Jack Sparling
John Edmond Sparling, was a Canadian comics artist.
Biography
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sparling moved to the United States as a child. He received his early arts training at the Arts and Crafts Club in New Orleans and later attended the Corcoran School of Art. He worked briefly as a gag cartoonist for the New Orleans Item-Tribune. In 1941, Sparling, along with writer William Laas, created the United Feature Syndicate comic strip Hap Hopper, Washington Correspondent, for which real-life newspaper columnists Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen were listed as editors. One source lists it as having launched January 29, 1939, but comics historian Don Markstein, noting that that day was a Sunday, says January 29, 1940, is better supported and more likely. Sparling was the artist until 1943, when he was succeeded by Al Plastino.
Sparling's next comic strip was Claire Voyant, which premiered May 10, 1943, in the New York PM. and ran until 1948.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, Sparling provided art for a variety of publishers, including Harvey Comics and Charlton Comics' adaptations of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Sparling also worked for Classics Illustrated, drawing adaptations of Robin Hood and Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Sparling drew biographic comic books featuring Adlai Stevenson II, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Barry Goldwater for Dell Comics.
At DC Comics, Sparling drew Secret Six, the "Eclipso" feature in House of Secrets, and the "Unknown Soldier" feature in Star Spangled War Stories. Editor Joe Orlando began a new direction for DC's House of Mystery series with issue #175 and the series' host Cain was created by Sparling and Orlando with writer Bob Haney. Sparling worked with writer Dennis O'Neil on The Witching Hour and the Challengers of the Unknown. For Western Publishing's Gold Key Comics, he co-created the superhero Tiger Girl with Jerry Siegel in 1968, drew the toyline tie-in Microbots one-shot, and illustrated comic book adaptations of the television series Family Affair, The Outer Limits, and Adam-12. In 1976, he drew a licensed Welcome Back, Kotter comic book series for DC. For Charlton Comics' satire magazine Sick, he wrote and drew the nudie-cutie feature "Cher D'Flower!"
DC Comics
Action Comics #140 Batman #58 Beware the Creeper #6 Blackhawk #196 Bomba, the Jungle Boy #3–7 The Brave and the Bold #87 Challengers of the Unknown #64–71 Elvira's House of Mystery Special #1 Falling in Love #94 Ghosts #5–7, 90, 93–94 G.I. Combat #160, 170, 174, 191 Girls' Love Stories #132, 163 Girls' Romances #126, 129, 133–134, 140–141, 144–145, 150 Green Lantern #62–63 House of Mystery #152, 154–155, 175–176, 197, 203, 205, 207, 228 House of Secrets #68–80 ; #81–82, 84, 86, 94–95, 97, 103 Metamorpho #17 Mystery in Space #106 Our Army at War #189 Our Fighting Forces #111, 113–114 Phantom Stranger vol. 2 #20 Plastic Man #8–10 Secret Six #3–7 Secrets of Haunted House #11, 32 Secrets of Sinister House #15 Showcase #78 Spectre #9–10 Star Spangled War Stories #137, 165–182 Strange Adventures #165–169, 172, 174–179, 182–183, 185–192, 194–198, 200–201, 203 Super DC Giant #S-20 Tales of the Unexpected #85, 87–93, 95–96, 99–100 The Unexpected #107–113, 124, 135, 137, 143, 205–209, 212 Unknown Soldier #257 Weird Mystery Tales #4 Weird War Tales #22, 33–34, 36, 38, 86 Welcome Back, Kotter #1–2 Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #20 The Witching Hour #1–3, 13, 21, 23, 30
Dell Comics
Adlai Stevenson #1 Around the World Under the Sea #30 Barry M. Goldwater #1 The Cat #109 Circus World #115 Countdown #150 The Courtship of Eddie's Father #1–2 The Dirty Dozen #180 Espionage #1 Four Color #1118, #1148, #1157, #1195, #1205, #1223, #1225, #1253, #1301, #1312 Friday Foster #1 Ghost Stories #35 Guerrilla War #12 Idaho #3 Jules Verne's Mysterious Isle #1 Laramie #01-418-207 The Legend of Custer #1 Mission: Impossible #1–5 The Monroes #1 The Mummy #537 National Velvet #01-556-207, #12-556-210 Naza #1–9 Neutro #1 The Night of the Grizzly #558 None but the Brave #565 Operation Crossbow #590 The Outer Limits #1–18 Ring of Bright Water #701 Robinson Crusoe #1 Room 222 #1–4 Smoky #746 The Sons of Katie Elder #748 Space Man #2–10 Stoney Burke #2 T.H.E. Cat #1–4 Turok, Son of Stone #28 Universal Pictures Presents Dracula, the Mummy, and Other Stories #1 The Valley of Gwangi #880 Zulu #950
Adam-12 #2–10 Bonanza #5 Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #6, 31, 33–36, 38–42, 44, 48–50, 58, 67, 69–73, 76–81, 86, 91–92, 94, 96–97 Boris Karloff Thriller #2 Bugs Bunny #89 Checkmate #1–2 City Surgeon #1 Dark Shadows #11 Dear Nancy Parker #1–2 Doc Savage #1 Donald Duck #88, 90 Family Affair #2–4 Gold Key Champion #2 Grimm's Ghost Stories #1–8, 10, 12–14, 18–20, 23–24, 28, 30–34, 36–41, 43–45, 47, 51–54, 56–60 Honey West #1 Isis Golden All-Star Book The Jetsons #11 Korak, Son of Taran #16 Lassie #63 The Lion #1 The Lone Ranger #13 The Lucy Show #4 Magnus, Robot Fighter #2, 41 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #11 March of Comics #254, 266, 278 Microbots #1 Mighty Samson #8–20 Mod Wheels #1, 16 Mystery Comics Digest #1, 7–8, 16, 19, 21–22, 25 Nancy and Sluggo #192 National Velvet #1 The Nurses #1 The Phantom #3, 7, 9 Questar #1 Rawhide #2 Rin Tin Tin and Rusty #1 Rio Conchos #1 Ripley's Believe It or Not! #7, 15, 19, 21, 23, 26–34, 36–37, 39–40, 43–44, 48, 52, 56, 58, 65–69, 72–73, 77–78, 87–88, 93–94 Ripley's Believe It or Not True Ghost Stories #2 Shroud of Mystery #1 Starstream #1–2 Supercar #3 The Three Stooges #17 Tiger Girl #1 Top Cat #7 Turok, Son of Stone #117, 120, 122, 124, 126–127, 129–130 The Twilight Zone #3, 6–7, 9, 27, 35–37, 39–43, 45, 47, 51–52, 54, 59–64, 68–69, 71–73, 76, 78–79, 82–84, 87, 89, 91 UFO Flying Saucers #2, 6–13 The Virginian #1 Walt Disney Presents Blackbeard's Ghost #1 Walt Disney The Horse Without a Head #1 Walt Disney's Son of Flubber #1 Walt Disney's Summer Magic #1 Walt Disney's The Beagle Boys #10 Walt Disney's The Moon-Spinners #1 Walt Disney's World of Adventure #2 The Wild Wild West #6
Marvel Comics
Ghost Rider #59, 62, 64–65 Marvel Comics Presents #34 ; #50 Marvel Fanfare #15 Tales of Suspense #87 X-Men #30