Month: September 2021

An Agent of the Queen

Even a most preliminary investigation of KEVIN THE BOLD reveals that he spent time as an Irish agent of King Henry VIII—indeed, in early 1956 the English king became a featured character and appeared regularly. But as the years passed, Henry aged out and was eventually succeeded by Queen Elizabeth I. She first appeared in the December 22, 1963 episode of Kreigh Collins’ feature. 

Taken as historical fiction, time is rather fluid in KEVIN THE BOLD. A sequence that ran five months earlier placed the action in 1580. While Queen Elizabeth I’s reign began in late 1558, the events described in the following chapter (based on the Ridolfi Plot), would place the action back in 1571. With that in mind, let’s back up and see why Kevin was meeting the Queen in the first place.

As the previous adventure segues into the next, Pedro delivers a message to his friend that he is to report to the Queen immediately. Kevin is about to learn that her majesty does not like to be kept waiting.

For KEVIN episodes from this time period, I don’t have too many color half-pages, but I do have a pretty solid collection of black and white proofs, which I recently learned are called bromides. (Although the term was familiar, I guess much of the material I learned in my Reproduction Processes class at SUNY-Buffalo circa 1985 is starting to fade). These bromides are photographic reproductions printed on heavy matte paper, similar to watercolor paper. Besides serving as nice keepsakes, they were used as color guides for the separators—illustrators such as Collins would paint them with watercolors to indicate the colors of clothing, interiors, etc.

When I have the time and resources, I combine them with color third-page copies to give a better idea of how the episodes looked in their intended format. In the hybrid episode below, Kevin learns the Queen is not so unreasonable after all…

Kevin is about to reprise his role as an agent of the monarchy, and as usual, it’s a dangerous situation.

While I have a color half-page for the January 5, 1964 episode, the adventure continues next week, with some even more creatively combined BW-color examples…

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

El Diario

May 11, 1952

Over the summer, I came across a new outlet for KEVIN THE BOLD—El DIario, a newspaper that featured a Spanish translation called KEVIN EL AUDAZ. I wasn’t immediately able to find any publishing information for El DIario, and I wondered if it could be from Mexico City.

I’ve been collecting my grandfather’s comics for quite some time, and the related digital files on my computer are fairly organized, yet with all their different sources, sometimes things get… well not quite lost, but it’s a great feeling when they’re rediscovered (“so that’s where I saved it!”). That was how I felt when I came across a couple images from El Mundo (Havana, Cuba), also featuring KEVIN EL AUDAZ. OK, so these newspapers both ran the Spanish version of KEVIN.

Episode 2 — October 8, 1950

While doing further research on El Diario, I learned it was originally published in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a New York City edition appeared sometime after the end of World War II. A tip from a colleague led to my acquisition of a couple El Diario comic sections.

June 8, 1952

Because of the Spanish, It brought to mind KEVIN EL DENODADO (from Argentina’s Tit-Bits magazine), but I soon noticed differences between the two. For one thing, Tit-Bits ran KEVIN episodes about 15 months after their original publication date, whereas El Diario’s episodes appeared in a newspaper and were current. Not only that, but the translations differed, as the corresponding Tit-Bits version (below) shows.

A spread from Tit-Bits issue No. 2311, published on October 6, 1953
The original version of the June 8, 1952 episode.

The rest of the June 8, 1952 comic section follows. While I don’t have the entire section from Havana’s El Mundo, it also features the United Features Syndicate’s title FERD’NAND on the second page, behind KEVIN. Silent comics such as this were an obvious choice for markets with different languages, and it’s interesting to note that the window advertisement in the first panel wasn’t translated (especially since the strip originated in Denmark, and was created by Mik, AKA Henning Dahl Mikkelsen).

Page 3 featured another United Features Syndicate title, DORITA, originally Ernie Bushmiller’s FRITZI RITZ.

On Page 4 was NEA’s Spanish version of CHRIS WELKIN, PLANETEER (written by Russ Winterbotham and drawn by Art Sansom), and more NEA material followed, with Vic Flint on page 5.

Two more features from Unite Features were up next, the Spanish version of ABBIE AN’ SLATS (Raeburn Van Buren) and Al Capp’s EL CHIQUITO ABNER.

Running on the back page of the section was Warren Tufts’ CASEY RUGGLES, another United Features Syndicate title.

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

Flash News

The outline ends. As before, it accurately describes the final episode of the chapter—another graphically-appealing example of Collins’ work. The example I have, like many of the MITZIs in my collection, is a half-page from The Pittsburgh Press. For nearly its entire run, MITZI McCOY was the Press‘ lead comic feature (though as you may have noticed, my examples from this sequence also included tabloids, half-tabloids, a third-page, an NEA promotional slick, and a photo of one of the original pieces of artwork).

This final episode includes several interesting panels. One is an interior of the Freedom Clarion’s work space (note the metal type being composed on the make-ready table, and the first and last panels of the second row both show exterior scenes of the little town of Freedom that very closely resemble those shown in the proto-episode Collins created for NEA that became MITZI. These exterior scenes were modeled after Fishtown, the commercial lakefront district of Leland, Michigan, where Collins spent much time in his career, both at leisure and painting.

As the outline came together in March-April, 1949, Collins was able to sneak in a teaser reference to the upcoming chapter in the one he was currently inking. In the June 12, 1949 episode, from the prior sequence that introduced Dick Dixon, the boy notices a poster for the Notty Pine show that was central to the chapter just featured. (Incidentally, this one is one of my favorite MITZI episodes—along with the Notty Pine reference, DIck stuns Tim Graham with his knowledge of various sailboats’ histories, and there are several beautiful examples of good-girl art—typical hallmarks of Collins’ work.


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Speaking of Mitzi…

“The Lost Art of Kreigh Collins, the Complete Mitzi McCoy,” is available for a limited time at a reduced price; it features the entire run of Kreigh Collins’ first NEA feature.

Mitzi McCoy Cover 150

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 costs $30 ONLY $20! For domestic shipping, add $4; for international orders, add $25 for 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 information.

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

Search and Rescue

The outline continues.

An aspect that was simplified was the omission of Billy telling Stub his troubles, and Billy’s plan to leave the cave and spread the word about Dick being safe.

Also, no reason was given in the finished episode for Tiny jumping overboard, but otherwise, the episodes neatly match the outline.

This MITZI McCOY chapter will wrap next week with the final episode in the sequence.

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