Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for May 7-13, 2021...
135 years ago May 7, 1886 Writer-artist Tom McNamara is born. The vaudeville performer and movie director creates the Us Boys strip.
110 years ago May 12, 1911 Writer-artist-editor Charles Biro is born. His creations include Airboy and Steel Sterling, and he’s known for his work on Daredevil for Lev Gleason. (He helps create the “crime comics” genre for Gleason.)
100 years ago May 9, 1921 Award-winning cartoonist and commercial artist Frank O’Neal is born. He creates the newspaper strip Short Ribs.
100 years ago May 12, 1921 Lily Renée Willheim Phillips is born. Working as Lily Renée, she’s known for providing art to 1940s Fiction House on such features as “The Lost World,” “Señorita Rio,” and “The Werewolf Hunter” – and then to later features for St. John.
100 years ago May 13, 1921 German artist Arpad Schmidhammer dies at age 64.
95 years ago May 9, 1926 Norman McMurray’s Fish and Chips begins.
95 years ago May 11, 1926 French writer-artist Paul Gillon is born. He co-creates Les Naufragés du Temps with Jean-Claude Forest.
95 years ago May 13, 1926 Comic book writer and artist and movie and cartoon producer and director Norman Maurer is born. He co-creates 3-D comics with Joe Kubert.
90 years ago May 8, 1931 “The Moose Hunt” introduces the Walt Disney dog named Pluto.
90 years ago May 9, 1931 Award-winning editorial cartoonist Richard D. Hodgins Jr. is born. His comic strip work includes Half Hitch, Henry, and Hagar the Horrible.
85 years ago May 7, 1936 The Dutch comic book Doe Mee begins.
85 years ago May 8, 1936 Manga writer Kazuo Koike is born. He’s especially known for Lone Wolf and Cub and Crying Freeman.
85 years ago May 8, 1936 Belgian animator and artist Jacques Michel is born. He works as Jamic and is co-creator (with Serge Gennaux) of Les Télé-Graphistes.
85 years ago May 9, 1936 Czech writer-artist Stanislav Lolek dies at age 62. He was especially known for Liška Bystrouška.
80 years ago May 12, 1941 R.B. Clark’s Boofhead begins.
75 years ago May 12, 1946 Gim Toro begins by Andrea Lavezzolo and Edgardo dell’Acqua.
75 years ago May 13, 1946 Editor and award-winning writer Marv Wolfman is born. He co-creates (with Gene Colan) Blade, (with John Buscema) Nova, and (with Bernie Wrightson) Destiny. He’s especially known for work on The Tomb of Dracula and (with George Pérez) The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths.
70 years ago May 7, 1951 Political cartoonist Robert David Barbour is born.
70 years ago May 7, 1951 Writer-artist Michael T. Gilbert is born. He’s especially known for his updated version of Mr. Monster.
70 years ago May 10, 1951 Writer-editor-historian Murray R. Ward is born.
50 years ago May 8, 1971 Al Capp is charged with crimes including sexual harassment, attempted adultery, and indecent exposure.
50 years ago May 8, 1971 Brazilian comedian and cartoonist Jozenilton Veloso is born. He works as Shaolin.
50 years ago May 10, 1971 Dutch artist Ted Mathijsen (who worked as Roberic) dies at age 44.
40 years ago May 7, 1981 Dutch artist Jaap Veenendaal (who worked as Javé) dies at age 77.
40 years ago May 12, 1981 Artist Henry Formhals dies at age 72. He assisted on Freckles and His Friends (eventually continuing it himself), Joe Jinks, and Ella Cinders.
30 years ago May 8, 1991 Australian artist Kathleen O’Brien dies at age 76. She was known for the Wanda comic strip.
30 years ago May 11, 1991 The British comic book Mandy merges with Judy.
25 years ago May 7, 1996 Dutch artist and editor Piet Worm dies at age 86.
25 years ago May 9, 1996 Carl Faalberg dies at age 80. The Disney comics writer-artist scripted most of the Paul Murry illustrated Mickey Mouse serials in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories and was the story director on several Hanna-Barbera TV shows.
15 years ago May 12, 2006 Art School Confidential featuring Dan Clowes goes into wide release. (Earlier showings began in January.)
15 years ago May 12, 2006 Italian artist Ferdinando Tacconi dies at age 83.
10 years ago May 8, 2011 Prolific Argentine writer Carlos Trillo dies at age 68. He was co-founder and art director of the satirical magazine Satiricon.
10 years ago May 10, 2011 Daily News sports cartoonist Bill Gallo dies from complications of pneumonia at age 88.
10 years ago May 13, 2011 Brazilian-French artist Alain Voss dies of a stroke at age 65.
5 years ago May 13, 2016 French editorial cartoonist Piem (Pierre Georges de Barrigue de Montvallon) is named Commander in the Ordre National du Mérite.
