Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for March 29 through April 4, 2024...

155 years ago April 2, 1869 Clifford K. Berryman is born. The work of the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist appears in The Washington Post and The Washington Star. He’s especially known for “Remember the Maine” and “Drawing the Line in Mississippi” (the latter leading to the creation of “teddy bear” toys).

155 years ago April 2, 1869 Hungarian writer-artist Karóly Mühlbeck is born.

125 years ago March 30, 1899 Italian artist and actor Sebastiano Craveri is born. He creates funny animal comics about Zoolandia and Formachino.

125 years ago April 4, 1899 Dutch artist Freddie Langeler is born. She marries E.M. ten Harmsen van der Beek, with whom she often works.

120 years ago March 30, 1904 Writer-artist Edgar P. Jacobs is born. The prolific European comics movement pioneer creates Blake and Mortimer.

115 years ago March 29, 1909 Jack Kinney is born. The Disney animator and sequence director directs the Oscar-winning “Der Fuehrer’s Face” (1943). He’s head of Jack Kinney Productions.

105 years ago April 4, 1919 Indonesian artist R.A. Kosasih is born.

100 years ago March 29, 1924 Artist Jack Elrod is born. His work includes art for The Ryatts and Ed Dodd’s award-winning Mark Trail strip.

100 years ago March 30, 1924 Belgian writer-artist Raymond Macherot is born. Signing as “Zara,” he’s known for Chlorophylle, Clifton, and Sibylline.

100 years ago April 3, 1924 Croatian-Austrian artist Franz Von Bayros dies at age 57.

100 years ago April 4, 1924 Joye Meyer Hummel Murchison Kelly is born. She’s the first woman to write Wonder Woman stories (anonymously).

100 years ago April 4, 1924 Uruguayan artist and journalist Celmar Poumé is born. Lambiek calls him “one of the grandmasters of Uruguayan comics.” He founds the Poumé Institute of Visual Arts in 1971.

75 years ago March 29, 1949 Wayne Howard is born. The writer-artist is especially known for creating Charlton’s Midnight Tales.

75 years ago April 4, 1949 Writer-editor-historian John Wooley is born. He’s a member of the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame and writes Miracle Squad with artist Terry Tidwell.

60 years ago April 1, 1964 Letterer Bill Oakley is born.

40 years ago April 1, 1984 Writer-artist-editor Ray Gill dies at age 66. He co-created Airman and Terry Vance and worked for Archie, Timely, Novelty, Stanley, and Fawcett.

40 years ago April 1, 1984 German artist Kurt Klamann dies at age 76.

35 years ago March 30, 1989 Award-winning writer-artist and animator Mike Sekowsky dies at age 65. With a career starting in the Golden Age, he worked for Marvel, DC, Charlton, and Western. Especially known for contributions to stories featuring DC’s Justice League of America and Wonder Woman, he also worked on Hanna-Barbera TV series. He was among the artists whose work Roy Lichtenstein swiped.

30 years ago March 31, 1994 Spanish writer-artist and pioneer animator Josep Escobar dies at age 85. He was known for his creation Zipi y Zape.

25 years ago April 3, 1999 Animator, TV producer, and artist Kay Wright dies at age 79. He began as a Disney inbetweener, drew funny animal comics for Western, and produced Hanna-Barbera episodes.

20 years ago March 30, 2004 Australian cartoonist and gag writer Doug Tainsh dies at age 82. He created the panel cartoon Cedric.

15 years ago March 29, 2009 Actor Monte Hale dies at age 89. His cowboy roles led Fawcett to license his name and image for comic book stories.

15 years ago March 31, 2009 Spanish artist Juan Bernet Toledano dies at age 84. He co-created Los Guerrilleros with Andrade.

15 years ago April 2, 2009 Award-winning artist Frank Springer dies of prostate cancer at age 79. He was president of the National Cartoonists Society in 1996.

15 years ago April 3, 2009 German artist Harry Schlegel dies at age 79.

15 years ago April 4, 2009 Dutch writer, poet, and artist Fritzi Harmsen van Beek dies at age 81.

