MITZI McCOY existed for less than two years, only enough time for 11 distinct chapters. The following story arc was the second-to-last chapter, and is one of my favorites.

All of the following episodes are taken from the Pittsburgh Press, which featured MITZI as the lead comic in its collection of Sunday funnies.

It’s a light-hearted affair, wrapping up the previous chapter. It features some slang I had to look up (“hay burner” = horse), and references the Winston Churchill’s painting hobby (a contemporary development; this episode appeared less than five years after the end of WWII).

Stub soon learns that landscape painting is a young man’s game—something that Kreigh Collins had discovered himself. He was 42 years old at this point, and had been working professionally for over 20 years. During the first fifteen years of hios career, he worked primarily as a painter. He started with landscapes, learning from the esteemed Michigan painter Matthias Alten. Later, in the Depression years, he produced numerous large murals as well as portraits, but his painting career was cut short by a shoulder injury suffered in the mid-1930s. His recovery led to his new focus on pen and ink illustration, which eventually led to his gig as a syndicated Sunday comic strip artist.

I haven’t seen any evidence of my grandfather having ever taken up etching, but for the purpose of the storyline, it makes sense for Stub to take up something “easier” than landscape painting.

While doing research for my MITZI McCOY book, I learned that Collins based Mitzi’s appearance on Rita Hayworth… I wonder who his inspiration was for his new femme fatale (whose name, Zoe, would be revealed in a later episode).

To be continued…

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About that Mitzi McCoy Book…

“The Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, the Complete Mitzi McCoy” features the entire run of Kreigh Collins’ first NEA feature.

MITZI McCOY ran from 1948 to 1950 and showcased Kreigh Collins’ skill as an illustrator and storyteller. His picturesque landscapes, lovely character designs, and thrilling action sequences brimmed with detail and charm, and the strip’s ensemble cast rotated in and out of the spotlight taking turns as protagonists in the dozen story arcs collected in this volume. The last story collected in “The Complete Mitzi McCoy” is the narrative bridge that set Collins and his characters off on a new journey, beautifully told for the next couple of decades in the much-lauded adventure strip Kevin the Bold.

The collection includes an introduction by Eisner Award-winning author Frank M. Young, an Afterward by Ithaca College’s Ed Catto, and previously unpublished artwork and photos. Longtime comics artist Butch Guice also provides a new pin-up of the character Mitzi McCoy.

The book is available for $30. For domestic shipping, add $4; for international orders, please add $25 to cover first class shipping. To place an order, leave a comment below or email me at BrianEdwardCollins1[at]gmail.com, and I will give you PayPal or Venmo information. Thank you!

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For more information on the career of Kreigh Collins, visit his page on Facebook.

This final installment of this story arc with Leonardo Davinci’s return features another tabloid I received from my late friend Thomas.

Seeing a tabloid example of a late-period KEVIN THE BOLD, remember that when the episode is run as a third-page, the entire fourth tier is deleted—such a giant throwaway panel which eliminated the need for Collins’ original artwork to be severely cropped (as shown in the final episode at bottom).

Leonardo’s “moveable house of armor” goes into action in an episode pieced together from a third-page and a black and white half-page. Reading it closely, I wish that this had been timed to coincide with Major League Baseball’s (semi-) recent Opening Day (it was four weeks ago). Why?

Realizing that love is in the air, Count Vega’s demeanor suddenly changes. In the second panel, he quotes the Song of Soloman (which I hadn’t realized was considered an erotic poem until now—talk about missing the message!) I just knew it as the Biblical passage that former Detroit Tigers announcer (and Hall of Famer) Ernie Harwell would quote each year on Opening Day (“The Voice of the Turtle“). Go Tigers!

The action transitions to the South Sea Islands—a story of buried treasure. Only two more chapters of Kevin’s saga would follow!

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For more information on the career of Kreigh Collins, visit his page on Facebook.

The action continues with a couple black and white half pages. It’s too bad, because this chapter is pretty inspired, from start to finish.

I sense some foreshadowing… what could possibly be in store?

Following the two black and white episodes, a nice color tabloid example is just what the doctor ordered. It’s beautifully illustrated and the witty scripting was likely done by Collins, the Da Vinci enthusiast.

After discovering his blog, I was befriended by a prominent illustrator from Denver. In the post I came across, Thomas Haller Buchanan had featured a late period KEVIN THE BOLD episode that he’d clipped and saved as a teenager. After an email exchange in which I told him my plans to publish my grandfather’s work, Thomas mailed three tabloid episodes to me. He was the first long-distance comics friend I made as I began researching my grandfather; sadly, he passed away this past September. I am most grateful for his kindness and encouragement—and I can certainly understand the appeal these tabloids had to a fifteen-year-old art buff!

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For more information on the career of Kreigh Collins, visit his page on Facebook.

In the ninth chapter of “KEVIN THE BOLD,” Kreigh Collins introduced a character from the pages of history, Leonardo Da VInci. (Other real-life characters occasionally appeared in the comic strip—most notably, King Henry). Fifteen years later, in KEVIN’s 75th chapter, Leonardo reappeared.

Leonardo must have been a favorite of Collins. Only three more chapters would run before the strip morphed into UP ANCHOR!, and injecting Da Vinci into the continuation required a bit of flexibility in the timeline. (The previous chapter was about Captain John Smith, dating the action around 1604, while Leonardo Da Vinci died in 1519). So be it.

Kevin learns that that the Italian inventor is an Artist, Sculptor, Mechanic, and Naturalist—no wonder Collins squeezed Leonardo into the action once more.

Da VInci is shown as an elderly man—he died aged 67 in Amboise, France—despite the glitch in the timeline, Collins had obviously done his research.

To be continued…

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For more information on the career of Kreigh Collins, visit his page on Facebook.