Kevin is confused by his new acquaintance’s behavior, and their relationship gets off to a rocky start.

The two develop a certain amount of trust, and the July 25 episode presents Kevin with a couple of surprises.

Saigen harks back to a character from a September, 1949 “Mitzi McCoy” episode. Tim Graham is saved in a very similar fashion by Mugs, another Native American boy. (This reminds me of a line by David Byrne, “There are a finite number of jokes in the universe.”)

Although Kreigh Collins portrayed Native Americans as both heroes and villains, their speech was usually presented in the stereotypical fashion common of the era, a broken English where “me” was used instead of “I” and “-um” was appended to words. Kevin also shows some bias in making the mistake of underestimating his new friend Saigen.

Not only that, but Kevin falls into the same trap as in an adventure from five years earlier…

…as did Kevin’s dog Rory, in the comic strip’s inaugural 1950 sequence.

As a kid, I remember digging holes for this type of trap out in the woods behind our house. Or more likely, I recall my brother Brett doing it in hopes of capturing me! We must have learned this trick from our father.

---

Tiger Traps and Other Comics

The 1950 “Kevin the Bold” episode directly above is featured along with 110+ others in “The Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, Vol. 1: The Complete Mitzi McCoy.” It also features a wonderful essay by Eisner Award-winner Frank M. Young and is available here.

---

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