dandy.

A girl whose meddling always got her into trouble.

Deputy Dawg | James Malcolm  | 140  | 165  | Based on the Terrytoons cartoon.
Snapshot Sid |  | 140  | 191  |
Tom Tardy |  | 140  | 175  |
Charlie Chutney |  | 141  | 209  | Originally a 1940s Dandy Character.
Big Billy Bigg |  | 161  | 243  | Belgian import, known as Jerom. Drawn by Eduard De Rop.[1]
The Snooks |  | 166  | 205  | Belgian Import, known as De Familie Snoek. Drawn by Eduard De Rop.[2]
Clever Claire |  | 170  | 178  | Belgian Import, known as Kari Lente. Drawn by Bob Mau.
Cheating Charley |  | 192  | 210  |
John Bulldog/Barney Bulldog | Bill Ritchie | 200  | 528  | Similar to Biffo the Bear and the third cover strip. Name changed to Barney Bulldog in issue 211 1 February 1969.
L-Cars | Bill Hill | 205  | 652  | Two incompetent policemen named Cedric and Frederic (the name comes from the contemporary show Z-Cars, but with a pun on learning 'L-plates')
Spoofer McGraw | Gordon Bell | 206  | 652  | "He tells tall tales", who continually gave outrageous explanations for the origins of tractors, mummies etc. to his gullible duffelcoat-wearing friend Bo. 643–652 were reprints.
Esky Mo |  | 211  | 259  | An Eskimo boy living at the North Pole.
Harry Presto |  | 211  | 224  | The Conjuror's son – a boy who uses his magician dad’s hat to pull out assorted objects.
Sparky People |  | 211  | 652  | A semi-fictional office staff who produced Sparky. 647–652 are reprints.
Wyatt Twerp | Ron Spencer | 211  | 298  | The inept Wild West sheriff.
Helpful Henry | Hugh Morren | 211  | 230  | Revival of a strip from The Wizard, Dandy Monster Comic and The Beano. Male version of Meddlesome Matty.
I-Spy | Les Barton 1969–70. Brian Walker 1970–1972. John Fox 1974–1976.  | 211  | 586  | He was a secret agent with a long coat which concealed hundreds of weapons and gadgets. Similar to a character from Smash! called The Cloak.
Cap'n Hood and his Merry Men | Ray Hamilton | 212  | 231  |
Kings of the Castle |  | 230  | 652  | The Kings lived in a castle and the 'Dirty Rascals' were forever trying to get in.
Puss 'n' Boots | John Geering | 231  | 652  | "they fight like cat and dog", an eternally warring cat and dog duo.
Sam's Snake |  | 244  | 426  |
Ali's Baba | Mal Judge[3] | 261  | 652  | Early strips were called Ali and his Baba. An invisible guardian angel Ali, who lived on a cloud and wore a cape, following an unknowing toddler Baba at all times and protected him from harm. Continued in The Topper and reprinted in The Dandy as Jimmy's Green Genie in 2004.
I. Fly |  | 262  | 426  |
Rudolph the Red Coat Mountie |  | 276  | 299  | All the other mounties in the force had failed to catch master of disguise dangerous Dan McGurk, and so it fell to assistant cook Rudolph to get his man! Reprinted in 603–626
Trouble Bruin |  | 280  | 314  |
Ma Kelly's Telly | Les Barton, Jim Petrie[4] | 315  | 402  |
Willie Getaway or will he not  | Phillip Milar | 316  | 499  | A man who thinks he is a wanted criminal as he can't read the small print on the 'wanted' posters that he has in fact inherited a large fortune, spending each strip trying to escape 'capture' by people wanting the reward for finding him.
Tom Kat |  | 323  | 401  |
Captain Cutler and his Butler |  | 397  | 426  | A Victorian era explorer Egbert Cutler searching for the source of the river Bongo, and his polite but long-suffering manservant Crumbs. This strip was notable for including the writer and artist as off-panel characters; Crumbs would interact with them and request changes to the strip in order to assist the clueless Cutler.
Snip and Snap |  | 403  | 499  | Two dogs eternally conspiring to bite the visiting postman. Reprinted as "The Red Hot Chilli Dogs" in the Dandy Xtreme as of August 2007.
Dreamy Daniel |  | 403  | 652  | A boy with a rich internal fantasy life who easily confused his imagination with reality
Jumbo and Jet |  | 427  | 455  | Adventures of a mouse and an elephant.
Baron Von Reichs-Pudding |  | 474  | 652  | The flying Hun from vorld var von!
Herman's Horoscopes |  | 490  | 602  |
Thingummyblob | Albert Holroyd | 500  | 652  | A strip with the same title has recently been in The Dandy.
Superwitch |  | 500  | 651  |
Minnie the Tea Lady | Jim Petrie | 501  | 648  |
Ah! Choo! |  | 545  | 650  |
Some Mummies Do 'Ave 'Em |  | 568  | 652  | The final cover story. Title is a play on the sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
Planet of the Nirdles |  | 578  | 642  |
The Circus of P. T. Bimbo |  | 581  | 652  |

## List of Sparky adventure Strips

[edit]

As well as featuring comic strips Sparky featured adventure strips, though fewer and fewer of these appeared later in the comic's life.

