Sparky was a British comic published weekly by DC Thomson

D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd

D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, is a publishing company based in Dundee, Scotland, best known for producing The Dundee Courier, The Evening Telegraph, The Sunday Post, Oor Wullie, The Broons, The Beano, The Dandy and Commando comics...

, that ran from (issue dates) 23 January 1965 to 9 July 1977 when it merged with The Topper

Topper (comic book)

The Topper was a UK comic published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd that ran from 7 February 1953 to 15 September 1990, when it merged with The Beezer....

 after 652 issues. From 1965-1980 the comic published an annual entitled The Sparky Book

The Sparky Book (annual)

The Sparky Book was the name of the book that had been published every year since 1966, to tie in with the children's comic Sparky. Every Sparky book was dated with the first edition, published in 1966, being dated as the 1967 edition. Up until the Sparky book 1975 the annuals had the subtitle for...

. It was a DC Thomson

D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd

D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, is a publishing company based in Dundee, Scotland, best known for producing The Dundee Courier, The Evening Telegraph, The Sunday Post, Oor Wullie, The Broons, The Beano, The Dandy and Commando comics...

 comic, originally aimed at a slightly younger audience to The Beano

The Beano

The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink...

 and The Dandy

The Dandy

The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino...

 later it was aimed at the same audience. It changed its name to The Sparky Comic in 1973.

List of comic strips

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 black boy who wore a grass skirt. Sparky was the original cover story until replaced with The Moonsters.
The Moonsters	Bill Ritchie Bill Ritchie Bill Ritchie was a Scottish cartoonist. He is known for work on comics published by D. C. Thomson.-Biography:...	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 The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino... ) A boy who thought of nothing but eating.
Keyhole Kate Keyhole Kate Keyhole Kate was a comic strip in The Dandy. The strip featured a nosy young girl who looked looking through people's keyholes. She first appeared in The Dandy's first issue drawn by Allan Morley back in 1937. She continued in The Dandy until 1955 and even appeared as the cover strip of issue 294...	George Drysdale	1	488	(originally from The Dandy Dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self... ) She was a nosey girl with pigtails and glasses who spied through keyholes. Later moved back to The Dandy The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino... .
Joe Bann and his Big Banjo		1	138
Freddie the Fearless Fly		1	91	Originally in the Dandy The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino... .
Jeff ye Jolly Jester		1	89
Hockey Hannah		1	76
Minnie Ha-Ha		1	55
Flubberface		1	59
Hairy Dan Hairy Dan Hairy Dan was a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano. It first appeared in Beano issue 1, dated 30 July 1938 and ran until issue 297, dated 16 November 1946....		1	29	This strip was originally in The Beano The Beano The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink... .
Dick Turpentine		1	12
Nosey Parker		1	139
Stoneage Steve		1	5
Pansy Potter Pansy Potter Pansy Potter The Strongman's Daughter was a comic strip in The Beano, featuring Pansy Potter, a really strong girl. First appearing in the issue dated 17 December 1938. Around 1949 Jimmy Clark took up drawing the Strip, and it became known as Pansy Potter in Wonderland...	John Geering John Geering John Keith Geering was a British cartoonist with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for DC Thomson comics including Sparky, The Topper, Cracker, Plug, Nutty, The Beano and The Dandy....	2	567	Revival of a strip from The Beano The Beano The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink... .
Frosty McNab		2	4	Revival of a strip from The Beano The Beano The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink... .
Cuckoo in the Clock Cuckoo in the Clock Song lyrics written by Johnny Mercer music by Walter Donaldson-Artists who have recorded this song:*Benny Goodman*Glenn Miller*Kay Kiser*Johnny Mercer...		2	139
Black Jack Black Jack Black Jack or Blackjack may refer to:- Games and cards :* Blackjack, the gambling game* Black Jack , also known as Switch, a name given to some variations of Crazy Eights in United Kingdom* The black Jack playing card- Products :...  the Chimney Sweep Chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combustion. Chimneys may be straight or contain many changes of direction. During...		2	5
Grandma Jolly and her Brolly Brolly Brolly may refer to:* A colloquial term for umbrella* Shane Brolly, actor* Broly, fictional character from the Dragon Ball Z series...		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 The Magic Comic The Magic Comic was the ill fated third comic to The Beano and The Dandy. It was aimed at a younger audience, with more emphasis on picture stories. The first issue was published on 22 July 1939. The comic ran for only 80 issues until 25 January 1941... .
Winnie the Witch Winnie the Witch Winnie The Witch is a series of eleven picture books, written by Valerie Thomas and illustrated by Korky Paul. According to Oxford University Press more than two million books have been sold of this series....		25	122	A strip with the same name appeared in The Beano The Beano The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink... .
The Slowdown Express		25	137
Fireman Fred		63	131
Granny Cupp and her Flying Saucer Flying saucer A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...		80	139
My Grockle and Me	George Drysdale	86	140	Revival of a strip from The Rover The Rover (comics) The Rover was a British boys' comic which started in 1922. The comic merged with Adventure in 1961 and later merged with The Wizard in 1963. The comic eventually folded in 1973....  and later The Dandy The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino... .
Harry Carry		123	209
Meddlesome Matty		140	224	A girl whose meddling always got her into trouble.
Deputy Dawg Deputy Dawg Deputy Dawg is a Terrytoons cartoon character featured on the animated television series of the same name in an original TV weekly run from 8 September 1962 to 25 May 1963, with no episodes on 8 December to 29 December 1962, resuming on 5 January 1963. The cartoons are between four and six minutes...		140	165
Snapshot Sid		140	191
Tom Tardy		140	175
Charlie Chutney		141	209
Big Billy Bigg		161	243
The Snooks		166	205
Clever Claire		170	178
Cheating Charley		192	210
John Bulldog/Barney Bulldog	Bill Ritchie Bill Ritchie Bill Ritchie was a Scottish cartoonist. He is known for work on comics published by D. C. Thomson.-Biography:...	200	528	Similar to Biffo the Bear Biffo the Bear Biffo the Bear was a fictional character who had his own comic strip in the British comic The Beano. Biffo was an anthropomorphic bear resembling Mickey Mouse who gained the front cover of the comic starting from issue 327, dated January 24, 1948, replacing Big Eggo...  and the third cover strip. Name changed to Barney Bulldog in 449 when strip moved to front cover.
L-Cars	Bill Hill Bill Hill William Cicero Hill was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played in the National League from 1896-1899.-External links:...	205	652	Two incompetent policemen named Cedric and Frederic (the name comes from the contemporary show Z-Cars Z-Cars Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by... , but with a pun on learning 'L-plates')
Spoofer McGraw Spoofer McGraw Spoofer McGraw was a strip in The Sparky and The Topper about a boy who would spoof his best friend bo. Though bo always listens to the stories, he finds a way to criticize it in the end. Drawn by Gordon Bell....	Gordon Bell Gordon Bell C. Gordon Bell is an American computer engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later became Vice President of Engineering 1972-1983, overseeing the development of the VAX...	206	652	"He tells tall tales", who continually gave outrageous explanations for the origins of tractor Tractor A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction... s, mummies Mummy A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...  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 Ron Spencer Ron Spencer is an illustrator whose most famous work has been for the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.- Early life :Ron Spencer grew up on a farm in Aurora, Nebraska. As a child, his reading material included such Marvel Comics as Conan the Barbarian.- Artwork :Spencer is primarily...	211	298	The inept Wild West sheriff.
Helpful Henry Helpful Henry Helpful Henry was a comic strip appearing in both the UK and the USA. They were two different comic strips created by two different cartoonists.- UK :...	Hugh Morren	211	230	Revival of a strip from The Beano The Beano The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink... . Male version of Meddlesome Matty.
I-Spy	Les Barton Les Barton Leslie "Les" Barton was an English professional footballer who played as a full-back. He started his career with Bolton Wanderers, but failed to break into the first team and moved to Football League Third Division North side New Brighton in 1949...	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		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 John Geering John Keith Geering was a British cartoonist with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for DC Thomson comics including Sparky, The Topper, Cracker, Plug, Nutty, The Beano and The Dandy....	231	652	"they fight like cat and dog", an eternally warring cat and dog duo.
Sam's Snake		244	426
Ali's Baba		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 The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino...  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		315	402
Willie Getaway Willie Getaway Willie Getaway was a fictional character in a comic published in the deceased British publication Sparky. He was heir to a fortune, but didn't know this as he couldn't read the small print on the WANTED posters bearing his image. Every strip featured his attempting to escape from people wanting the...  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 Victorian era The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...  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 Snip and Snap - External links :* , one of the prizewinning episodes of 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 The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino...  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 The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino... .
Superwitch		500	651
Minnie the Tea Lady	Jim Petrie Jim Petrie Jim Petrie was a British comic artist. He is most notable for drawing 2,000 episodes of Minnie the Minx, a comic strip featured in The Beano, after taking over from the strips original artist Leo Baxendale in 1961...	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 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a BBC situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice.The series followed the accident-prone Frank Spencer and his tolerant wife Betty through Frank's various attempts to hold down a job, which frequently end in... .
Planet of the Nirdles		578	642
The Circus of P. T. Bimbo		581	652

