TURNING POINTS by Maggie Thompson

Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for October 14-20, 2022…

150 years ago October 14, 1872 Writer Sol Hess is born. He scripts The Gumps and The Nebbs.

145 years ago October 14, 1877 Artist Grace Gebbie Drayton is born. Lambiek calls her “one of the first and most successful female cartoonists.” She creates the Campbell Soup Kids.

145 years ago October 17, 1877 Writer-artist Fanny Cory is born. One of the first syndicated female comics artists in the US, she creates Ben Bolt, Sonnysayings, and Little Miss Muffet.

130 years ago October 15, 1892 Flemish artist Jan Waterschoot is born.

125 years ago October 20, 1897 Elmer Cecil Stoner is born. One of the first Black comic book artists, he has art in Detective Comics #1, creates Phantasmo, and is thought to have contributed to the creation of the Mr. Peanut mascot.

120 years ago October 14, 1902 George Wilson is born. The pulp artist and art teacher provides art for comic books for Fiction House, Ace, Centaur, and Western.

105 years ago October 18, 1917 Artist and teacher Reynold Brown is born. The poster artist assists on Hal Forrest’s Tailspin Tommy.

100 years ago October 15, 1922 Artist Monte Crews is injured in an auto accident. He recovers, but it ends his The Mysterious Family Next Door newspaper feature.

100 years ago October 15, 1922 Spanish animator and artist Alfons Figueras is born.

95 years ago October 17, 1927 Gerry Gersten is born. The award-winning artist is a political caricaturist and Mad contributor.

95 years ago October 19, 1927 Prolific writer-artist Vic Lockman is born. The Western/Dell creator specializes in (but is not limited to) funny animal comics including many Disney stories. Other work includes contributions to Archie and Christian publications.

90 years ago October 14, 1932 The F. Burr Opper strip And Her Name Was Maud concludes its run.

85 years ago October 16, 1937 French writer-artist Jean de Brunhoff dies of tuberculosis at age 37. He’s best known for his children’s books featuring Babar.

85 years ago October 17, 1937 Huey, Louie, and Dewey are introduced in Al Taliaferro’s Donald Duck newspaper strip.

70 years ago October 14, 1952 Charlie Williams is born. He draws Boffo Laffs.

70 years ago October 18, 1952 Cartoonist Larry Blake is born.

70 years ago October 19, 1952 Snoopy dances on his hind legs for the first time in Charles Schulz’ Peanuts.

70 years ago October 20, 1952 Freelance comic book artist (who worked for Dell and Fawcett) and Black political activist Owen Charles Middleton dies at age 64.

65 years ago October 14, 1957 British pulp and comics artist Reginald Heade dies at age 55 or 56.

60 years ago October 17, 1962 Mike Judge is born. The animator, writer, and voice actor creates and stars in Beavis and Butt-Head and co-creates (with Greg Daniels) and stars in King of the Hill. His “Milton” animated cartoons are the basis for Office Space.

60 years ago October 20, 1962 Len Kaminski is born. The writer-editor is especially known for his work for DC and Marvel.

55 years ago October 18, 1967 Disney’s The Jungle Book opens and is the last film to be produced by Walt Disney himself.

25 years ago October 16, 1997 Writer-artist Dick Cavalli dies of a heart attack at age 74. He’s best known for Morty Meekle and Winthrop comic strips.

25 years ago October 18, 1997 Animator, artist, and teacher Milt Neil dies at age 83. He worked for Disney, especially on Duck cartoons, and designed Howdy Doody products. He and Chad Grothkopf co-produced the Howdy Doody comic strip.

20 years ago October 19, 2002 German artist Hans Jürgen Press, known for riddle and crime comics, dies at age 76.

15 years ago October 20, 2007 Writer Peg Bracken dies at age 89. Although best known for such publications as The I Hate to Cook Book, she also co-created the Phoebe, Get Your Man comic strip with Homer Groening.

10 years ago October 14, 2012 Golden Age writer-artist Marc Swayze dies at age 99. Known for story and art on Fawcett’s Captain Marvel stories, he co-created Mary Marvel with Otto Binder. He wrote “We Didn’t Know It Was the Golden Age!” for Alter Ego.

10 years ago October 16, 2012 Phil Dunlap’s Ink Pen ends.

10 years ago October 19, 2012 British writer John Radford dies at age 65. While best known for his writing on wine and food, he also wrote comics in the 1970s and 1980s for D.C. Thomson & Co.