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 August 31 through September 6, 2018…
110 years ago September 4, 1908 Canadian writer-artist Théophile Hyacinthe Busnel dies from tuberculosis at age 25 or 26. He created Farces du Petit Cousin Charlot and continued Les Aventures de Timothée, which he evolved to what may have been the first serial comic strip with balloons.
105 years ago September 4, 1913 Golden Age and Silver Age artist Syd Shores is born. He begins his career at the Chesler studio and goes on to Timely, eventually becoming Marvel’s art director before he goes freelance.
95 years ago September 3, 1923 Reuben Award-winning writer-artist Mort Walker is born. He serves as president of the National Cartoonists Society and creates Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois, Boner’s Ark, and Sam’s Strip. He writes Backstage at the Strips and establishes a comics museum.
70 years ago September 2, 1948 First Comics Publisher Rick Obadiah is born.
65 years ago September 4, 1953 Ocean comics editor in chief and colorist Cathy Palin is born.
65 years ago September 4, 1953 Artist Paul Smith is born. He is known for such projects as Leave It to Chance and The Golden Age (both with James Robinson) and Kitty Pryde: Shadow and Flame.
55 years ago September 3, 1963 Cartoonist and colorist Joe Matt is born. He is known for Peepshow and collects Gasoline Alley.
50 years ago September 1, 1968 French artist Gus Bofa (born Gustave Blanchot) dies at age 85. He was known for Chez les Toubibs.
45 years ago September 2, 1973 John R.R. Tolkien dies at age 81. The “father of high fantasy” wrote Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
30 years ago September 6, 1988 French artist Roger Bussemey dies at age 67. He created Moky et Poupy.
20 years ago September 1, 1998 Prolific Filipino artist Francisco V. Coching dies at age 86. He created Hagibis.
20 years ago September 3, 1998 Vince Alascia dies at age 84. The Golden Age artist was especially known for his work on Captain America and for his two decades of work at Charlton.
10 years ago September 2, 2008 Animator, director, voice artist, and producer Bill Melendez dies at age 91. Known for his work on the Peanuts TV episodes, he worked for Disney, Warner Bros., and UPA and founded his own studio, Bill Melendez Productions.
And here are the anniversaries spanning the month of September…
80 years ago September 1938 Centaur’s Funny Pages Vol. 2 #10 introduces the costumed hero The Arrow, drawn by Paul Gustavson.
80 years ago September 1938 Fiction House’s oversized Jumbo Comics #1 (“Bigger & Better Funnies”) introduces that comics company ‒ and jungle comics themselves and Sheena (not to mention Will Eisner’s Hawks of the Seas). (How does Sheena avoid getting her legs scratched by all those jungly branches, anyway?)
75 years ago September 1943 DC’s Action Comics #64 introduces “A new and clever adversary,” Toyman, in “The Terrible Toyman!” by Don Cameron, Sam Citron, and Don Komisarow.
70 years ago September 1948 The Swedish Disney comic book series Kalle Anka & C:o begins.
70 years ago September 1948 DC’s Western Comics #5 introduces Nighthawk (by Joe Millard and Charles Paris).
65 years ago September 1953 St. John’s Three Dimension Comics #1, starring Mighty Mouse, introduces 3D comics
65 years ago September 1953 Harvey’s Little Dot #1 introduces Little Lotta and Richie Rich. Richie appears in “The Dancing Lessons” by Larz Bourne and Steve Muffati. 65 years ago September 1953 “See the titanic battle between man and the prehistoric beasts in the world of a million years ago”: St. John’s One Million Years Ago #1 introduces Joe Kubert’s Tor. (Tor and his monkey Chee-Chee also star in 3D adventures.) 65 years ago September 1953 The British magazine Comic Cuts from Amalgamated Press ends with #3006, as it merges with Knockout. 60 years ago September 1958 Ruff and Reddy come to comic books in Dell’s Four Color #937 in stories drawn by Harvey Eisenberg. (The first broadcast of the Hanna-Barbera series The Ruff and Reddy Show aired December 14, 1957.) 60 years ago September 1958 Archie’s Cosmo the Merry Martian begins with a story by Sy Reit and Bob White. Archie also kicks off the Life with Archie series with an issue-length story scripted by Reit. 55 years ago September 1963 “The strangest super-heroes of all!” Marvel’s X-Men #1 introduces Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl, Professor X, and Magneto (“Earth’s most powerful super villain!!”) in a story by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Paul Reinman (“in the sensational Fantastic Four style!”). 