Sunny Sparkle

SUNNY SPARKLE

Real Name: Sunny Sparkles

Class: Parallel Earth (Earth-S) human

Occupation: Nicest guy in the world

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Rowdy Sparkle (cousin), unnamed parents

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Fawcett City, Earth-S

First Appearance: Shazam! I #2 (April, 1973)

Powers: Sunny Sparkle was the nicest kid in the work, and anyone who saw him felt compelled to do good things for him or give him gifts.

History: (Shazam! I #2) - Sunny Sparkle was a kid so nice people couldn't help but do nice things for him or give him stuff. Sunny couldn't understand why people made such a fuss about him, but didn't want to make anyone feel bad by refusing gifts, and at the end of every week gave everything he'd been given to charity. Billy Batson witnessed crooks Lefty and Lanky exit a bank after they robbed it, but before he could say SHAZAM! and transform into his superhero identity Captain Marvel, they knocked him out with their money satchel. Billy soon recovered and transformed into Marvel, but they eluded him with a smokescreen shot out from their car's exhaust pipe. The crooks were in the clear, but spotted Sunny, and gave him their loot, saying he could find a better use for it. By the time Captain Marvel arrived the crooks were gone, and he asked Sunny if he'd seen any criminals. Sunny thought the crooks were just more ordinary people being good to him, so he said no, and Captain Marvel offered to fly him home. Lefty and Lanky's boss was furious with them, so he packed heat and went to knock on Sunny's door, but when he saw Sunny's smiling face he was compelled to give him more money. When Sunny took a nap the criminal boss spotted Billy and asked him to retrieve the money from Sunny, saying Sunny wanted to give it to him for a charitable cause. Sunny's mother let Billy in and he retrieved the money, but when the boss drove away Billy recognized the smokescreen, changed into Captain Marvel, and apprehended the crooks. The mayor awarded Sunny a medal for helping Captain Marvel. Sunny was grateful he'd earned something even if he wasn't exactly sure how he'd helped.

(Shazam! I #5) - Sterling Morris sent Billy Batson out to go door to door to collect old newspapers and books for the new Station WHIZ recycling center, but everyone Billy visited thought he was looking for money and slammed their doors on him. Billy decided to ask Sunny Sparkle to tag along with him, since no one ever turned down a chance to do a favor for the world's nicest guy. Sunny was happy to help, and dragged his obnoxious cousin Rowdy along, who constantly complained. Billy's cart was soon full of recyclables, and Sunny noticed an old book called "The How-To-Do-Everything Handbook." The book was blank except for the index and page numbers, but once they identified something they wanted to do, in this case stopping the torrential downpour raining down on them, words started to appear. Billy and Sunny read the words aloud, and the rain stopped. Billy recognized that they definitely had a magic tome on their hands, but once they met Morris at the recycling center Rowdy decided to snag the book for himself, and he cast a spell to make himself the world's toughest guy. Sterling Morris was riding a forklift for fun, but it tipped over and Billy turned into Captain Marvel to save him. Rowdy reacted faster, grabbing the forklift with one hand and uprighting it. Rowdy then started mouthing off to Morris, and Marvel decided to put him in his place and take his powers away. He challenged Rowdy to tear up a phone book, and after the brat did so Marvel grabbed the magic handbook and ripped it up. Rowdy started hitting Marvel, but his superstrength was gone, and he knocked himself out giving Marvel a headbutt. Marvel handed the woozy Rowdy over to Sunny telling him to take his cousin home because he'd had more than enough of his presence.

(Shazam! I #11) - Billy Batson, Mary and Freddy attended Sterling Morris’ Christmas Eve party along with all of their friends, including Beautia Sivana, Joan Jameson, the Potters, Sunny Sparkle, Mr. Tawky-Tawny and Uncle Dudley. The Sivana Family groused in their lab about how much they hated Christmas, and Sivana activated his Cosmic Clock, speeding up time so Christmas day would only last 10 minutes. The Marvel Family went into action when they noticed time was speeding up around them, and they saved Santa Claus, who was having trouble controlling his sped up reindeer. Santa told them the Sivana Family were trying to ruin Christmas, so the Marvels flew to the Sivanas’ lab and made short work of them. Combining their strength the Marvels stopped the Cosmic clock and pushed its’ hands backwards so Christmas day could proceed at a normal rate. The Marvels visited the Sivanas in jail, and said they found an appropriate Christmas present, the first the Sivanas had ever gotten, for the family that proclaimed themselves the rightful rulers of the universe. The present turned out to be a book entitled The Universe, and the Marvels returned to Morris’ party to celebrate the holiday with their friends.

Comments: Created by Elliot S. Maggin & C.C. Beck.