Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for April 18-24, 2025…

130 years ago April 19, 1895 Dutch artist Anton Pieck is born.

105 years ago April 24, 1920 Danish teacher, TV host, and cartoonist Jørgen Clevin is born.

100 years ago April 18, 1925 Actor Bob Hastings is born. His work includes voice artistry, and among his comics-related roles are Archie Andrews on radio and Commissioner Jim Gordon on Batman: The Animated Series.

95 years ago April 19, 1930 Ham Fisher’s Joe Palooka comic strip begins. The adventures of a champion boxer are eventually licensed to a variety of media including comic books.

95 years ago April 23, 1930 Voice artist Alan Oppenheimer is born.

95 years ago April 23, 1930 Italian artist and animator Giuseppe Zaccaria (who works as “Pino Zac”) is born. The pioneer of Italian newspaper strips with Gatto Filippo co-publishes Il Male magazine.

95 years ago April 24, 1930 Director and comics writer Richard Donner is born (as Richard Donald Schwartzberg). Among his projects is the 1978 Superman feature film.

95 years ago April 24, 1930 Howie Schneider is born. He’s an award-winning cartoonist, editorial cartoonist, children’s book author, and sculptor. He writes and draws newspaper features Eek & Meek and The Sunshine Club.

90 years ago April 23, 1935 Cartoonist Shunji Sonoyama is born. He creates Hajime Ningen Gyatoruzu and Hana no Kakaricho.

85 years ago April 22, 1940 Award-winning British cartoonist Ed McLachlan is born.

75 years ago April 21, 1950 Award-winning sports cartoonist Bill Hinds is born. He draws the features Buzz Beamer, Cleats, and Tank McNamara.

70 years ago April 21, 1955 Swedish artist Knut Stangenberg dies at age 83. He worked as “Stang” and created Fridolf Celinders liv och leverne and Münchhausen-Bravader.

70 years ago April 24, 1955 Prolific inker Al Vey is born.

65 years ago April 18, 1960 Writer Dan Tyree is born.

65 years ago April 20, 1960. Writer-artist Dale W. Berry is born. He creates Ninja Funnies, co-creates Dragonhead (with Eric Dinehart), and founds Myriad Publications.

65 years ago April 20, 1960 It’s date of the last issue of the British comic book Express Weekly; the next issue will be TV Express Weekly.

65 years ago April 24, 1960 Editor-writer Ralph Griffith is born.

60 years ago April 20, 1965 Award-winning writer-artist Evan Dorkin is born. He creates Milk and Cheese and Dork and co-creates Beasts of Burden with Jill Thompson.

60 years ago April 20, 1965 Writer-artist Mark A. Lester is born.

60 years ago April 22, 1965 Artist Timothy Dzon, especially known for inking, is born.

60 years ago April 22, 1965 Animator and artist Harvey Eisenberg dies at age 53 following a series of heart attacks. He was especially known for his (unsigned) work on Dell’s Tom and Jerry stories.

60 years ago April 24, 1965 Writer Randy Carpenter is born.

55 years ago April 19, 1970 Comic strip Broom-Hilda begins, written and drawn by Russell Myers.

50 years ago April 19, 1975 Artist Jim Navoni dies at age 87. He developed such features as “Charley the Chump” for the Wheeler-Nicholson syndicate.

50 years ago April 23, 1975 William Hartnell dies of heart failure at age 67. He was the first to play the role of The Doctor in the BBC Doctor Who TV series, and his likeness appeared in licensed media including comics.

45 years ago April 21, 1980 Dutch cartoonist Leendert Jordaan dies at age 94.

35 years ago April 24, 1990 French writer-artist Claude Henri Juillard dies at age 74.

35 years ago April 24, 1990 Belgian writer-editor André Fernez dies at age 72. He edited the weekly Tintin comic book.

30 years ago April 19, 1995 British artist Reg Wootton dies at age 86. He created both the Sporting Sam strip and the Sporty strip.

25 years ago April 23, 2000 Surreal gag manga creator Shigeru Sugiura dies at the age of 92.

20 years ago April 20, 2005 DC launches its DC Direct website.

20 years ago April 20, 2005 “Canadian whites” artist Ed Furness dies at age 94, 10 days before being given the Shuster Award for his work. He created the Canadian superhero Freelance.

20 years ago April 22, 2005 German comics translator Erika Fuchs dies at age 98. She worked for more than half a century translating such material as Carl Barks’ Duck stories.

20 years ago April 23, 2005 Italian writer-artist and animator Romano Scarpa dies at age 77. He’s been called the grand master of Italian Disney comics.

10 years ago April 23, 2015 Mexican artist Sixto Valencia Burgos dies at age 81. He was president of Somehi, the Mexican National Association of Comic Artists.

5 years ago April 21, 2020 Matteo De Cosmo dies of complications of COVID-19 at age 52. He was art director on such projects as the TV series The Punisher and Luke Cage.

5 years ago April 24, 2020 Freelance inker Juan Vlasco dies at age 51 of complications from an appendicitis operation.