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 August 23-29, 2024…

145 years ago August 25, 1879 John Randolph Bray is born. The animation pioneer and cartoonist founds an animation studio (J.R. Bray Productions) that pioneers background printing, cel animation, and color animation and employs several creators who become famous themselves. Bray Productions produces the first animated film in color, “The Debut of Thomas Cat” (1920).

125 years ago August 24, 1899 Writer Gaylord DuBois is born. One of the most prolific contributors to Dell titles, he provides more than 3,000 stories (including much of its Tarzan and Western content) and creates Turok.

120 years ago August 28, 1904 The Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz strip by L. Frank Baum and Walt McDougall begins.

100 years ago August 27, 1924 Italian artist and animator Paolo Piffarerio is born.

100 years ago August 28, 1924 French writer-artist Gaston Martineau is born. He works as “Aldé,” and his main character is M. Mistouflet.

95 years ago August 27, 1929 Award-winning writer-artist-editor Don Perlin is born. His work appears in Valiant Comics and such Marvel titles as Werewolf by Night, The Defenders, and Ghost Rider.

65 years ago August 24, 1959 Mark Simon is born. The animation director and founder/director of Animatics & Storyboards Inc. and A&S Animation Inc. also writes “how to” comics texts.

60 years ago August 24, 1964 Artist Jack Snider is born.

60 years ago August 26, 1964 Writer-artist Richard Thain dies at age 78. He created the Lord Longbow strip.

60 years ago August 29, 1964 Loosely based on the works of P.L. Travers, Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins opens in limited release and features a combination of live action and animation. General release will follow in October, and the film will receive 13 Oscar nominations and win five.

55 years ago August 25, 1969 Pioneering Norwegian artist Bjarne Restan dies at age 70.

55 years ago August 25, 1969 Writer Kelvin Mao is born.

50 years ago August 29, 1974 Argentine cartoonist Luis Medrano dies at age 59.

45 years ago August 25, 1979 IPC merges two series – 2000 AD and Starlord and Tornado – into 2000 AD and Tornado, numbering the issue #127.

45 years ago August 26, 1979 Finnish writer Mika Waltari dies at age 70.

40 years ago August 28, 1984 Artist Harry Lucey dies of complications of prostate cancer and ALS at age 70. He worked with Bob Montana in creating Archie characters and was known for his ongoing work for Archie.

30 years ago August 23, 1994 French teacher and artist Jean-Claude Gal dies at age 52. He worked for Métal Hurlant and Les Humanoïdes Associés.

30 years ago August 26, 1994 German teacher and artist Werner Klemke dies at age 77.

25 years ago August 27, 1999 Artist Margaret Ahern (who also worked as “Peg O’Connell”) dies at age 78. Her work included Beano, An Altar Boy Named Speck, and Our Parish.

20 years ago August 26, 2004 Terrorists kidnap and murder the 55-year-old journalist and Doonesbury translator for linus, Enzo Baldoni, in Iraq.

10 years ago August 25, 2014 Swedish artist Lars Mortimer, creator of Hälge, dies at age 68.

5 years ago August 23, 2019 Prolific, influential, and award-winning Italian writer-artist Massimo Mattioli dies at age 75.

5 years ago August 25, 2019 DC Royalties & Participation Manager Tom Pattison dies of cancer at age 64.

5 years ago August 27, 2019 Artist, musician, and animator Pedro Bell dies at age 69. He often referred to his drawings as “scartoons.”