Sparky (comics)

"Sparky" was a British comic book that ran from (issues dates) 23 January 1965 to 9 July 1977, when it merged with "The Topper" after 652 issues. It featured:
*"Ali's 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
*"Baron Von Reichs-Pudding" (The flying Hun from vorld var von!)
*"Barney Bulldog" - similar to Biffo the Bear and the cover strip by Bill Ritchie
*"Captain Cutler and his Butler" - 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
*"Dreamy Daniel" - a boy with a rich internal fantasy life who easily confused his imagination with reality
*"Dreamy Dave and Dozy Dora" a brother and sister who constantly dozed off and shared the same bizarre but vivid fantasy dreams
*"Hungry Horace" (originally from "The Dandy") A boy who thought of nothing but eating. drawn by george drysdale
*"I-Spy" He was a secret agent with a long coat which concealed hundreds of weapons and gadgets.
*"Invisible Dick" He was a boy who had a magic torch which shone black light and made things invisible.
*"Keyhole Kate" (originally from The Dandy) She was a nosey girl with pigtails and glasses who spied through keyholes. drawn by george drysdale
*"L-Cars" - two incompetent policemen (the name comes from the contemporary show Z Cars, but with a pun on learning 'L-plates')
*"The Moonsters, green aliens living on the moon- drawn by Bill Ritchie
*"Mr Bubbles - 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
*"Pansy Potter, the strong-man's daughter"- drawn by John Geering, revival of 1940s Beano strip.
*"Peter Piper" A boy with magic pipes which could make objects and pictures alive, revival of story from The Magic Comic.
*"Planet Of The Nirdles"
*"Puss 'n' Boots" - "they fight like cat and dog", an eternally warring cat and dog duo, drawn by John Geering
*"Snip and Snap - two dogs eternally conspiring to bite the visiting postman. Reprinted as "The Red Hot Chilli Dogs" in the Dandy Xtreme as of August 2007.
*"Some Mummies Do 'Ave 'Em"
*"Sparky" - the adventures of a black boy who wore a grass skirt. Sparky was the cover story until replaced with Barney Bulldog.
*"Sparky People" - a semi-fictional office staff who produced Sparky
*"Spoofer McGraw" - "He tells tall tales", who continually gave outrageous explanations for the origins of tractors, mummies etc. to his gullible duffelcoat-wearing friend Bo
*"Thingummy Blob"
*"Wee Tusky"
*"Willie Getaway or will he not" - 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

It was a D.C Thomson comic and aimed at a slightly younger audience than "The Beano" and "The Dandy". It changed its name to "The Sparky Comic" in 1973.

See also

*List of DC Thomson Publications