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 March 18-24, 2022…

145 years ago March 18, 1877 Dutch political cartoonist Albert Hahn is born.

140 years ago March 24, 1882 French writer-artist “Bertall” (born Charles Albert d’Arnoux) dies at age 61.

130 years ago March 24, 1892 Rex Maxon is born. The Tarzan artist who follows Harold Foster on the strip co-creates Turok with Matt Murphy.

110 years ago March 23, 1912 German editorial cartoonist and illustrator Franz-Werner Richter-Johnsen is born. He draws Detektiv Schmidtchen and Taró.

100 years ago March 20, 1922 American comedian and writer Ray Goulding is born. He teams with Bob Elliott, and together they provide decades of comedy creations including contributions to Mad.

100 years ago March 20, 1922 Out Our Way by J.R. Williams begins, distributed by NEA. The single panel feature features a variety of themes including “Why Mothers Get Gray” and “Born Thirty Years Too Soon.”

95 years ago March 23, 1927 French writer-artist-editor Raymond Chiavarino is born; he works as “Maric.”

95 years ago March 24, 1927 Bobby Thatcher by George Storm begins.

90 years ago March 19, 1932 Henry by Carl Anderson begins in The Saturday Evening Post.

90 years ago March 20, 1932 Wimpy first says, “I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today,” in E.C. Segar’s Thimble Theatre.

85 years ago March 20, 1937 Pioneering and prolific Spanish comics artist Ramón Cilla dies at age 77.

85 years ago March 22, 1937 Buck Ryan by Jack Monk and Don Freeman begins.

75 years ago March 21, 1947 Comics historian and expert Don Markstein is born. He writes and edits the Toonopedia comics information website.

70 years ago March 19, 1952 Letterer and artist Willie Schubert is born.

65 years ago March 20, 1957 Award-winning artist, letterer, and teacher Arthur Lewis dies at age 83.

65 years ago March 25, 1957 Golden Age comic book artist Ed Smalle dies at age 44. He worked for companies including Archie, DC, Parents Magazine Press, Hillman, and Marvel and produced a newspaper feature called True Comics.

60 years ago March 21, 1962 Writer, editor, and comics trivia expert Mark Waid is born. He writes for and is editor in chief of Boom! Studios, and his work includes Marvel’s Captain America, eight years on DC’s The Flash, and the revamp of Archie’s Archie.

60 years ago March 22, 1962 British artist-editor Steve Dillon is born. He’s especially known for work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer and Preacher.

55 years ago March 19, 1967 Animator, artist, and producer Gil Turner dies at age 53. He worked for such studios as Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, Lantz, UPA, and Hanna-Barbera – and drew comics featuring some of the characters from those companies, as well as others.

55 years ago March 20, 1967 Norwegian artist Anders Bjørgaard, who drew Jens von Bustenskjold, dies two days after his 76th birthday.

55 years ago March 22, 1967 Writer and colorist Lisa Moore is born.

45 years ago March 19, 1977 Leonardo by Phil Collins ends.

45 years ago March 20, 1977 Dutch artist Han Krug dies at age 86.

45 years ago March 22, 1977 Tintin contains the first installment of “Thorgal” by Jean Van Hamme and Grzegorz Rosiński.

45 years ago March 23, 1977 Artist Ed Dobrotka dies at age 59. One of Joe Shuster’s early assistants, he co-created Toyman with Don Cameron for DC’s Action Comics #64.

40 years ago March 22, 1982 Neal S. Pozner begins work as DC’s design director.

35 years ago March 22, 1987 Danish animator and artist Ib Steinaa dies at age 60.

30 years ago March 24, 1992 The British weekly humor magazine Punch ends.

25 years ago March 22, 1997 The last episode of Steve Dowling’s Garth is published.

20 years ago March 18, 2002 Belgian writer-artist Marcel Denis dies at age 79.

15 years ago March 21, 2007 Poison Elves creator Drew Hayes dies of a heart attack at age 37.

15 years ago March 24, 2007 Artist Marshall Rogers dies at age 57 of a possible heart attack. He was especially known for his work on DC’s Batman and his creation Cap’n Quick & a Foozle.

5 years ago March 18, 2017 Award-winning artist Bernie Wrightson dies at age 68. Specializing in horror comics art, he co-created Swamp Thing with Len Wein for DC and worked on several collaborations with Stephen King.

5 years ago March 21, 2017 Dutch artist Gerard Wiegel dies at age 90. He was known for his Professor Cumulus newspaper comics feature.