Home Latest images Register Log in. I will try to put it on the site year-by-year as it is too large to go on in one great chunk! This version is more detailed on dates where possible and far more comprehensive in description where possible, of adventure stories in the comics early years.
I have striven to list ever issue number and date where a strip begins and ends in the comic. I have also supplied names of artists where possible and of writers, who are far harder to gain details on. Their help has been invaluable and I thank them fully.
The years and were awkward for a while, but I now have a majority of issues from both years, plus my memory, to work on — though there are a few gaps in both. It was the last of the D. C Thomson big five fun titles to appear 23rd January and the first to founder on 16th July Its twelve year life seems to be poorly recalled by many U. Graham Kibble White has sadly got virtually all his factual data incorrect concerning Sparky in the small chapter on it in his book.
Sparky in its early years carried strips that featured surrealistic themes not seen in the other Thomson stable of comics. There was also a high preponderance of animal themed adventure strips in the first two and a half years of its life. The comic also ran a text with some illustrations strip for its first few months. The new comic is launched. Sparky No 1 entered the market on Friday 16th January Note!
The cover date was 23rd January; but all U. K comics were dated a week ahead of publication. Sadly, it turned out to be one of the worst cases of bad timing in a commercial sense. Sparky comic was quite overshadowed by the flashier TV 21 and this inauspicious start did not auger well for its sales. I had the Dandy one at the time and have recently bought on E. This was a yellow balloon with a flattened red coloured air hole which let the air out in sort of controlled way to give a rasping sound!
