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 May 8-14, 2020…
160 years ago May 9, 1860 James Matthew Barrie is born. The writer’s Peter Pan tales are adapted by Walt Disney Studios.
160 years ago May 14, 1860 Swedish artist Bruno Liljefors is born.
155 years ago May 13, 1865 Hans Horina is born. The Chicago Tribune artist is known for The Rhinoceros Boys.
120 years ago May 10, 1900 Alley Oop creator Vincent Trout Hamlin is born.
115 years ago May 10, 1905 Award-winning pulp and Golden Age artist Alex Schomburg is born. He’s especially known for his character-packed action covers.
110 years ago May 11, 1910 Award-winning “Canadian whites” artist Ed Furness is born. He creates the Canadian superhero Freelance.
105 years ago May 12, 1915 Writer-artist and animator Tony Strobl is born. He is especially known for his work on Disney films and comic book stories.
95 years ago May 13, 1925 Writer Tom Koch is born. He produces material for the comedy team of Bob and Ray, goes on to write for Mad and TV, and invents “43-Man Squamish” with George Woodbridge.
90 years ago May 8, 1930 A promotional stunt by Le Petit Vingtième draws a crowd that demonstrates the popularity of Tintin.
85 years ago May 9, 1935 Roger Hargreaves is born. The British writer-artist is known for his Mr. Men and Little Miss characters, which spin off strips and animation.
80 years ago May 8, 1940 Chicago Daily News Literary Editor Sterling North denounces comic books in an editorial titled “A National Disgrace (And a Challenge to American Parents).” He kicks off a decade and a half of attacks on the art form, contending that comics are “a poisonous mushroom growth of the last two years” and that they are “guilty of a cultural slaughter of the innocents.”
80 years ago May 8, 1940 Several Belgian comics shut down, as Nazis invade Belgium. They include Le Petit Vingtième and Kindervriend.
70 years ago May 12, 1950 Award-winning writer-artist Tom Armstrong is born. He creates the Marvin newspaper feature.
65 years ago May 11, 1955 Writer-artist Matt Feazell is born. His distinctive stick figure style is featured in his The Amazing Cynicalman.
65 years ago May 14, 1955 Artist, animator, and teacher Dave Hoover is born. The co-creator of Wilde Knight with Gary Petras is known for his work on The Wanderers, Starman, and Captain America.
55 years ago May 10, 1965 Art Sansom’s award-winning The Born Loser comic strip begins.
40 years ago May 9, 1980 Artist Norman Mingo dies at age 84. He was especially known for his cover work on Mad, drawing Alfred E. Neuman starting in 1956.
35 years ago May 11, 1985 Chester Gould dies of congestive heart failure at age 84. The Dick Tracy creator, writer, and artist was a two-time NCS Reuben Award winner.
20 years ago May 10, 2000 Award-winning artist Dick Sprang, best known for his work on Batman (including the 1950 version of the Batmobile and the design of the original Riddler), dies at age 84.
20 years ago May 13, 2000 Golden Age cartoonist Fred Schwab dies at age 82. He was a freelancer for several companies and studios (including Eisner-Iger). His work appears in some of the earliest comic books, including Marvel Comics #1 and Detective Comics #1.
10 years ago May 10, 2010 Frank Frazetta dies at age 82. The iconic fantasy illustrator created the Thun’da comic book and Johnny Comet comic strip. He began his career in Bernard Baily’s studio and then freelanced his comics work including assists on Li’l Abner and Little Annie Fanny.
10 years ago May 10, 2010 Spanish cartoonist Juan José Carbó Gatignol dies at age 83.
10 years ago May 16, 2010 Artist Philippe Bertrand, creator of Linda Aime l’Art for Pilote as well as a variety of adult comics, dies at age 61.
