Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for November 7-13, 2025…

160 years ago November 8, 1865 Political cartoonist David Claypoole Johnston dies at age 66. He was known for the cartoon collection Scraps.

150 years ago November 13, 1875 Cartoonist James Swinnerton is born. He creates such features as “The Little Bears,” which some consider the first comic strip. His landscape work includes backgrounds for Chuck Jones’ cartoon “Mighty Hunters.”

115 years ago November 10, 1910 Chinese comics artist Zhang Leping is born. He’s the pioneering manhua creator of Sanmao.

105 years ago November 8, 1920 Rupert Bear by Mary and Herbert Tourtel is introduced.

105 years ago November 13, 1920 Dell magazine editor and award-winning cartoonist Charles Saxon is born. He’s especially known for his New Yorker cartoons.

90 years ago November 7, 1935 Scott Goodall is born. The British writer who creates the “Fishboy” character is made an MBE in 2005.

85 years ago November 9, 1940 Russian-Yugoslavian artist Nikola Navojev dies from tuberculosis at age 27.

85 years ago November 13, 1940 Walt Disney’s Fantasia opens. Though it initially loses money, it is now considered to be one of the highest grossing films of all time, when the take is adjusted for inflation. The American Film Institute terms it the 58th greatest American film and the fifth greatest animated film.

80 years ago November 9, 1945 Artist Phil Normand is born.

80 years ago November 11, 1945 De Volkskrant introduces De Avonturen van Pa Pinkelman.

80 years ago November 12, 1945 Ray Gotto’s Ozark Ike begins.

75 years ago November 8, 1950 Italian artist Franco Origone is born. He co-creates features with his brother Agostino.

75 years ago November 9, 1950 Artist, publisher, teacher, and storyboarder Ken Landgraf is born. He produces Rock Comics and Starfighters.

75 years ago November 11, 1950 Warren writer Jim Stenstrum is born.

75 years ago November 12, 1950 Serbian writer Svetozar Obradović Toza is born.

75 years ago November 13, 1950 Jack Kent’s King Aroo comic strip begins.

70 years ago November 12, 1955 German artist Otto Nückel dies at age 67. He was a pioneer of wordless storytelling.

65 years ago November 7, 1960 Ponytail by Lee Holley begins.

65 years ago November 10, 1960 Award-winning author Neil Gaiman is born. His comics works include Stardust, The Sandman, Violent Cases, Marvel 1602, and The Books of Magic.

65 years ago November 11, 1960 Artist Susan F. Daigle-Leach is born. Her comics work includes lettering, art, coloring, and production management, especially for Gladstone and Gemstone.

65 years ago November 12, 1960 The Dandy #990 introduces David Law’s Corporal Clott.

60 years ago November 7, 1965 Artist Tom Taggart is born. He’s especially known for his multimedia DC covers.

60 years ago November 9, 1965 Cuban artist Eduardo Abela dies at age 76. He created El Bobo.

55 years ago November 10, 1970 Cal Alley dies of cancer at age 55. The editorial cartoonist created The Ryatts.

55 years ago November 12, 1970 Award-winning artist Bob Barnes dies of cancer at age 57. He created The Better Half.

45 years ago November 8, 1980 The first Mid-Ohio-Con (founded by Roger Price to benefit the March of Dimes and The Renaissance Theatre) begins in Mansfield, Ohio, and runs November 8-9. The first year it is actually called “North Central Ohio Comic Book/Science Fiction Convention,” and the first guests were Don and Maggie Thompson, P. Craig Russell, and Mike Meek. (Remaining affiliated with the March of Dimes until 1990, it raises more than a million dollars for charities over its history.)

25 years ago November 8, 2000 Belgian artist Luc Dupanloup dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 55. Working as “Dupa,” he created Cubitus (which was also featured in animated shows).

20 years ago November 11, 2005 Argentine artist Lucho Olivera dies at age 63.

15 years ago November 7, 2010 Artist Max Emanuel Gruder (who works as “Burschi”) dies at age 82. Lambiek says he is considered one of the innovators of Romanian comics.

10 years ago November 7, 2015 Larry Wright’s Kit ’n’ Carlyle ends.

10 years ago November 8, 2015 Costa Rican artist Félix Arburola Bustos dies at age 67 or 68 of lymphatic cancer.

10 years ago November 13, 2015 In Paris, terrorists attack the Bataclan concert hall; cartoonist Fred Dewilde witnesses it and will adapt it into the graphic novel Mon Bataclan.

5 years ago November 8, 2020 French artist Max Lenvers dies at age 87.

5 years ago November 9, 2020 Swiss-Italian animator and artist Ro Marcenaro dies at age 83. Lambiek calls him a pioneer in animated advertising cartoons.

5 years ago November 12, 2020 Marvel Executive Vice President and Scholastic Books Vice President Michael Z. Hobson dies of heart failure at age 83.

5 years ago November 12, 2020 Award-winning French editorial cartoonist and comic strip artist Pierre Georges de Barrigue de Montvallon (who worked as “Piem”) dies on his 97th birthday.

5 years ago November 13, 2020 Writer-artist Emil V. Abrahamian dies at age 94.