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 March 5-11, 2021…

160 years ago March 9, 1861 John McLenan’s The Flight of Abraham appears in Harper’s Weekly. The feature is a satirical comic using speech balloons.

140 years ago March 10, 1881 British artist Percy Cocking is born.

135 years ago March 8, 1886 Tillie the Toiler creator Russ Westover is born.

110 years ago March 5, 1911 Writer Bob Karp is born. He’s known for his scripts for the Donald Duck newspaper strip and other Disney comics.

85 years ago March 8, 1936 Dudley D. Watkins’ Oor Wullie and The Broons begin in The Sunday Post.

80 years ago March 7, 1941 The Blondie comic strip features the birth of Dagwood and Blondie’s second child, a girl. She will be named Cookie by readers in a national contest.

80 years ago March 9, 1941 British artist John Geering is born. He’s noted for his work for DC Thomson and creates Bananaman.

65 years ago March 10, 1956 Tony Millionaire is born, initially named Scott Richardson. He creates Maakies, Sock Monkey, and Drinky Crow.

65 years ago March 11, 1956 Voice artist Rob Paulsen is born. His roles include Raphael of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko of Animaniacs, and Pinky of Pinky and the Brain.

60 years ago March 6, 1961 Frieda is introduced in Charles Schulz’ Peanuts.

55 years ago March 8, 1966 Spanish artist Francisco Darnis dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 56. He created Nick, Pecho de Hiero.

55 years ago March 9, 1966 Richie Prosch is born. With Gina Prosch, he co-creates Emma Davenport.

50 years ago March 6, 1971 Artist Robert Lewis is born.

50 years ago March 10, 1971 Austrian artist Ladislaus Kmoch dies at age 76. He created the pioneering Austrian strip Tobias Seicherl.

45 years ago March 8, 1976 Animator and writer Romer Zane Grey dies of a stroke at age 66. (He was novelist Zane Grey’s oldest son.)

40 years ago March 8, 1981 Stan Lynde’s Rick O’Shay ends.

40 years ago March 10, 1981 Writer Jack Oleck dies at age 67. He specialized in horror stories, his career beginning in the Golden Age as a member of the Simon-Kirby studio and including work for EC’s line of anthology titles. He co-created (with Alex Niño) Space Voyagers and (with Alfredo Alcala) Kong the Untamed.

30 years ago March 10, 1991 New Yorker and Playboy cartoonist Joseph Mirachi dies of prostate cancer at age 71.

25 years ago March 6, 1996 Artist Jack Abel dies at age 68. His work for comic books began in the 1950s, and he was known for his inking for both Marvel and DC in the 1960s and 1970s.

25 years ago March 7, 1996 French artist Ramon Monzon dies at age 66.

25 years ago March 10, 1996 After a move and renaming, the International Museum of Cartoon Art opens in Boca Raton, Florida, with an exhibit of rare Dumbo art.

20 years ago March 5, 2001 Turkish cartoonist Necmi Riza Ayça dies at age 86 or 87.

10 years ago March 10, 2011 Writer, editor, and scholar Bill Blackbeard dies at age 84. The founder of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art transferred (via six semitrailer trucks) that collection to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University in 1998.

5 years ago March 7, 2016 British writer Scott Goodall dies at age 80. He created the “Fishboy” character and was made an MBE in 2005.

5 years ago March 7, 2016 Artist Paul C. Ryan dies at age 66. He worked for King Features, CrossGen, DC, and Marvel (where he had a long run on Fantastic Four) and co-created AC Comics’ Breed.