Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for June 4-10, 2021...

175 years ago June 8, 1846 Comic art pioneer Rodolphe Töpffer dies at age 47. He developed and used the details of the art form to tell stories and wrote instructional essays on the topic.

165 years ago June 10, 1856 British artist George Roller is born.

120 years ago June 9, 1901 The New Yorker cartoonist George Price is born.

110 years ago June 5, 1911 Artist-editor Vin Sullivan is born. Working for DC, he edited the first Superman story. Later, he was the publisher of Magazine Enterprises.

100 years ago June 5, 1921 Irving Tripp is born. The artist is especially known for inking John Stanley’s pencils on Dell’s Little Lulu comics.

100 years ago June 8, 1921 Painter and “Femlin” creator LeRoy Neiman is born.

95 years ago June 6, 1926 Cartoonist Tom K. Ryan is born. He creates Tumbleweeds.

95 years ago June 6, 1926 Artist Leone Cimpellin is born. He creates Nembo Kid.

95 years ago June 6, 1926 Ella Cinders is released by First National Pictures, a film adaptation (starring Colleen Moore) of the strip by Bill Conselman and Charles Plumb.

90 years ago June 6, 1931 British writer-editor Herbert Bird Tourtel dies at age 57.

90 years ago June 10, 1931 Actor Hal Stone is born. His career begins on Broadway at age 7, he plays Jughead on the Archie Andrews Show on radio, and his autobiography is titled Aw … Relax, Archie! Re-lax!

80 years ago June 7, 1941 Writer-artist and Katy Keene fan Barb Rausch is born.

70 years ago June 4, 1951 Wendy Fletcher is born. As Wendy Pini, she co-creates (with Richard Pini) and draws the world of Elfquest.

70 years ago June 10, 1951 Award-winning fantasy writer-artist Charles Vess is born. He’s known for his work on such publications as Sandman, Stardust, and Rose.

60 years ago June 5, 1961 Mary Kay Bergman is born. She is a voice artist for Snow White – and for South Park’s female characters.

55 years ago June 8, 1966 CBS’ Peanuts special Charlie Brown’s All-Stars airs.

55 years ago June 8, 1966 Artist Clyde Lamb dies at age 53. He created the Herman newspaper strip (not related to Jim Unger’s feature).

50 years ago June 5, 1971 German artist Otto Waffenschmied dies at age 69. The artist and editor of the children’s magazine Dideldum writes and draws the Jan und Hein children’s book series.

50 years ago June 8, 1971 Artist Jeff Meyer is born.

50 years ago June 9, 1971 Writer Russell R. Winterbotham dies at age 66. His output included material for pulp magazines and Big Little Books, and he co-created the Chris Welkin – Planeteer strip.

45 years ago June 5, 1976 The Umbrella Academy artist Gabriel Bá is born.

45 years ago June 5, 1976 Writer-artist Fábio Moon is born.

45 years ago June 5, 1976 Dutch writer-artist Henk Backer dies at age 77. Called the godfather of Dutch comics, he created more than 70 different comics and was especially known for Tripje en Liezebertha.

40 years ago June 7, 1981 Dutch artist Arnold Molenaar dies at age 76.

30 years ago June 5, 1991 Writer Max Allan Collins appears on the Geraldo syndicated TV show to discuss the Lindbergh kidnapping, which he dealt with in his novel Stolen Away.

30 years ago June 6, 1991 Italian artist Gianni De Luca dies at age 64. He worked for Il Giornalino.

30 years ago June 6, 1991 Comics writer Tony Isabella is featured in Crankshaft, the newspaper strip by Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers.

30 years ago June 10, 1991 French writer-artist Jean Bruller dies at age 89. Working as “Vercors,” he was known for his illustrated novels and co-founded (with Pierre de Lescure) the publishing house Editions de Minuit.

30 years ago June 10, 1991 Milorad Dobrić dies at age 66. The Yugoslavian political cartoonist was the comic book writer-artist of such features as Kurir Fica, Slavuj Glisa, and Inspektor Zuca.

25 years ago June 4, 1996 Mike Diana is found guilty by the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida for publication and distribution of obscenity. Boiled Angel leads to his being the first artist to receive a U.S. criminal conviction for obscenity.

15 years ago June 8, 2006 Underground comix creator Jack Jackson dies of cancer and diabetes at age 65. His creations included God Nose.

15 years ago June 9, 2006 Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios’ Cars opens.

10 years ago June 5, 2011 Pioneering Libyan cartoonist and animator Mohamed Al-Zawawi dies at age 74 or 75.