List of Sparky Adventure Strips

As well as featuring comic strips featured Adventurous strips, however 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.
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 Goat The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...		17	29
Kipper Feet		23	34
Riddle Riddle A riddle is a statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and...  of the Roughlands		25	34
Lonely Wood		26	59	Two series. First (26-34). Second (57-59).
Raiders from the Red Planet Red Planet Red Planet is a nickname for the planet Mars, due to its surface color. It may also refer to:* Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein* Red Planet , an 1994 animated adaptation of the novel...		30	334
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 Pocahontas Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...		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 Bob Webster Robert David Webster is an American former diving champion who won gold medals at both the 1960 and 1964 Olympic games in the 10-meter platform event. He also won a gold medal at the 1963 Pan American Games and finished first in every platform diving event he entered from 1960 to 1964...	75	499	Five Series. First (75-87) called Big Klanky. From Second (141-160) onwards called Klanky. Thid (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		108	652	Three Series. First (108-123). Second (182-499). Third (563-652) which were reprints. He was a boy who had a magic torch which shone black light and made things invisible.
The Lost Ponies of Thor Thor In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...		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 Uncle Tom's Cabin Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....		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
The Captive Kidds		185	195	Loose remake of The earlier Kidnapped Kidds
Sacramento Sacramento Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...  here we come		186	197
Sailor Brown's Schooldays		196	210
The Boyhood of Deadwood Dick		198	210
The Coral Coral Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...  Island		199	210
The Jungle Ark		211	226
Mr Bubbles	Pamela Chapaeu & James Fox James Fox James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...	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. 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 The Blob The Blob is an independently made 1958 American horror/science-fiction film that depicts a giant amoeba-like alien that terrorizes the small community of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania... .