Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for October 17-23, 2025…

185 years ago October 17, 1840 André Gill is born. Born Louis-Alexandre Gosset de Guines, the controversial and influential French caricaturist is credited with pioneering the practice of drawing a large head on a small body.

160 years ago October 18, 1865 Italian writer-artist Gabriele Galantara is born. He was known for his caricatures and co-founded L’Asino magazine with Guido Podrecca.

150 years ago October 18, 1875 Political cartoonist and strip writer-artist Bob Satterfield (who works as “Sat”) is born.

150 years ago October 23, 1875 Newspaper cartoon artist William James Sinnott is born.

135 years ago October 18, 1890 Mikhail Cheremnykh is born. The award-winning Russian artist is co-founder of the satirical magazine Krokodil.

130 years ago October 18, 1895 Artist Ken Kling is born. He creates the Joe Quince and Windy Riley strips.

130 years ago October 19, 1895 Maracel Turin is born. The prolific French artist (who works as “Mat”) creates many series.

130 years ago October 23, 1895 Dutch artist Bernard van Vlijmen is born.

105 years ago October 17, 1920 Award-winning artist John Prentice is born. He takes over the Rip Kirby strip after Alex Raymond’s death and works for DC in the 1950s.

105 years ago October 17, 1920 The Swedish strip Adamson (known in English as Silent Sam) by Oscar Jacobsson begins. (The Swedish Academy of Comics later names the Adamson Award in its honor.)

105 years ago October 23, 1920 Writer-artist Bob Montana is born. His creations for Archie Andrews’ world (in comics and strips) are fundamental.

100 years ago October 20, 1925 Bulgarian artist Boris Dimovski is born.

95 years ago October 19, 1930 French artist Henri Gerbault dies at age 67.

90 years ago October 20, 1935 The Gumps creator Sidney Smith dies at age 58 in a head-on collision on the way home from signing a $150,000 annual contract. In 1926 in that strip, he killed Mary Gold: the first character to die in a continuity comic strip.

90 years ago October 21, 1935 Quebec comics pioneering artist Joseph Charlebois dies at age 63.

85 years ago October 17, 1940 Le Soir-Jeunesse begins. The Hergé story The Crab with the Golden Claws is included, introducing Allan Thompson and Captain Haddock. (They’ll later be inserted in an older Tintin story.)

85 years ago October 19, 1940 Writer-editor Nadine Messner-Loebs is born.

85 years ago October 20, 1940 Influential French artist, editor, and publisher Nikita Mandryka is born. Lambiek calls him “one of the innovators of French comics during the 1970s.”

80 years ago October 22, 1945 Glamor Girls by Don Flowers begins from King Features.

80 years ago October 22, 1945 Olle Kapoen by Phiny Dick, drawn by Coen van Hunnik, begins.

80 years ago October 23, 1945 Norwegian-Danish writer-artist Louis Moe dies at age 88. Lambiek says, “Moe can be considered one of the founders of Norwegian comics.”

75 years ago October 21, 1950 John Dennis is born. He draws Caliber Press titles in addition to stories featuring characters including Spider-Woman and Wonder Woman.

70 years ago October 18, 1955 Writer-artist Sandy Plunkett is born.

70 years ago October 21, 1955 Award-winning writer-artist Geof Darrow is born. He’s especially known for his work on Shaolin Cowboy and (with Frank Miller) on Hard Boiled and The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot.

65 years ago October 21, 1960 Arrow and Caliber writer-editor Stuart Kerr is born.

60 years ago October 18, 1965 Cuban cartoonist, advertising agency founder, and publisher Conrado W. Massaguer dies at age 76.

55 years ago October 19, 1970 New York magazine cover-features “The Radicalization of the Comic Books” by Lindsy and Lawrence Van Gelder.

40 years ago October 18, 1985 Writer-artist Jack Kent dies of leukemia at age 65. He created the King Aroo newspaper strip and featured some of its characters in his children’s books.

40 years ago October 23, 1985 Editor and Golden Age artist Adolphe Barreaux dies at age 86. The creator of Sally the Sleuth and The Enchanted Stone of Time was head of Majestic Studios, creating comics features.

30 years ago October 21, 1995 Prolific Spanish writer-artist Jesús Blasco dies at age 75. He created Cuto.

30 years ago October 21, 1995 Spanish artist Manuel Vázquez Gallego dies of a stroke at age 65. One of the major contributors to Barcelona publisher Bruguera, he was the subject of the 2010 film El Gran Vázquez.

20 years ago October 17, 2005 Art teacher and Lone Ranger artist Tom Gill dies at age 92.

20 years ago October 21, 2005 Artist Bob White dies of heart problems at age 76 or 77. The Archie Comics staff artist co-created Cosmo the Merry Martian with Sy Reit and Archie as Pureheart the Powerful with Frank Doyle.

10 years ago October 23, 2015 Prolific artist Murphy Anderson dies at age 89. In a career spanning more than five decades, he began drawing comics in the Golden Age and was especially known for his Silver Age DC work.

5 years ago October 17, 2020 Writer-artist-teacher Bob Weber dies at age 86. He created the long-running King Features strip Moose Miller.

5 years ago October 20, 2020 French writer-artist Alex Varenne dies at age 81.

5 years ago October 22, 2020 Writer-editor Richard A. Lupoff dies at age 85. He co-created the fanzine Xero with his wife, Pat. In it, they introduced All in Color for a Dime. The book collecting that series has been described as “the very first published volume dedicated to comic book criticism.”