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 July 19-25, 2024…

130 years ago July 20, 1894 Finnish artist Ola Fogelberg is born. He works as “Fogeli” and creates Pekka Puupää and what Lambiek calls “the first real Finnish comic hero,” Janne Ankkanen.

120 years ago July 23, 1904 Writer-artist and cartoonist Roland Davies is born. He creates Come On, Steve, which begins as a strip, and Davies morphs it into animation, setting up a studio to do so. He continues his career with a number of other features, including “Sexton Blake” and “Pete Madden.” Denis Gifford calls him “the epitome of the commercial artist.”

120 years ago July 24, 1904 Winsor McCay’s Little Sammy Sneeze begins in the New York Herald.

120 years ago July 24, 1904 Frederick Burr Opper’s And Her Name Was Maud begins.

110 years ago July 21, 1914 Canadian writer-artist René-Charles Béliveau dies at age 41. He created La Famille Citrouillard.

110 years ago July 23, 1914 Artist Virgil Finlay is born. Best-known for his science fiction pulp magazine work, he also draws features for DC’s Real Fact Comics and Mystery in Space.

110 years ago July 24, 1914 Dutch artist Wim Bijmoer is born.

105 years ago July 20, 1919 Virginia Quinlan Smith is born. She and her husband, George J. Smith, co-create the newspaper strip The Smith Family.

105 years ago July 21, 1919 Artist, animator, and animation producer Clark Haas is born. He’s head of Cambria Studios.

105 years ago July 24, 1919 Bulgarian artist and director Todor Dinov is born. He’s called the father of Bulgarian animation.

100 years ago July 24, 1924 Writer-artist Palmer Cox dies at age 84. He created The Brownies, perhaps the first comics characters to become pop culture marketing icons.

90 years ago July 19, 1934 Polish writer-artist Janusz Christa is born.

90 years ago July 23, 1934 Bud Counihan’s Betty Boop newspaper strip begins.

85 years ago July 25, 1939 Artist A.E. Hayward dies at age 55. He created the Somebody’s Stenog strip.

75 years ago July 25, 1949 Artist, editor, and First Comics art director Alex Wald is born.

65 years ago July 19, 1959 Artist Luke McDonnell is born. He draws for such series as Iron Man, The Phantom, Suicide Squad, Star Trek, and Justice League of America.

60 years ago July 20, 1964 Charlie Peace by Eric Bradbury begins.

55 years ago July 20, 1969 Poison Elves creator writer-artist Drew Hayes is born.

55 years ago July 24, 1969 Designer and letterer Ira Schnapp dies of a heart attack at age 74. His work included designing DC logos and the Comics Code seal.

45 years ago July 19, 1979 Artist Paul Bransom dies one week before his 94th birthday. He was especially known for the comic strip The Latest News from Bugville.

45 years ago July 25, 1979 Marvel UK ends Marvel Comic with #352.

40 years ago July 24, 1984 German writer-artist Bob Heinz dies at age 61. His work included creation of Pif und Alf and Jan Maat, among many others.

30 years ago July 21, 1994 Award-winning French writer, artist, and editor Marijac (born Jacques Dumas) dies at age 85.

30 years ago July 23, 1994 Disney animator and ACG, Standard, DC, and Fawcett artist Owen Fitzgerald dies at age 77.

20 years ago July 25, 2004 Writer-artist Joe Buresch dies at age 87. The Golden Age artist for Centaur also drew comic strips including the Dinah Mite panel.

15 years ago July 21, 2009 German animator and artist Heinz Edelmann dies of heart disease at age 75. He was especially known for his designs for 1968’s Yellow Submarine.

15 years ago July 22, 2009 British artist and animator John Ryan dies at age 88. He was best known for his creation Captain Pugwash.

15 years ago July 25, 2009 Spanish artist and photographer Francisco Hidalgo (who worked as “Yves Roy”) dies at age 80.