Month: July 2020

Send in the Cavalry, er, Clowns!

Brett’s nightmare keeps taking turns for the worse.

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Brett is in dire straits. Where is his benefactor, Kevin?

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Wait—what? Was Brett just saved by a mime? I did not see (or hear) that coming! With any luck, Kevin will be ready for any sudden plot twists.

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Here are the three episodes in color, as third-pages.

Available Now

Initially available only from the publisher’s website, I now am happy to offer copies for sale of “The Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, the Complete Mitzi McCoy.”

Mitzi McCoy Cover 150

The book’s price is $30. For domestic shipping, add $4; for international orders, shipping costs $25. To place an order, email me at BrianEdwardCollins1[at]gmail.com, and I will give you PayPal or Venmo information.

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 Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, 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introduction by Eisner Award-winning author Frank M. Young, an Afterward by Ithaca College’s Ed Catto, and previously unpublished artwork and photos.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.

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

 

The Proudest Boy in Europe

As was occsionally the case with these nice BW proofs, someone got handy with the scissors—though it seems kind of like an odd panel to remove. This one can’t be patched as nicely as some others I’ve run across.

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Gretchen instinctively avoids Hans, but the Grossmauls’ evil plan is set into motion. Poisoning someone with a sleeping potion is one thing…

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…but arson is another. Interestingly, the panel showing Hans running from the fire he had set was the throwaway panel, so this detail would be lost on tabloid or third-page readers. The panel that follows, where Hans’ father asks if the deed is done, leaves the fire’s origin as somewhat ambiguous.

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Poisoning, arson, murder… and a scapegoat. The aptly named Grossmauls are about as evil as any villains featured in “Kevin the Bold.”

Here are the three episodes in color, as third-pages.

Available Now

Initially available only from the publisher’s website, I now am happy to offer copies for sale of “The Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, the Complete Mitzi McCoy.”

Mitzi McCoy Cover 150

The book’s price is $30. For domestic shipping, add $4; for international orders, shipping costs $25. To place an order, email me at BrianEdwardCollins1[at]gmail.com, and I will give you PayPal or Venmo information.

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 Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, 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.

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

 

The Warden of the Smoke and Bells

When Kreigh Collins’ first NEA comic strip (“Mitzi McCoy”) debuted, it was designed to be carried by an ensemble cast, where any of the regulars could take the lead in a given story arc. This was certainly less the case with “Kevin the Bold,” with Kevin dominating the action, but there could be stretches of two or three weeks where he was completely absent.

A much longer sabbatical happened in late 1959. For seven consecutive episodes, Kevin’s ward Brett took the lead—it wasn’t until the final panel of the eighth episode that Kevin appeared. At the conclusion of the story arc, “Kevin” was dropped by the Chicago Sunday Tribune (it’s unclear if this was a coincidence). “Kevin the Bold” was the first NEA comic to grace the Trib‘s pages, and the paper had run the strip since its inception. No doubt this was a blow to its creator.

The first episode of this new story is a densely packed with exposition. While Brett is Kevin’s ward, he has yet to learn the importance of holding his tongue. However, the lad does manage some choice words.

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The next two episodes originally ran in the Carbondale Southern Illinoisian. Despite the pall cast over the last episode, the mood brightens considerably as we meet the kindly Professor Sachs…

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…before taking another dark turn.`

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Here are the three episodes in color, as third-pages.

Available Now

Initially available only from the publisher’s website, I now am happy to offer copies for sale of “The Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, the Complete Mitzi McCoy.”

Mitzi McCoy Cover 150

The book’s price is $30. For domestic shipping, add $4; for international orders, shipping costs $25. To place an order, email me at BrianEdwardCollins1[at]gmail.com, and I will give you PayPal or Venmo information.

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 Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, 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.

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

 

Leaping Lizards, er, Lads!

Six episodes in, and so far two of Heather‘s crew have fallen into the drink. I wonder who’s next?

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Somewhere in Kreigh Collins’ morgue file, he had an image of a boy playing leapfrog. It was never referenced in “Mitzi McCoy,” but it appeared in Collins’ pre-NEA “Bible Picture Story Comics,” twice in “Kevin the Bold.” and at least once in “Water Lore,” above. Now that’s thrifty!

Leapfrog x3

From left: December 15, 1963; October 30, 1955; and c. 1946.

With the eighth episode of “Up Anchor!”, another recurring character was introduced—Kevin’s friend, Pedro. Pedro had been a mainstay in “Kevin the Bold,” he first appeared in 1958 and continued on and off until the very last episode, a decade later. While Kevin definitely changed when he transitioned between the two strips, Pedro remained essentially the same.

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Oho! It was Erik that somehow fell in—luckily Pedro was there to lend a hand. He also lets loose with what will become the big fella’s catchphrase.

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Waiting until late December to button up a boat for the winter would be ill-advised in Michigan, but if you factor in the three-month lead time that the production process of these episodes required, doing it in late September (when the artwork was inked) seems appropriate.

Collins also had the advantage of being able to photograph his sailboat in order to create reference images for use in his strip, and it looks like the photo below could have been used for the episode above. I’d guess the younger guy is my uncle Kevin.

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