Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for September 15-21, 2023...

130 years ago September 21, 1893 Cartoonist Frank Willard is born. One of the first members of the National Cartoonists Society, he is best known for creating the Moon Mullins comic strip.

115 years ago September 17, 1908 Canadian artist Henri Julien dies at age 56. Working as artistic director for the Montreal Daily Star, he may have been the first Canadian cartoonist employed by a newspaper full time.

100 years ago September 16, 1923 Fatty Finn by Syd Nicholls begins.

95 years ago September 17, 1928 Actor, voice artist, director, and founding member of the National Film Preservation Board Roddy McDowall is born. He is Bookworm on the Batman TV show, and his voice artistry includes Batman: The Animated Series, The Tick, Pinky and the Brain, and A Bug’s Life.

90 years ago September 19, 1933 Artist Edward Winsor Kemble dies at age 72. His career included political cartooning and illustrating Huckleberry Finn.

90 years ago September 20, 1933 Artist Tony Tallarico is born. He freelances for such companies as Charlton, Trojan, David C. Cook, Gilberton, Dell, and Warren.

90 years ago September 21, 1933 Award-winning German artist Lona Rietschel is born.

85 years ago September 18, 1938 Dutch educational comics artist Johannes Kesler dies at age 74.

75 years ago September 16, 1948 Tintin brings Willy Vandersteen’s Suske en Wiske to its pages and introduces Jacques Martin’s The Adventures of Aiix.

75 years ago September 19, 1948 Games, novel, and comics writer Matthew Costello is born.

70 years ago September 15, 1953 Alan L. Light is born. He creates The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom and Film Collector’s World.

70 years ago September 15, 1953 Collector, writer, and comics historian Kim Metzger is born.

70 years ago September 16, 1953 Writer, actor, and comics historian Joel Thingvall is born.

70 years ago September 19, 1953 General Jumbo by Paddy Brennan begins in The Beano #583.

70 years ago September 21, 1953 French writer-artist François Corteggiani is born.

65 years ago September 17, 1958 Fan cartoonist Don Martinec is born.

65 years ago September 18, 1958 Norwegian-German cartoonist Olaf Gulbransson dies at age 86.

65 years ago September 20, 1958 Bulgarian caricaturist Aleksandar Dobrinov dies at age 60.

60 years ago September 19, 1963 Political cartoonist David Low dies at age 72. He created “Colonel Blimp.”

60 years ago September 20, 1963 Dutch artist Jan Wiegman dies at age 79.

55 years ago September 15, 1968 Artist Milton Pagan is born.

35 years ago September 17, 1988 Fleetway’s Crisis #1 announces that the  “Third World War” has already begun and (with “New Statesmen”) not all men are created equal. Stories are by Pat Mills, Carlos Ezquerra, John Smith, and Jim Baikie.

35 years ago September 17, 1988 Garfield and Friends begins, based on the comic strip by Jim Davis.

30 years ago September 15, 1993 The Belgian comics magazine Suske en Wiske Weekblad #1 begins as an insert in Suske en Wiske #237.

15 years ago September 15, 2008 Brazilian artist Gedeone Malagola dies at age 84.