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. 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 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, 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 (July–August 1968) 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!" ==Bibliography==