Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for June 20-26, 2025…

135 years ago June 22, 1890 Writer-artist and actor Joe Cunningham is born. He’s known for sports cartoons and the Rufus McGoofus strip.

135 years ago June 25, 1890 Walter Trier is born. The Czech-German artist is known for his work on children’s books and magazines.

125 years ago June 20, 1900 Einar Norelius is born. The Swedish artist is known for Jumbo i Djungeln.

125 years ago June 26, 1900 Dutch artist Joseph Spier is born.

120 years ago June 26, 1905 Award-winning writer-artist Lynd Ward is born. His work includes pioneering wordless novels told in woodcuts, starting with Gods’ Man in 1929.

120 years ago June 26, 1905 Winsor McCay’s A Pilgrim’s Progress is introduced.

115 years ago June 20, 1910 George Herriman’s The Dingbat Family begins.

115 years ago June 26, 1910 Pierre Joubert is born. The French artist is especially known for his art for Boy Scout publications.

110 years ago June 22, 1915 Newspaper and magazine cartoonist Raymond Crawford Ewer dies of tuberculosis at age 26.

105 years ago June 20, 1920 Frans van Lamsweerde is born. The Dutch artist and animator works at the Toonder and Geesink Studios and later for Disney and Western Printing.

105 years ago June 22, 1920 Paul Frees is born. Known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” he voices Ludwig Van Drake and Boris Badenov among, yes, hundreds and hundreds of others.

100 years ago June 25, 1925 Cartoonist Yoshirou Kato is born. He creates Mappirakun.

95 years ago June 22, 1930 Piet Tibos is born. The Belgian artist creates De Avonturen van Sebedeus en zijn Ploeg and founds a printing company.

95 years ago June 22, 1930 Award-winning Brazilian writer-artist Flávio Colin is born.

95 years ago June 24, 1930 Dutch satirical artist Alfaro Reijding dies at age 67.

85 years ago June 21, 1940 Dutch political cartoonist Tjerk Bottema dies in a shipping disaster at age 58.

75 years ago June 20, 1950 Award-winning editor, writer, artist, and letterer John E. Workman Jr. is born. He is art director of Heavy Metal.

75 years ago June 26, 1950 Writer-editor Tom DeFalco is born. He begins his comics career with Archie, where he develops its digest series. He goes on to a career at Marvel, where he helps develop a number of projects, eventually becoming editor in chief, and creates several characters including Spider-Girl.

70 years ago June 26, 1955 Steve Whitaker is born. The British colorist is especially known for his work on V for Vendetta.

65 years ago June 26, 1960 Comico and CO2 Comics co-founder (with Bill Cucinotta) Gerry Giovinco is born.

60 years ago June 24, 1965 Filmmaker Kevin VanHook is born. His best known comics work is Bloodshot.

60 years ago June 26, 1965 The Spider by Ted Cowan and Reg Bunn begins.

55 years ago June 22, 1970 Woodstock receives his name in Charles Schulz’ Peanuts.

50 years ago June 25, 1975 Golden Age artist Gus Schrotter dies at age 74. He worked for publishers including Timely, Novelty, Farrell, and Fox.

45 years ago June 23, 1980 Multiple awards nominee artist-writer Becky Cloonan is born.

40 years ago June 20, 1985 Animator and artist Ralph A. Wolfe dies at age 90. He worked for Disney, Warner Bros., and Fleischer and was a freelance contributor to Golden Age comics.

40 years ago June 21, 1985 Writer-artist Charles Wojtkoski dies at age 63. He was best known as the creator of Blue Beetle, for his work on such characters as Blonde Phantom and Nyoka, and for later work at Charlton and Marvel.

35 years ago June 23, 1990 Writer-artist Howard Boughner dies at age 81. The creator of Mac, Peter and Polly in Toyland, and Hold Everything wrote Penny and Dotty Dripple.

30 years ago June 26, 1995 French writer-artist and teacher Bernard Ducourant (who worked as “Duc”) dies at age 62. His book about drawing comics, L’Art de la BD, was published in 1982.

25 years ago June 24, 2000 Dutch artist Frans Verschoor dies at age 44. He was known for comics based on the TV show Bassie en Adriaan.

20 years ago June 21, 2005 Artist Harry Privette (also known as Martin Hanna), known for his MiniBoppers strip, dies at age 79 or 80.

20 years ago June 23, 2005 Freelance artist Sam Kweskin, who worked for Atlas and Marvel, dies at age 81.

20 years ago June 24, 2005 Inventor and ventriloquist Paul Winchell dies at age 82. His voice artistry included Disney’s Tigger and the Smurfs’ Gargamel.

15 years ago June 23, 2010 Western Publishing artist Joe Messerli dies at age 79 of complications relating to cancer. He designed the first Twilight Zone logo.

15 years ago June 25, 2010 Russian artist Valentin Rozantsev dies at age 70.

10 years ago June 25, 2015 Dutch artist Fred Marcus dies at age 81 or 82.

10 years ago June 26, 2015 Influential Czech artist Kája Saudek dies at age 80. He was called the “king of Czech comics.”

5 years ago June 24, 2020 Writer-artist Ralph Dunagin dies at age 83. He was a political cartoonist known for his Dunagin’s People panel and co-created The Middletons with Dana Summers.

5 years ago June 25, 2020 Award-winning artist Joe Sinnott dies at age 93. The Treasure Chest and Marvel artist-inker was especially known for work on the Spider-Man comic strip and Fantastic Four comic books.

5 years ago June 26, 2020 Award-winning artist and graphic designer Milton Glaser dies of a stroke and renal failure on his 91st birthday. The Push Pin Studios co-founder (with Edward Sorel, Seymour Chwast, and Reynold Ruffins) was co-founder of New York magazine and designed the “I Love New York” logo and DC’s 1977-2005 logo.