Strip title  | Artist  | First appearance  | Last appearance  | Notes

|
|
|
|

The Young Castaways  |  | 1  | 16  |
Wee Tusky |  | 1  | 42  | Two series. First (1–22). Second (35–42). A text story of the same name also featuring an elephant appeared in the first Dandy Monster Comic.[5]
The Kidnapped Kidds  |  | 1  | 15  |
The Palace of Secrets  |  | 1  | 14  | This was a prose story with a few illustrations not a comic strip.
Will O' the Well  |  | 15  | 59  | Two series. First (15–25) was a text story. The Second (53–59) was a comic strip.
McGinty the Goat |  | 17  | 29  |
Kipper Feet  |  | 23  | 34  |
Riddle of the Roughlands  |  | 25  | 34  |
Lonely Wood  |  | 26  | 59  | Two series. First (26–34). Second (57–59).
Raiders from the Red Planet |  | 30  | 34  |
Glipin the Lost, Lost Boy  |  | 35  | 49  |
Year of the Vanaks  |  | 35  | 56  |
The Flood that Mother Remembers  |  | 35  | 47  |
Floating Along, Singing A Song  |  | 36  | 47  |
The Downside Donkeys |  | 43  | 52  |
Lost Children of the Forest  |  | 48  | 55  |
Quest of the Wandering Wingates  |  | 50  | 59  |
Pocahontas |  | 56  | 60  |
Seven at One Blow  |  | 60  | 72  |
Huffy, Muffy and Tuffy  |  | 60  | 74  |
City under the Sea  |  | 60  | 79  |
Children of the Secret Pool  |  | 61  | 76  |
Rory, the Horse of Many Masters  |  | 62  | 74  |
Boy in the Forest of Fear  |  | 73  | 83  |
Klanky | Bob Webster | 75  | 499  | Five Series. First (75–87) called Big Klanky. From Second (141–160) onwards called Klanky. Third (211–239). Fourth (280–299) called Around the World with Klanky. Fifth (377–499) called Klanky. An alien robot who is befriended on earth by Ernie and Sue Huggins.
Police Horse Hadrian  |  | 75  | 85  |
Balloon Family Robinson  |  | 77  | 139  | Two Series. First (77–85). Second (138–139).
Prentice Pete  |  | 84  | 140  | Two Series. First One-off in 84. Second (123–140),
Willy the Woeful Wizard  |  | 86  | 116  |
Terry had a Little Pig  |  | 86  | 97  |
Nine Hundred Years Ago  |  | 87  | 94  |
The Horse with Wings  |  | 88  | 106  |
Davey Spacer |  | 95  | 240  | Three Series. First (95–107) called Little Davey Spacer. Second (140–157) and called Davey Spacer in Giantland. Third (227–240) called Davey Spacer.
The Island from the Past  |  | 98  | 109  |
Keepers of the Dancing Drums  |  | 107  | 122  |
Invisible Dick | Tony Speer[6] | 108  | 652  | Three Series. First (108–123). Second (182–499). Third (563–652) which were reprints. Originated in Rover comic in 1922 and was in first Dandy comic 1938. Sparky comic version changed the origin of Dicks invisibility from a Jar with invisible solution to a Torch with black beam that makes all it shines on invisible for a period of time.
The Lost Ponies of Thor |  | 110  | 119  |
Greedy Gus  |  | 117  | 127  |
The Cave Kids  |  | 120  | 131  |
The Lonely lad of Blue Lagoon  |  | 124  | 183  |
Titch, the Pup that Grew and Grew  |  | 128  | 137  |
David Copperfield |  | 140  | 158  | Adaptation of the book of the same name.
Big Ossie  |  | 141  | 155  |
The Magic Sword  |  | 156  | 168  |
The Floating Farrells  |  | 158  | 170  |
Uncle Tom's Cabin |  | 159  | 178  | Adaptation of the book of the same name.
Blonderl the Wandering Minstrel  |  | 169  | 181  |
South Seas Suzie  |  | 171  | 186  |
The Old Curiosity Shop |  | 179  | 198  | Adaptation of Charles Dickens story of same name
The Captive Kidds  |  | 185  | 195  | Unrelated to the earlier Kidnapped Kidds
Sacramento here we come  |  | 186  | 197  |
Sailor Brown's Schooldays  |  | 196  | 210  |
The Boyhood of Deadwood Dick  |  | 198  | 210  |
The Coral Island |  | 199  | 210  | Adaptation of R. M. Ballantyne book of same name
The Jungle Ark  |  | 211  | 226  |
Mr Bubbles  | Pamela Chapaeu & James Fox | 240  | 652  | A 'bubble imp' living in a plastic bottle similar to washing-up liquid. Each strip someone would squeeze it and he would grant three wishes. Two series first (240–546) and second was reprints from (627–652)
The Jungle Walkers  |  | 241  | 254  |
The Misery King  |  | 255  | 260  |
Bushboy  |  | 261  | 359  | Two Series. First (261–275). Second (346–359).
Four Legged Fred  |  | 299  | 314  |
The Mini-Martins  |  | 322  | 332  |
Tess of the Taoki  |  | 356  | 363  |
The Wild West Kids  |  | 364  | 376  |
North Sea Oyl  |  | 587  | 592  | Reminiscent of the film The Blob.

