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 13-19, 2023…

470 years ago October 16, 1553 Lucas Cranach the Elder, a German artist whose work included sequential illustrated narratives, dies at an age estimated to have been 80.

140 years ago October 19, 1883 Artist William Donahey is born. He creates The Teenie Weenies.

130 years ago October 17, 1893 Harry Donenfeld is born. The founder of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a publisher, the owner of National Allied Publications, which distributes (among many other publications) Action Comics and Detective Comics.

115 years ago October 18, 1908 Artist Don Flowers, known for his newspaper Glamor Girls feature, is born.

110 years ago October 17, 1913 Robert Lowery is born. He’s the second actor to play Batman (via the 1949 Batman and Robin serial).

105 years ago October 15, 1918 Artist Henri Arnold is born. He works for the Tribune syndicate including art for Jumble and creates the Meet Mr. Luckey panel.

105 years ago October 16, 1918 Belgian writer Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme (who works as “Henri Vernes”) is born.

105 years ago October 17, 1918 German-French artist Hermann Vogel dies at age 62.

100 years ago October 15, 1923 Marvel and DC inker Vincent Colletta is born.

100 years ago October 19, 1923 Magazine gag cartoonist Jack Tippit is born. His credits include creation of the Amy panel cartoon, and he’s an active National Cartoonists Society organizer and officer.

95 years ago October 19, 1928 Dante Quinterno’s superhero character Patoruzú is introduced in Las Aventuras de Don Gil Contento.

90 years ago October 13, 1933 Swedish writer-artist Gunnar Persson is born.

85 years ago October 13, 1938 Writer-artist Elzie Crisler Segar dies at age 43 of leukemia and liver disease. He created Thimble Theatre and (with it) Popeye.

85 years ago October 15, 1938 The British comic book Radio Fun begins.

80 years ago October 17, 1943 The speech about friendship in the Army by Flip Corkin in this day’s episode of Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff will become a classic after it is read into the Congressional Record.

80 years ago October 18, 1943 SS soldiers shoot Dutch writer A.M. de Jong to death. The writer of Bulletje en Boonestaak is 55.

65 years ago October 16, 1958 Artist Mark Badger is born.

65 years ago October 17, 1958 Writer-artist Bill Holbrook is born. He’s best known for the comic strip On the Fastrack, and his other work includes Safe Havens and Kevin and Kell.

60 years ago October 19, 1963 Writer-artist-editor Don Chin is born. His work includes Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters and contributions to such publications as Cracked and Comics Buyer’s Guide.

55 years ago October 18, 1968 Writer-artist Mary A. Hays dies at age 70. She created the Kate and Karl, the Cranford Kids strip.

50 years ago October 18, 1973 Animator, editorial cartoonist, and comic book and comic strip creator Walt Kelly dies of complications of diabetes at age 60. Best known for creating Pogo, he was a prolific Golden Age comic book writer-artist.

45 years ago October 14, 1978 IPC merges 2000 AD and Starlord into 2000 AD and Starlord.

40 years ago October 13, 1983 British writer-artist Eric Eden dies at age 58. He worked on the Dan Dare and Lady Penelope features.

35 years ago October 16, 1988 The last installment of Ponytail by Lee Holley is published.

30 years ago October 14, 1993 Dogpatch USA, a Li’l Abner theme park in Arkansas, closes.

30 years ago October 16, 1993 The Beano goes to full color with #2674.

20 years ago October 13, 2003 Writer-artist, sculptor, and painter Ned Riddle dies at age 81 following a series of strokes. He created the Mr. Tweedy newspaper feature.

20 years ago October 14, 2003 Marvel Enterprises, Inc. hires Dan Buckley as publisher in the Marvel Publishing Division.

15 years ago October 15, 2008 Dutch artist Guus Boissevain (also known as “Gub”) dies at age 79.

15 years ago October 16, 2008 Samurai Penguin artist and film model maker Mark Christopher Buck dies in a traffic accident at age 41.

10 years ago October 13, 2013 Known for his work on Anpanman, Japanese manga artist Takashi Yanase dies at age 94. He was 2000-2012 chairman of the Japan Cartoonists Association.

10 years ago October 15, 2013 Golden Age artist George Olesen dies at age 88. A major focus of his work was the Phantom comic strip, on which he worked for about four decades.

5 years ago October 13, 2018 Belgian artist Rik Delneste (who worked as “Nesten”) dies of cancer at age 72.

5 years ago October 17, 2018 Italian artist Leone Frollo dies at age 87.

5 years ago October 17, 2018 Canadian political cartoonist Jean-Pierre Girerd dies at age 87.

5 years ago October 18, 2018 Award-winning British comics translator Anthea Bell dies at age 82.