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 December 16-22, 2022…

135 years ago December 17, 1887 “Fougasse” is born. The British cartoonist (born Cyril Kenneth Bird) is art editor and chief editor of Punch.

135 years ago December 17, 1887 Czech writer-artist Josef Lada is born. He is considered one of the founding fathers of Czech comics.

130 years ago December 21, 1892 Guido Fantoni is born. The Italian artist is also father of artists Liliana and Mario Fantoni.

120 years ago December 20, 1902 Canadian Raoul Barré publishes Pour un Dîner de Nöel, which Wiki says is the first Quebecois comic strip.

105 years ago December 19, 1917 French artist Noel Gloesner is born. He draws Les Indégonflables de Chantovent.

100 years ago December 21, 1922 Inventor and ventriloquist Paul Winchell is born. His voice artistry includes Disney’s Tigger and The Smurfs’ Gargamel.

95 years ago December 18, 1927 The 1950s freelance artist Hy Fleishman is born.

90 years ago December 17, 1932 The Italian comics magazine Jumbo begins. Wiki says it’s the first in Italy to use speech balloons.

85 years ago December 21, 1937 Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opens in a limited event. (Its general release will come February 4, 1938, but promotion is already under way.)

80 years ago December 19, 1942 Addy award winning cartoonist Ken Alvine is born.

70 years ago December 17, 1952 Ronn Sutton is born. The freelance artist and animator draws Claypool’s Elvira as well as many other comic books.

70 years ago December 18, 1952 Cartoonist Bill Neville is born.

70 years ago December 19, 1952 Writer Peter Gillis is born. He’s best known for work for Marvel and First Comics. He pioneers the digitally drawn Shatter and adapts The Last Unicorn for IDW.

70 years ago December 20, 1952 Writer-artist Mack White is born.

60 years ago December 19, 1962 Mini-comics publisher Eric Hess is born.

55 years ago December 22, 1967 Retailer, reviewer, and editor for Mojo Press and others Richard Klaw is born.

40 years ago December 20, 1982 Young Magazine begins Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo.

30 years ago December 17, 1992 German writer-artist Horst Von Möllendorff dies at age 86.

25 years ago December 22, 1997 Jack Kirby’s widow Roz Kirby dies at age 75.

20 years ago December 18, 2002 French cartoonist Mic Delinx dies at age 72. Known for La Jungle en Folie (co-created with Christian Godard), he was knighted Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1994.

5 years ago December 17, 2017 Iranian cartoonist Ali Dorani (who works as “Eaten Fish”) is released from detention in a refugee camp on Manus Island.

5 years ago December 18, 2017 Geneviève Gautier publishes her first comic book, Les Aventures du Pingouin Alfred. This, says Wiki, makes her (at 95) the oldest known person to make a debut as a comic book creator.

5 years ago December 19, 2017 Award-winning German artist Lona Rietschel dies at age 84.

5 years ago December 20, 2017 Award-winning French writer-artist Annie Goetzinger dies at age 66. She was especially known for graphic biographies of women.