55 years ago September 1963 “How can Spider-Man defeat a foe who cannot be injured??” Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #4 introduces Sandman [Flint Marko], Betty Brant, and Liz Allen in “Nothing Can Stop … The Sandman!” by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. 55 years ago September 1963 “Supergirl Duels a New Super-Villainess!” DC’s Action Comics #304 introduces The Black Flame in “The Maid of Menace!” by Leo Dorfman and Jim Mooney. 55 years ago September 1963 “He has all the powers of the Fantastic Four, plus still more!” “A Skrull Walks among Us!”—and so it is that Super Skrull is introduced in the story in Marvel’s Fantastic Four #18 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers. 55 years ago September 1963 “Can the combined power of The Avengers defeat the sinister spells of Loki, god of evil?” Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Ant-Man, and The Wasp get together as a team (“Super-heroes! Super-villains! Super-thrills!”) in Marvel’s The Avengers #1 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers. 55 years ago September 1963 Jack Miller and Nick Cardy introduce Mera in “The Doom from Dimension Aqua” by Jack Miller and Nick Cardy in DC’s Aquaman #11. 55 years ago September 1963 Marvel’s Tales of Suspense #45 introduces Jack Frost, Happy Hogan, and Pepper Potts in an Iron Man story by Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein, and Don Heck. Hogan and Potts are “destined to become two of your favorite supporting characters!” 50 years ago September 1968 DC’s Showcase #77 introduces Angel and the Ape drawn by Bob Oksner and Tex Blaisdell. 50 years ago September 1968 “Preeeeeesenting”: Marvel Super-Heroes #16 introduces the Silver Age Phantom Eagle in a story by Gary Friedrich and Herb Trimpe. 50 years ago September 1968 DC’s Brother Power the Geek #1 introduces Brother Power the Geek, “a thing that lives and fights for its soul,” in a story by Joe Simon and Al Bare. (It also exposes “the dangers in Hippie-Land!”) 50 years ago September 1968 Marvel’s Sub-Mariner #5 introduces Tiger Shark in a story by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Frank Giacoia. 45 years ago September 1973 Marvel’s Ghost Rider #1 introduces Daimon Hellstrom (Son of Satan) in “A Woman Possessed!” by Gary Friedrich, Tom Sutton, and Syd Shores. 45 years ago September 1973 “That thing ‒ what is it?” So wait a minute. Jonah Jameson’s son is a what? “The Mark of the Man-Wolf” by Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, John Romita, and Tony Mortellaro appears in Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #124, introducing the alter ego of John Jameson. 45 years ago September 1973 “The senses-staggering superhero who died ‒ yet lives again!” Marvel’s Strange Tales #169 introduces Brother Voodoo in a story by Len Wein, Gene Colan, and Dan Adkins. 45 years ago September 1973 DC’s Plop! #1 introduces “the new magazine of weird humor!” 45 years ago September 1973 “Tomorrow’s sun will rise on a new king of the Wakandas!” Marvel’s Jungle Action #6 introduces Erik Killmonger (also known as N’Jadaka) in “Panther’s Rage” by Don McGregor, Rich Buckler, and Klaus Janson. 40 years ago September 1978 DC cancels Black Lightning with #11, Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth with #59, Our Fighting Forces with #181, and Showcase with #104. 35 years ago September 1983 DC announces it on the cover: “Final issue!” Adventure Comics wraps it up with #503. 35 years ago September 1983 John Byrne writes and draws Marvel’s Alpha Flight #2, changing Vindicator into Guardian in “Shadows of the Past.” 35 years ago September 1983 “What’s turned Japan’s greatest movie hero into a real life super-villain?” DC’s The New Adventures of Superboy #45 introduces Sunburst in a story by Paul Kupperberg, Alex Saviuk, and Kurt Schaffenberger. 30 years ago September 1988 “It’s a jungle out there!” Introduced in DC’s Strange Adventures #180 (in 1965), Buddy Baker gets a revamp in Animal Man #1 by Grant Morrison, Chas Truog, and Doug Hazlewood. 30 years ago September 1988 The wrap-around cover of Marvel Comics Presents #1 features Wolverine, Man-Thing, Silver Surfer, and Shang-Chi. 30 years ago September 1988 Now Comics brings 1984’s The Terminator to comics with The Terminator #1 and a story by Fred Schiller, Tony Akins, and Jim Brozman. 25 years ago September 1993 The cover says, “The End.” Marvel cancels The ’Nam with #84. 5 years ago September 2013 The Showtime TV series wraps up September 22, 2013, but Marvel brings Dexter to comics with #1 by Jeff Lindsay and Dalibor Talajic.