10 years ago April 3, 2014 Prolific artist Fred Kida dies at age 93. With a career beginning in the Golden Age, he was especially known for work on Airboy and worked for decades on a variety of strip and comic book projects including characters Flash Gordon and Spider-Man.

10 years ago April 28, 2014 Artist Barbara Hall dies at age 94. The Golden Age artist drew Black Cat, Girl Commandos, and more. (Her real name was Barbara Fiske Calhoun.)

10 years ago April 29, 2014 Writer-artist-editor Al Feldstein dies at age 88. He was known for his work for E.C. and became editor in chief of Mad.

5 years ago March 29, 2019 CrossGen founder Mark Alessi dies of massive coronary arrest at age 65.

5 years ago March 31, 2019 Artist and animator Don Morgan dies at age 80. His career included working on Walt Kelly’s Pogo newspaper strip in 1973 and 1974.

5 years ago April 2, 2019 Norwegian cartoonist Rolf Håndstad dies of cancer at age 60.

And here are the anniversaries spanning the month of April…

90 years ago April 1934 Colonel Blimp by David Low is introduced in the British Evening Standard.

85 years ago April 1939 The first movie comic book is, appropriately enough, Movie Comics #1. The cover features Gunga Din. The issue not only includes Son of Frankenstein among the stories told via adapted stills, it also contains the Ed Wheelan Minute Movies story “Terrors of the Tomb.”

85 years ago April 1939 “Red, White & Blue” and Hop Harrigan make their first comic book appearances in All-American Comics #1, which also cover-features Mutt & Jeff, Reg’lar Fellers, Skippy, Scribbly, and Toonerville Folks.

85 years ago April 1939 Dell’s The Funnies #30 introduces Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars and Tars Tarkas to comic books.

80 years ago April 1944 Dell’s Four Color Comics #38 cover-features a photo of Roy Rogers, making it the first Western comic book with a photo cover.

75 years ago April 1949 Walt Kelly’s “Our Gang” stories conclude in Dell’s Our Gang with Tom & Jerry #57. “We bid a fond farewell to the friends of Our Gang and wish them luck.”

70 years ago April 1954 Quality’s Blackhawk #75 cover-features The Flying Cannon, but it’s remembered especially for the introduction of Blackhawk’s mascot, Blackie the Hawk.

70 years ago April 1954 Harvey’s Casper the Friendly Ghost #19 introduces Casper’s horse, Nightmare, to comic books.

70 years ago April 1954 “Who is the Fighting American? Learn his secret in this issue!” Fighting American #1 from Prize introduces Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Fighting American character.

65 years ago April 1959 He’s called “Sgt. Rocky,” but Sgt. Rock and his Easy Company are introduced in DC’s Our Army at War #81 in “The Rock of Easy Co.!” by Bob Haney, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito.

65 years ago April 1959 How can it be? “Menace of the Super-Gorilla!” by John Broome, Carmine Infantino, and Joe Giella is the lead story of DC’s Flash #106, and it’s the first appearance of Gorilla Grodd, for goodness’ sake! But it’s The Pied Piper (in a story by Broome, Infantino, and Giella) whose introduction gets the cover!

65 years ago April 1959 Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #36 introduces “Lois Lane’s Sister!”: Lucy Lane. The story is by Otto Binder and Curt Swan.

60 years ago April 1964 “Can you guess why Daredevil is different from all other crimefighters …?” Marvel’s Daredevil #1 tells the tale of Matt Murdock’s metamorphosis into Daredevil and introduces such other characters as his father (Jack Murdock) and associates “Foggy” Nelson and Karen Page in a story by Stan Lee, Bill Everett, Steve Ditko, and Sol Brodsky.

60 years ago April 1964 In Marvel’s Tales of Suspense #52, “The Crimson Dynamo Strikes Again!” This time, he’s Boris Turgenev, and he introduces Natasha Romanoff (also known as Black Widow) in the story by Stan Lee, Don Rico, and Don Heck.

60 years ago April 1964 Marvel’s Journey into Mystery #103 introduces Enchantress and Executioner and answers the cover question “Can mighty Thor defeat two of the strangest super-menaces of all time?” “The Enchantress and the Executioner!” is by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Chic Stone. (Note: Odin was none too fond of Jane Foster. Just saying.)

