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 November 19-23, 2021… 

130 years ago November 20, 1891 Toots and Casper creator Jimmy Murphy is born.

125 years ago November 21, 1896 New Yorker cartoonist Garrett Price is born.

120 years ago November 22, 1901 Award-winning adventure strip writer-artist Roy Crane is born. He creates Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy, and Buz Sawyer.

105 years ago November 23, 1916 Charles Grigg is born. The British artist contributes features to The Dandy.

90 years ago November 23, 1931 Belgian cartoonist Karel Boumans is born.

85 years ago November 23, 1936 The Big Chief Wahoo strip by Allen Saunders and Elmer Woggon begins. Later, it will be titled Steve Roper. Later still, it will be titled Steve Roper and Mike Nomad.

80 years ago November 20, 1941 Jos Looman is born. He is the Dutch artist of Dzjengis Khan, De Strijd om het Bestaan in the late 1960s.

75 years ago November 20, 1946 Kitchen Sink and Will Eisner writer-editor Dave Schreiner is born.

70 years ago November 23, 1951 Superman and the Mole Men opens, starring George Reeves and Phyllis Coates.

65 years ago November 22, 1956 Ron Randall is born. The writer-artist of Trekker, he draws for Marvel, Dark Horse, and Image.

60 years ago November 19, 1961 The Little Red-Haired Girl is introduced in Charles Schulz’ Peanuts.

55 years ago November 20, 1966 Writer-artist Guy Davis is born. He draws such series as Sandman Mystery Theatre and creates The Marquis for Oni.

55 years ago November 20, 1966 Artist David Gatzmer is born. He draws for Caliber, NBM, Rip Off, and Dark Horse.

55 years ago November 20, 1966 Writer-artist Jill Thompson is born. She creates Scary Godmother, works with characters in the Sandman mythos, and draws projects for a variety of publishers including DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse.

40 years ago November 21, 1981 The last issue of Fleetway’s Jinty precedes the comics series’ merging with the company’s Tammy.

35 years ago November 19, 1986 Golden Age artist Klaus Nordling dies at age 76. He drew Lady Luck and The Barker and was part of Will Eisner’s Spirit team.

35 years ago November 20, 1986 Marvel announces New World Pictures Ltd.’s agreement to acquire Marvel Entertainment Group from Cadence Industries Corporation.

35 years ago November 21, 1986 Writer and actor Ian Marter dies of a diabetes-related heart attack on his 42nd birthday. He starred in the BBC-TV series Doctor Who as Harry Sullivan and wrote Who-associated books.

35 years ago November 23, 1986 Comic book writer and artist Norman Maurer dies of cancer at age 60. A movie and cartoon producer and director, he co-created 3-D comics with Joe Kubert.

35 years ago November 23, 1986 Animator and artist Frank Smith dies at age 78. He was the third artist on the Donald Duck newspaper strip.

30 years ago November 21, 1991 The Chintoo comic strip begins in the Marathi-language newspaper Sakal in India.

30 years ago November 22, 1991 Mort Walker’s Hi and Lois strip features The X-Men.

20 years ago November 21, 2001 Golden Age writer-artist Seymour Reit dies at age 83. The co-creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost with Joe Oriolo contributed to Fiction House titles.

15 years ago November 23, 2006 Researcher and Alter Ego (1961) founder Jerry Bails dies of a heart attack at age 73. The comics fan pioneer called the “Father of Comics Fandom” published 1960s fanzines, set up annual comics awards, published research on comic book creators, and in 1964 organized the first comics amateur publishing association (CAPA-alpha).

5 years ago November 19, 2016 Italian animator and comics artist Gino Gavioli dies at age 93. He was co-founder and leading animator of the Gamma Film studio.