*Humour Comics: ‘A new comic for boys and girls’, averred this 1965 launch from DC Thomson, though it ought really to have said ‘for white boys and girls’, as the peculiar racist caricature of the titular character would surely offend and deter any readers not of the Caucasian persuasion. That aside, the series was well-crafted although seemingly aimed at a younger audience than stablemates Dandy and Beano, with an almost fairy-tale character to some of the series like ‘Dreamy Dave and Dozy Dora’ while others – ‘Freddy the Fearless Fly’, ‘Keyhole Kate’ – were retreads of old Beano stalwarts. By the late Sixties, the title aged up its target audience slightly, Sparky himself was mercifully shuffled off, and a new lead character, ‘Barney Bulldog’ took the covers, together with his life-partner, a slightly younger bulldog named Ben. Sadly, they broke up after a few years, and Barney was last seen sobbing into his pint in the Coleherne. After an interval, the cover was taken by ‘Some Mummies Do ‘Ave ‘Em’, which took its title, but nothing else, from the Michael Crawford-fronted popular sitcom. The slender premise – a family of ancient Egyptian mummies came alive after museum hours, to the consternation of the guard – was presented with verve and charm, seeing the title out to its 1977 conclusion. We have approximately 160 issues of Sparky newly added, from 1967’s #136 to 1976’s #620, including previously-unrepresented years 1973, 1974 and 1976.