60 years ago April 1964 EC’s Mad #86 introduces Al Jaffee’s Mad Fold-In.

55 years ago April 1969 DC’s Secret Six #7 by E. Nelson Bridwell, Joe Gill, and Jack Sparling is the last issue. Which means it’ll be a long time (specifically, December 6, 1988) before readers learn the identity of Mockingbird. Sigh.

50 years ago April 1974 With #164, DC’s Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen changes name and format (“100 Super Spectacular Pages”) to The Superman Family.

50 years ago April 1974 Marvel’s Master of Kung Fu begins with #17. (It’s still Shang-Chi, but he declares he’s no longer connected to his dad, Fu Manchu.) (By the way, creators Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, and Al Milgrom appear as bad guys in the first three pages.)

50 years ago April 1974 Oh, and the magazine-format Marvel publication The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu begins, introducing Abe Brown, Bob Diamond, and Lin Sun. The lead story by Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, and Al Milgrom has more about the split between Shang-Chi and Fu Manchu.

50 years ago April 1974 Archie’s Chilling Adventures in Sorcery changes its name to Red Circle Sorcery with #6.

50 years ago April 1974 “Is she beast or human …?” DC’s Rima, the Jungle Girl begins. Hands up, everyone who remembers that Rima is the focal character in W.H. Hudson’s 1904 novel Green Mansions and so can guess at the answer. (Credits in the issue go to Hudson, Robert Kanigher, Nestor Redondo, and Joe Kubert.)

50 years ago April 1974 The anthology Star*Reach begins from Star*Reach. Contents are by Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Steve Skeates, Ed Hicks, Walt Simonson, and Howard Chaykin.

45 years ago April 1979 Marvel ends Kid Colt Outlaw with #229, which co-stars Rawhide Kid and consists of reprints.

45 years ago April 1979 Marvel ends its reprint title Marvel Triple Action with #47.

45 years ago April 1979 D.C. Thomson & Co. publishes Starblazer #1 (“Space fiction adventure in pictures”). It features “The Omega Experiment” by Alan Rogers.

45 years ago April 1979 “Is this the real Ant-Man or an imposter?!” It’s Ant-Man II (Scott Lang) in Marvel Premiere #47 in “To Steal an Ant-Man!” by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton.

45 years ago April 1979 In “Wanted: Wolverine! Dead or Alive!” by John Byrne, Chris Claremont, and Terry Austin, Alpha Flight makes an introductory cameo in Marvel’s The X-Men #120, and Weapon Alpha becomes Vindicator.

40 years ago April 1984 DC’s The New Teen Titans becomes Tales of the Teen Titans with #41.

40 years ago April 1984 “Introducing the newest member of The Fantastic Four!” “Oh, my! Is the world ready for this?” Spoiler: It’s She-Hulk, who joins the gang in Marvel’s Fantastic Four #265. “Home Are the Heroes” is by John Byrne.

40 years ago April 1984 Marvel’s Alien Legion begins with “Survival of the Fittest” by Alan Zelenetz, Frank Cirocco, and Terry Austin.

40 years ago April 1984 Zot! #1 from Eclipse introduces Scott McCloud’s Zot.

35 years ago April 1989 Marvel’s Spectacular Spider-Man #149 introduces the second Carrion: Malcolm McBride. “What about Carrion?!” is by Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema.

35 years ago April 1989 DC’s The Huntress #1 introduces Huntress in “Code of Silence” by Joey Cavalieri, Joe Staton, Bruce Patterson, and Dick Giordano.

35 years ago April 1989 In DC’s Justice League Europe #1, the gang moves into its new Paris headquarters in a story by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Bart Sears, and Pablo Marcos.

35 years ago April 1989 DC’s Sandman #4 introduces Lucifer in “A Hope in Hell” by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg.

30 years ago April 1994 Barb Wire first appeared in Dark Horse’s Comics Greatest World: Steel Harbor in 1993. Now she gets her own series with Barb Wire #1 featuring “Devil in the Dark” by John Arcudi, Lee Moder, and Ande Parks.

