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 January 24-30, 2025…

245 years ago January 25, 1780 British artist Matthew Darly dies at an unknown age. He and his wife, Mary, were reputed to have been the first to exhibit caricatures and cartoons in their furniture shop windows and they sold books containing sequential narratives and speech ballons.

140 years ago January 28, 1885 Animator and writer-artist Bert Green is born. His work includes drawing Archie’s “Hangman.”

135 years ago January 26, 1890 Spanish artist Marino Benejam Ferrer is born.

130 years ago January 29, 1895 Good Time Guy newspaper strip artist Mel Cummin is born.

120 years ago January 30, 1905 Artist Joseph Wirt Tillotson is born.

115 years ago January 24, 1910 Award-winning artist Noel Sickles is born. He’s best known for the newspaper strip Scorchy Smith.

115 years ago January 24, 1910 Artist Bob Davis is born. He’s known for “Dick Cole, Wonder Boy,” introduced in Blue Bolt #1. He also drew Philo Vance.

115 years ago January 24, 1910 The final episode of George Herriman’s Gooseberry Sprigg is published.

110 years ago January 29, 1915 Bill Peet is born. The animator and writer-artist works for Disney Studios and produces children’s books.

105 years ago January 26, 1920 Prolific Danish animator and artist Bjørn Frank Jensen is born. His work includes creation of the gag comic Nop.

105 years ago January 28, 1920 Lewis Wilson is born. He’s the first actor to play Batman on screen (in the 1943 serial Batman).

105 years ago January 28, 1920 Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich is born. His awards include a Reuben and two Pulitzer Prizes.

95 years ago January 24, 1930 Artist John Romita is born. He produces a wide variety of work, catching fans’ attention when he draws Amazing Spider-Man starting in 1966. He’s Marvel’s art director for more than a decade.

95 years ago January 26, 1930 NEA staff artist and sports cartoonist Irving Knickerbocker (who worked as “Knick”) dies at age 32 from a skull fracture and punctured lung suffered in a car accident.

95 years ago January 27, 1930 Tack Knight’s Little Folks comic strip begins.

85 years ago January 26, 1940 Peruvian artist Gonzalo Mayo is born. After leaving Peru in 1968, he works for Warren, Marvel, and Valiant.

65 years ago January 26, 1960 Writer-artist Daniel A. Reed is born. His work includes stories featuring such characters as Blue Beetle, The Hulk, Captain America, and The Punisher.

65 years ago January 26, 1960 Animator and artist Riley Thomson dies at age 47. He worked for Warner Brothers and Walt Disney and drew Disney stories for Dell.

65 years ago January 29, 1960 David W. Olbrich is born. He co-founds (with Tom Mason) Malibu Comics, publisher of the Ultraverse line of comics and of such titles as Men in Black.

65 years ago January 30, 1960 The British comics magazine Princess begins.

65 years ago January 30, 1960 Artist Denys Cowan is born. He’s a Milestone Media co-founder and TV producer.

60 years ago January 26, 1965 Filmmaker and artist Jacob Pander is born. Working with his brother, Arnold, he produces stories featuring such characters as Grendel and Batman.

60 years ago January 27, 1965 British artist Sean Phillips is born. He’s known for his work on Judge Dredd and contributes to such comics as Sleeper, Marvel Zombies, WildC.A.T.s, Incognito, and Hellblazer.

60 years ago January 30, 1965 Writer Link Yaco is born.

45 years ago January 24, 1980 NEA staff artist artist Joe King dies at age 75. He was especially known for his art on The Tinymites and for drawing the Postum “Mr. Coffee Nerves” strip.

40 years ago January 29, 1985 British-Australian artist George Needham (also known as “George Robb”) dies at age 81.

30 years ago January 24, 1995 Artist Frank Emery dies at age 37.

25 years ago January 26, 2000 Artist Keith Willingham dies at age 74. He drew the United Feature Syndicate strip Blast Blair.

20 years ago January 25, 2005 Animator and artist Chad Grothkopf dies at age 90 or 91. He created Hoppy the Marvel Bunny for Fawcett and Willie the Worm for Fleischer and worked on Howdy Doody comics stories.

20 years ago January 25, 2005 Artist Jill Elgin, known for her work on Girl Commandos, dies at age 82.

20 years ago January 27, 2005 Norwegian writer-artist and teacher Peter Haars dies at age 64. He co-founded the Norwegian Association of Illustrators.

20 years ago January 28, 2005 Argentine animator and artist Daniel Branca dies at age 53. He was especially known for his work on Donald Duck comic books.

20 years ago January 29, 2005 Serbian-Yugoslav director and writer-artist Zika Mitrovic dies at age 83. He began his comics career in the 1930s.

20 years ago January 30, 2005 French artist Pierre Forget dies at age 81.

15 years ago January 25, 2010 Scots Artist Bill Ritchie dies at age 78. Known for his work for DC Thomson magazines, he created such series as “Toots,” “Pip the Penguin,” and “The Twitz of the Ritz.”

15 years ago January 26, 2010 Writer-artist John Dirks dies at age 92. He collaborated with his father (Rudolph Dirks) on The Captain and the Kids from 1955 to 1968, then continued it himself until 1979.

10 years ago January 27, 2015 Indian artist R.K. Laxman dies at age 93. He was best known for The Common Man and You Said It.

5 years ago January 24, 2020 Psychedelic poster artist Wes Wilson dies of cancer at age 82.

5 years ago January 25, 2020 German animator and artist Horst Alisch dies at age 94.

5 years ago January 30, 2020 Prolific New Jersey sports and political cartoonist William Canfield dies at age 99.