Spark Man

Real Name: Omar Kavak

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Soldier;
   formerly violinist

Group Membership: U.S. Army

Affiliations: Alice Mason, Quill Davis, Val Hall, Hu-See, Voz, Rosco Rocci

Enemies: Duval, District Attorney Dillon, Dr. Dryden, Warren West, Cult of the Gold Crow (Ita, Poole, others), the Firefly, Green Bandits, Weems, King of Manhattan, Japanese soldiers, Von Brac

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unknown

First Appearance: Sparkler Comics II #1 (United Features, July 1941)

Powers/Abilities: Able to generate an electrical charge and release it through his hands. He later took to using guns as well. The forefingers on his gloves were elongated, to direct his energy bolts, while the palms of his gloves could brand criminals with an equals sign, to show "that another score has been evened."

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black

Summary: Having discovered a method of absorbing an electrical charge without harming himself, classical violinist Omar Kavak vowed to use this power to fight crime. Developing a pair of gloves which would allow him to discharge this energy through his hands, he became the costumed hero Spark Man. After being a masked hero for a while, he enlisted in the army, and became a non-costumed soldier, fighting the Japanese and later the Germans.

History:

Comments: Created by Frank Methot and Reg Greenwood.

   Spark Man was used by United Features to relaunch their Sparkler Comics title (which had previously had a lack-luster two issue run); he lasted at least for the first 30 issues (to February 1944), though his last time as the cover star was #18 (and that was out of costume). Though his origin was given in the first issue of Sparkler Comics Volume 2, his true identity wasn't revealed until #10; instead, in #1, the reader was presented with three suspects for Spark Man's true identity, one of whom was Kavak, while the others were newspaper reporter Quill Davis and sportsman Val Hall. Davis was cleared of being an option in Sparkler Comics#9, when he and Spark Man appeared together. Sparkler Comics#10 rather unceremoniously revealed to the readers that Kavak was indeed Spark Man, as he'd now enlisted, the others were no longer part of the strip, and he changed into costume on panel. Without explanation he'd changed his costume, ditching the antenna atop his mask and the elongated forefinger gloves; at the same time he stopped firing electrical bolts, suggesting the power was technological and in the devices rather than innate - I'd been previously led to believe his powers were some sort of mutation, but having now been able to finally read his stories for myself I'm not seeing any obvious evidence that's the case. By #11 he'd ditched his cape, and when his costume was ripped and damaged in #13 he began wearing an army jacket, so that only his mask and non-regulation pants remained; as of #17, even those were gone and he had become a non-costumed fighter, indistinguishable from regular soldiers except for his keeping his now incongruous codename. However he returned to costume in #30, by which time he was no longer a regular soldier, but instead working incognito behind enemy lines in conjunction with the underground, terrorizing the Nazis on their homeground, in the very heart of Berlin. After eliminating some major Nazis, he returned to the army and again abandoned his costume until he was discharged from the forces in #47. Now a civilian again, the costume returned as he resumed his crimefighting.

Appearance checklist (not including reprints):

CLARIFICATIONS: Sparkman should not be confused with

First Posted: Circa 14/09/2004
Last updated: 25/05/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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