## See also

[edit]

* List of DC Thomson Publications

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Studio of Willy Vandersteen
2. ^ Studio of Willy Vandersteen
3. ^ "MS 336/2/7 'Ali and his Baba' drawn by Mal Judge". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
4. ^ "MS 336/2/9 'Ma Kelly's Telly' drawn by Jim Petrie". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
5. ^ Dandy Monster Comic No. 1. Dundee, Scotland: D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. in conjunction with Aurum Press Ltd. 2006. p. 41\. ISBN 1-84513-217-3.
6. ^ "Ms 336/2/11 'Invisible Dick' drawn by Tony Speer". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 12 April 2016.

* Smith, Alan The Sparky File[dead link‍], Comics UK, expanded from article in Crikey!
* Sparky at the Grand Comics Database
* One of the appendixes of The Sparky File showing a list of strips that were in Sparky. Posted on the ComicsUK forum [1].

* v
* t
* e

DC Thomson comics

Currently running comics|

* The Beano
* Commando
* Fun Section in The Sunday Post

Adventure comics|

* Adventure
* Bullet
* Buddy
* Champ
* Commando
* The Crunch
* The Hornet
* The Hotspur
* The Rover
* The Skipper
* Spike
* Starblazer
* The Vanguard
* The Victor
* Warlord
* The Wizard

Girls' comics|

* Bunty
* Judy
* Mandy
* Nikki

Humour comics|

* The Beano
* The Beezer
* Buzz
* Classics from the Comics
* Cracker
* The Dandy
* EPIC Magazine
* Fun Size Comics
* Hoot
* The Magic Comic
* Nutty
* Plug
* Sparky
* The Topper

Pre-school comics|

* Bimbo
* The Magic Comic
* Twinkle

Notable strips|

* Alf Tupper
* Baby Crockett
* Bananaman
* The Bash Street Kids
* Beryl the Peril
* Black Bob
* Biffo the Bear
* Big Eggo
* The Broons
* Calamity James
* Cuddles and Dimples
* Dennis the Menace
* Desperate Dan
* Ginger
* Gnasher
* Ivy the Terrible
* Jonah
* Keyhole Kate
* Korky the Cat
* Little Plum
* Lord Snooty
* Matt Braddock
* Mickey the Monkey
* Minnie the Minx
* Nero and Zero
* The Numskulls
* Oor Wullie
* Pansy Potter
* Send for Kelly
* Roger the Dodger
* Tricky Dicky
* Willy Nilly
* Winker Watson
* Wilson the Wonder Athlete
* Wolf of Kabul

Comic annuals|

* The Beano Annual
* The Beezer Book
* The Bimbo Book
* The Dandy Annual
* The Hotspur Book for Boys
* The Sparky Book
* The Topper Book
* The Victor Book for Boys
* Warlord Book for Boys

Character annuals|

* Bananaman Annual
* The Bash Street Kids Annual
* Beryl the Peril Annual
* Black Bob Book
* The Broons Annual
* Dennis the Menace Annual
* The Desperate Dan Book
* Oor Wullie Annual

Notable artists|

* Barrie Appleby
* Nigel Auchterlounie
* Leo Baxendale
* Gordon Bell
* Nick Brennan
* Paddy Brennan
* Sid Burgon
* Reg Carter
* Wilbur Dawbarn
* Karl Dixon
* The Etherington Brothers
* Hunt Emerson
* Andy Fanton
* John Geering
* Barry Glennard
* Charles Grigg
* Ken H. Harrison
* Laura Howell
* Diego Jourdan
* Malcolm Judge
* David Law
* Trevor Metcalfe
* Allan Morley
* David Mostyn
* Vic Neill
* Robert Nixon
* Gary Northfield
* Nigel Parkinson
* Tom Paterson
* Jim Petrie
* Ken Reid
* Bill Ritchie
* David Parkins
* Jon Rushby
* Jamie Smart
* Lew Stringer
* David Sutherland
* Kev F. Sutherland
* Dudley D. Watkins
* Stevie White

Notable writers|

* Mike Chinn
* Gilbert Lawford Dalton
* Alan Grant
* Ian Gray
* R. D. Low
* Grant Morrison
* John Radford
* Cavan Scott
* John Smith

See also|

* List of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd publications
* List of AP, Fleetway and IPC Comics publications
* List of Beano comic strips
* List of Dandy comic strips
* List of Topper comic strips
* List of Beezer comic strips
* List of Beezer and Topper comic strips

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