30 years ago April 1994 The first issue of DC’s Damage is by Tom Joyner, Bill Marimon, and Tom McWeeney. Hey, Grant Emerson finds out he has superpowers!

30 years ago April 1994 “Jim Rhodes: the armor and the attitude!” Marvel’s War Machine #1 features “Something to Believe In” by Scott Benson, Len Kaminski, Gabriel Gecko, and Pam Eklund.

25 years ago April 1999 It’s just the first issue of a three-issue Dark Horse miniseries – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru – but of interest is that “Paint the Town Red” is based on a story by James Marsters (appearing in the cover photo as Spike) with Christopher Golden, drawn by Ryan Sook.

25 years ago April 1999 Christopher Chance used to appear in DC’s Action Comics. Now, he gets his own kickoff with a limited series. Human Target #1 features a 24-page story by Peter Milligan and Edwin Biuković.

25 years ago April 1999 There’s a job! The first issue of DC’s Planetary announces the “archaeologists of the impossible.” “All over the World” is by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday.

15 years ago April 2009 DC’s second R.E.B.E.L.S. series begins with “The Future Is Now” by Tony Bedard and Andy Clarke. Vril Dox is looking for Supergirl.

15 years ago April 2009 The fifth volume of Marvel’s Black Panther begins. The first part of “The Deadliest of the Species” is by Reginald Hudlin, Ken Lashley, and Paul Neary, and the issue includes a nine-page history of The Black Panther.

15 years ago April 2009 Archie’s Sonic Universe begins with the Hedgehog starring in “Living Weapons” by Ian Flynn, Tracy Yardley, and Jim Amash.

15 years ago April 2009 Hey! Marvel’s Thor gets to #600! It celebrates with a 108-page anthology of Asgardian and Earthian stories.

10 years ago April 2014 “Meta Morphosis Part One of Five” introduces Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel in Marvel’s Ms. Marvel #1 by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona.

10 years ago April 2014 Lumberjanes begins from Boom! Studios. It will win the Eisner Award for Best New Series and the issue is by Noelle Stevenson, Brooke Allen, and Maarta Laiho.

10 years ago April 2014 Marvel’s Loki: Agent of Asgard begins with “Trust Me” by Al Ewing and Lee Garbett. Hey, who wouldn’t trust Loki?

10 years ago April 2014 Well, Marvel’s Fantastic Four #16 (cover-labeled “Finale”) was dated March 2014 – and now it’s April, and there’s a new Fantastic Four #1. The story in this “first” issue is “The Fall of The Fantastic Four Part 1.” It’s by James Robinson, Leonard Kirk, and Karl Kesel. (Also – just saying – after #14, the numbering reverts to the original identifications with #642. So there’s that.)

10 years ago April 2014 There’s been more than one New Warriors #1 from Marvel. This one is by Christopher Yost and Marcus To.

10 years ago April 2014 What’s that? You say Marvel has had more than one Punisher #1, too? This one features “Memento Mori” by Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads.

10 years ago April 2014 Oh, come on! Marvel has had more than one first issue of She-Hulk? Really? You bet. In this case, “Motion” is by Charles Soule and Javier Pulido.

5 years ago April 2019 Well, the cover hints that it’s also Marvel’s Avengers #708, but Avengers: No Road Home also carries a #1, so there. The story is by Mark Waid, Al Ewing, Jim Zub, Paco Medina, and Juan Vlasco.

5 years ago April 2019 Hey, here’s another of those Marvel “first” issues with the teeny note that it’s also Daredevil #613. “Know Fear” is by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto.

5 years ago April 2019 Guess what! Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan #1 is also known as Savage Sword of Conan #236. The 30-page first part of “The Cult of Koga Thun” is by Gerry Duggan and Ron Garney.

5 years ago April 2019 In the first issue of Marvel’s Old Man Quill, “Nobody’s Fault but Mine” is by Ethan Sacks and Robert Gill. The Guardians of the Galaxy wake Quill to get him to help out.

5 years ago April 2019 Marvel releases a whole bunch of titles in an Age of X-Man assortment. (Individual subtitles include Apocalypse and the X-Tracts, Nextgen, The Amazing Nightcrawler, The Marvelous X-Men, and X-Tremists.) Collect them all!