Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for September 23-29, 2022...

230 years ago September 27, 1792 British caricaturist and illustrator George Cruikshank is born. He helps to develop “John Bull” as the personification of England.

130 years ago September 24, 1892 Dick Dorgan is born. The cartoonist brother of Tad Dorgan, he illustrates Thorne Smith’s Biltmore Oswald and Out o’ Luck and draws the panel cartoons Divot Diggers and Colonel Gilfeather.

115 years ago September 29, 1907 Mike and Ike (They Look Alike) by Rube Goldberg begins.

115 years ago September 29, 1907 Western actor Gene Autry is born. Fawcett’s Gene Autry Comics is named for him, and the Fawcett series is followed by one from Dell.

110 years ago September 26, 1912 Don Rico is born. Starting in the Golden Age, the writer-artist freelances for Fox, MLJ, Fiction House, Lev Gleason, and Timely.

100 years ago September 25, 1922 Roz Kirby is born Rosalind Goldstein. She marries Jack Kirby in 1942 and joins him in outreach to fans in the years that follow.

100 years ago September 29, 1922 Ned Riddle is born. He creates the Mr. Tweedy panel cartoon.

95 years ago September 27, 1927 Writer-artist Jack Katz is born. Though his career begins in the Golden Age, he is best known for his creation of The First Kingdom graphic novel series.

95 years ago September 27, 1927 Romano Scarpa is born. The Italian writer-artist and animator has been called the grand master of Italian Disney comics.

90 years ago September 25, 1932 The Flemish comics magazine Ons Volkske begins.

75 years ago September 27, 1947 Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free opens. The animated “full-length musical cartoon feature” consists of two short films: “Bongo” and “Mickey and the Beanstalk.”

75 years ago September 28, 1947 Will Eisner’s Spirit newspaper insert section introduces flying saucers to comics three months after the June 25 first alleged sighting in Idaho.

75 years ago September 29, 1947 Underground comix writer-artist Greg Irons is born.

70 years ago September 24, 1952 Writer Bill Vallely is born.

70 years ago September 25, 1952 Actor, director, producer, and writer Christopher Reeve is born. He stars as Superman in features in 1978, 1980, 1983, and 1987.

70 years ago September 29, 1952 Writer, Heavy Metal columnist and editor, and Vertigo editor Lou Stathis is born.

65 years ago September 24, 1957 Bodybuilder and artist Harry Paschall dies of a heart attack at age 60. He created the Bosco comic strip.

65 years ago September 27, 1957 Rune T. Kidde is born. The Danish writer-artist is co-founder of the publishing company Baldur og Brage, the cartoon studio Gimle, and the comics workshop Tegneserievaerkstedt.

65 years ago September 28, 1957 Michael Eury is born. The writer-editor is known for his work for DC, Dark Horse, and TwoMorrows.

60 years ago September 24, 1962 Art director, editor, and writer Mark Mazz is born.

60 years ago September 24, 1962 Artist Darren Goodhart is born.

60 years ago September 25, 1962 Tom Beland is born. He writes and draws True Story Swear to God.

60 years ago September 26, 1962 Writer-artist George Carlson dies at age 74 or 75. Especially known for such comic book stories as “The Pie-Face Prince of Pretzelburg,” he also drew the dust jacket for Gone with the Wind.

60 years ago September 28, 1962 Portuguese artist Bernardo Marques dies at age 63.

55 years ago September 23, 1967 British comics magazines Princess and Tina merge. The new title is Princess Tina.

40 years ago September 23, 1982 Gene Day dies of a heart attack at around 30 years old. The Canadian artist is known for work on Marvel’s Star Wars comics.

40 years ago September 24, 1982 Cartoonist Matthew Inman is born. He creates the award winning web comic The Oatmeal.

40 years ago September 29, 1982 Prolific French artist Maracel Turin (who worked as “Mat”) dies at age 86.

35 years ago September 23, 1987 Walter M. Baumhofer dies at age 82. The pulp cover artist of the 1930s was the first cover illustrator for Doc Savage adventures.

30 years ago September 25, 1992 Dutch artist Jaap Beckmann dies at age 78.

30 years ago September 27, 1992 Chinese comics artist Zhang Leping dies at age 91. He was the pioneering manhua creator of Sanmao.

25 years ago September 25, 1997 Spanish artist and publisher Josep Toutain dies of lung cancer at age 64 or 65. The head of the publishing house Toutain-Editor (whose contributors eventually produced work for Warren and Skywald magazines), he opened Catalan Communications with Bernd Metz and Herb Spiers.

15 years ago September 24, 2007 The Big Bang Theory begins. The nerd-centric TV sitcom focuses on science and pop culture themes, relationships, and situations, including comics shop visits and Comic-Con International: San Diego trips.

10 years ago September 23, 2012 Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson ends.

10 years ago September 27, 2012 Daily Lives of High School Boys by Yasaunobu Yamauchi ends.

5 years ago September 23, 2017 The first Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards (also known as the Ringo Awards) are announced at the Baltimore Comic-Con.

5 years ago September 27, 2017 Publisher, editor, and cartoonist Hugh Hefner dies at age 91. He founded Playboy magazine and was its editor in chief.