Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for August 15-21, 2025…

135 years ago August 16, 1890 Artist, animator, and director Myron “Grim” Natwick is born. He creates the original Betty Boop design for Fleischer Studios and is a lead animator for Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

135 years ago August 20, 1890 Fantasy writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft is born. His horror fiction, especially for Weird Tales, influences countless writers who follow him, and his “Cthulhu Mythos” concepts are pop culture memes.

135 years ago August 20, 1890 Dutch artist Jan Holswilder dies at age 39. He was a comics pioneer and caricaturist.

130 years ago August 15, 1895 Clarence D. Russell is born. The artist’s work includes Pete the Tramp.

110 years ago August 16, 1915 Freckles and His Friends by Merrill Blosser begins.

110 years ago August 20, 1915 Artist George Roussos is born. Also working as “George Bell,” he begins his career working on Batman in the Golden Age. His work on a variety of features includes Silver Age inking of Jack Kirby’s art.

105 years ago August 15, 1920 Harrison Cady’s Peter Rabbit strip is introduced. (It doesn’t feature Beatrix Potter’s bunny.)

105 years ago August 17, 1920 Artist John Prentice is born. He’s especially known for continuing Alex Raymond’s Rip Kirby strip.

105 years ago August 17, 1920 Belgian artist Josette Baujot is born. The wife of cartoonist Jo-El Azara works as a colorist for Hergé.

100 years ago August 16, 1925 Croatian artist and animator Branco Karabajic is born.

95 years ago August 20, 1930 Award-winning cartoonist Bill Rechin is born. He creates Out of Bounds and Crock with Brant Parker and is the 1988 president of The National Cartoonists Society.

90 years ago August 15, 1935 Italian artist Sergio Tuis is born.

80 years ago August 17, 1945 Writer Rachel Pollack is born. She’s especially known for her run on Doom Patrol.

80 years ago August 19, 1945 Writer-editor Dennis P. Eichhorn is born. He’s known for the anthology Real Stuff.

75 years ago August 15, 1950 Writer, editor, and historian Jim Korkis is born.

70 years ago August 15, 1955 Comics marketing representative Dale Kanzler is born.

70 years ago August 21, 1955 Artist and graphic designer Darrell Goza is born.

65 years ago August 15, 1960 Artist Terry Shoemaker is born. He’s especially known for his work on X-Factor.

65 years ago August 15, 1960 Artist, actor, and screenwriter Jefferson Machamer dies at age 59. He was known for his Gags and Gals feature.

65 years ago August 18, 1960 Willy Vandersteen launches Jerom.

65 years ago August 18, 1960 Writer Jeffrey Lang is born.

60 years ago August 15, 1965 Award-winning Uruguayan pioneering artist and teacher Julio E. Suárez dies at age 55. He created Peloduro and Cocona en el país de las Hormigas.

60 years ago August 18, 1965 Writer Skip Dietz is born.

55 years ago August 16, 1970 Advantage Graphics Press editor and publisher and New Moon Studios editor Chancellor R. Knight is born.

50 years ago August 15, 1975 Artist Art Villanueva is born. He’s especially known for his work for Bongo Comics.

50 years ago August 17, 1975 French artist René Bastard dies at age 74.

50 years ago August 19, 1975 Writer-artist Chynna Clugston born. Her work includes Blue Monday and Queen Bee.

30 years ago August 20, 1995 Artist Hugo Pratt dies of cancer at age 68. Among his best-known projects was his creation Corto Maltese.

20 years ago August 16, 2005 Award-winning screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, director, and voice actor Joe Ranft dies in an automobile accident at age 45. He was Pixar Animation Studio’s Head of Story.

15 years ago August 16, 2010 Dutch artist Peter Wienk dies at age 89.

10 years ago August 19, 2015 French writer-artist-editor Emmanuel Ratier (who worked as “Rémi”) dies at age 57.

5 years ago August 17, 2020 Belgian artist Claude Laverdure dies at age 73.