Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for April 4-10, 2025...
205 years ago April 6, 1820 French photographer, publisher, and artist Félix Nadar is born.
185 years ago April 7, 1840 British caricaturist William Heath dies at age 45 or 46. Lambiek says he was “the house cartoonist of the first genuine comic magazine in history, The Glasgow Looking Glass.”
130 years ago April 4, 1895 Award-winning animator and artist Tack Knight is born. He creates the newspaper strips Little Folks and Baby Sister.
120 years ago April 4, 1905 Dutch artist Dick de Wilde is born.
115 years ago April 4, 1910 Dutch writer-artist Frans Mandos is born.
115 years ago April 5, 1910 Croatian artist and animator Ferdinand Bis (who also works as “Ferdo Bis”) is born.
110 years ago April 5, 1915 The Daily Mail introduces Charles Folkard’s Teddy Tail.
110 years ago April 10, 1915 Dutch writer-artist and scientist Leo Vroman is born.
105 years ago April 4, 1920 Betty by Charles A. Voight begins.
105 years ago April 7, 1920 The picture story “Liška Bystrouška” begins in the Czech newspaper Lidové Noviny.
100 years ago April 4, 1925 Al Posen’s Them Days Is Gone Forever ends.
100 years ago April 6, 1925 Italian comics artist Lino Landolfi is born.
100 years ago April 7, 1925 Prolific French writer Roger Lécureux is born. He’s the chief editor of Vaillant.
90 years ago April 7, 1935 The Hejji newspaper comic by Dr. Seuss begins.
85 years ago April 7, 1940 Claire Bretécher is born. The French writer-artist, editor, and self-publisher receives several awards. They include the Grand Prix Lifetime Achievement Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. She creates Les Frustres and Agrippine and is co-founder of L’Écho des Savannes.
75 years ago April 8, 1950 Doris Dobbel by Marc Sleen begins.
70 years ago April 5, 1955 The influential and award-winning Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama is born.
70 years ago April 9, 1955 The Saturday Review of Literature publishes “It’s Still Murder” – a Fredric Wertham attack on post-Code comics. He argues against the existence of the medium itself.
65 years ago April 5, 1960 Colorist Ray Murtaugh is born.
25 years ago April 8, 2000 Award-winning artist Alfredo Alcala dies of cancer at age 74. He gave his name to Alcala Komix Magazine and created Voltar, and his work appeared in a variety of comics from Warren, Marvel, and DC.
25 years ago April 9, 2000 The “Making Waves” Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Cruise begins, leaving Los Angeles for a week-long tour that stops at Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan. The excursion runs through April 16.
20 years ago April 5, 2005 Brenda Starr writer-artist creator Dale Messick dies at the age of 98.
20 years ago April 6, 2005 Artist and animator Gene Hazelton dies at age 95. He designed Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.
20 years ago April 8, 2005 Italian artist Nevio Zeccara dies at age 80.
15 years ago April 4, 2010 Award-winning artist Henry Scarpelli dies at age 79. He drew (with Dick Dillin) “Saga of the Super Sons!” (introducing Batman Jr. and Superman Jr.) and drew the Archie comic strip.
10 years ago April 6, 2015 Artist and prolific animator Cliff Voorhees dies at age 84 or 85. He was known for his work for Gold Key comics.
10 years ago April 10, 2015 Spanish artist Jordi Macabich dies at age 89 or 90.
5 years ago April 4, 2020 Chinese writer-artist Rao Pingru dies at age 97 or 98. He was the oldest known creator to release a comics debut (Our Story) at age 90 or 91.
5 years ago April 5, 2020 Award-winning artist, art director, book designer, editor, and historian Dale Crain dies of a heart attack at age 65. He edited Marvel Masterworks and DC Millenium and Archives volumes.
5 years ago April 8, 2020 Award-winning artist Mort Drucker dies at age 91. Known for his work as one of Mad’s “usual gang of idiots,” he also drew DC comics and co-created the Benchley comic strip with Jerry Dumas.
