Eager to get his friend involved in the movie business, Pedro’s idea is to have Kevin’s wife Jane talk him into it. Jane is leery of the possibility of losing her man to a famous Hollywood starlet, but seems to go along with the plan — she and Kevin are eventually persuaded by the easy money.
As the sequence gets off the ground, the action is very light, but there are some interesting details to be noticed. The WATER LORE topper strips have some nice illustrations of various watercraft to accompany Collins’ observations, technical diagrams, and historical tid-bits. The March 7 topper references the artist’s home port of Holland, Michigan, which was located a short drive from the tiny village of Ada, where Kreigh lived with his family. Another notable from Ada was Amway founder Richard DeVos. DeVos went into business about the same time as Collins started cartooning, and one part of the Amway empire included an air charter service. Collins name-checked his friend in the March 14 comic.
It’s been a smooth sail through the first few episodes, but how long will it last?
Counting the pre-Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) weekly BIBLE STORIES COMICS, Kreigh Collins’ comics career lasted three decades. UP ANCHOR! was his final comic feature, it ran for about three and a half years, until Collins retired.
As summer ended in 1959, Collins and his family packed up his sailboat and headed south. They ended up spending a year on the boat, traveling down the Mississippi, and wintering in Florida. He continued with his work while aboard Heather, producing artwork for the comic strip as the journey progressed.
With help from the NEA, Collins was happy to do promotion for his work, and given his unique situation as a sailing snowbird, this was sometimes front-page news. In an interview with the Panama City News-Herald that appeared in the daily’s November 1, 1959 edition, Collins explained how he was able to do it: “Maintaining a comic strip is a high-pressure sort of thing. You’re dealing with it every day, meeting deadlines, writing scripts, doing the artwork, and so on. To stay normal, you just about have to have your mental balance.” The article continued, Collins maintains his balance by writing children’s books, adventure stories, and travel articles. He also considers his 45-foot yacht a mental life saver.
A syndicate proof of the comic that appeared in Panama City News-Herald, above
After KEVIN THE BOLD had run its course, Collins launched his next comic strip, UP ANCHOR!, in 1968. Although he used many of his family’s experiences aboard Heather as fodder for his scripts, much of the material came from his imagination. While there was talk in 1966 of spinning off KEVIN into a television show, movies weren’t in the conversation. Nonetheless, Hollywood did come into focus in one of the final sequences of UP ANCHOR!
The original illustrations for the comics that will follow in the next several weeks are all in the collection of the Grand Rapids Public Library.
This spring, I visited Uncle Kevin, who lives in the Ada, Michigan home in which he grew up. Visits are always a treat—besides visiting family, and the memories of my grandparents that come from staying in their old house, there is also so much of my grandfather’s artwork hanging on the walls (or recently dug out of old boxes and bins).
One bin turned up a copy of “NEA Sunday and Daily Comics.” It’s a 32-page, black and white tabloid, with the cover printed on a nice, coated stock and the interior pages on a lesser-grade paper. It’s a collection of NEA’s comics that was published by the syndicate each week. I have many examples of KEVIN THE BOLD excised from these issues, but only two intact copies of the publication.
The really sweet collage of the NEA’s comic heroes found on my other copy was no longer seen on the cover, but it was replaced by a KEVIN THE BOLD episode (promoted from the inside front cover). Who could complain? Not me, anyway.
Six-plus years ago, I posted the above copy of “NEA Sunday and Daily Comics.” I’m pretty sure it’ ha’s been my most-viewed post. Therefore, it seems appropriate to post this newly-acquired one in commemoration of this blog’s ninth (!) anniversary.
But first, I have a question. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m very intrigued by foreign language versions of my grandfather’s comics. Since I had a near-immediate answer the last time I asked this sort of thing, I’ll try again—is anyone aware of a German version of KEVIN THE BOLD? If so, please comment below or send me an email (brianedwardcollins1[at]gmail.com). Thank you!
Although the supplement was dated July 18, the Sunday episode of KEVIN it featured ran on July 24, 1960. (The supplement contains NEA’s daily comics from July 18–23 plus their July 24 Sunday-only features). This episode came from the middle of the Dover Pirates chapter.
Kevin is followed on page 2 by a Sunday tabloid episode of Vic Flint (Dean Miller/Jay Heavilin). Page 3 includes half-tabloid versions of Boots and Her Buddies and Babe ‘n’ Horace/Boots Cutouts, with Boots and Her Buddies dailes the next page (all by Edgar Martin).
Pages 5 and 6 feature V.T. Hamlin’s Alley Oop Sunday and dailies, followed by Merrill Blosser’s Freckles and His Friends Sunday and dailies on pages 7 and 8.
Pages 9 and 10 feature Captain Easy, by Lesley Turner (Sunday and dailies), followed by two pages of Sundays and dailies for J.R. Williams’s Out Our Way with “The Willets”.
Next up is Al Vermeer’s Pricilla’s Pop (Sunday and dailies), followed by a new NEA title on pages 15–16, Dick Cavalli’s Morty Meekle. Outside of Kreigh Collins’ work, I’m not much of an authority on comics, but Morty’s cap looks mighty familiar. Sure enough, this title later evolved into a strip I remember as a kid—Winthrop. (I wasn’t much of a fan).
The second half of the publication brings us seven days of Bugs Bunny, Russ Winterbotham and Art Sansom’s Sunday-only Chris Welkin Planeteer, and a “fun page” with several small strips including Tom Trick Fun Detective (credited simply to Dale).
On page 21 are six days of single-panel Our Boarding House with Major Hoople dailies, and on page 22, the Sunday tabloid, which includes Bill Freyes’ topper strip The Nut Brothers. Pages 23 and 24 include the single-panel comics Side Glances (by Galbraith), Carnival (by Dick Turner), and Short Ribs (by Frank O’Neal).
Pages 25 and 26 feature more single-panels: Carnival (Dick Turner), Short Ribs, plus Turner’s Sunday topper strip Mr. Merryweather. These are followed by Rolfe’s Brenda Breeze Sunday (with Otis as a topper) and several panels of Kate Osann’s Tizzie and Little Liz.
Pages 29 and 30 continue with more of Tizzie and Little Liz plus some Nadine Seltzer Sweetie Pie dailies and a couple left-ver Short Ribs. Bringing up the rear is seven days of Wilson Scruggs’s The Story of Martha Wayne.
“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!
The illustration of underwater swimming in the final panel is evocative of a decade-old Mitzi McCoy comic and plot device, that of finding a hidden cave with an air pocket.
August 7, 1949
As in the mid-1949 Mitzi McCoy sequence, a cave is found with an air pocket. It allows Kevin to escape the frigid water, albeit briefly. Meanwhile, as Thord’s men squabble, Kevin seizes his opportunity.
Besides being a rather gruesome conclusion to a compelling storyline, the August 31, 1958 episode is notable for a couple of other reasons, among them a continuity problem. When Thord and Kevin resurface in the second panel, some stones are visible in the foreground, to Thord’s right. In the next panel, Thord gives Kevin a stiff-arm as he lunges for the stones to his left. The throwaway panel then shows a closeup of a stone in Thord’s left hand, but the following panel shows the stone in Thord’s right hand, as he’s about to strike at Kevin.
Also of note is the introduction of the character Pedro in the final transitional panels. A large and recurring character, Pedro was by Kevin’s side for many of his adventures over the final decade of Kevin the Bold’s run. No doubt he was a favorite of Collins, as a very similar Pedro character played a prominent role in Kreigh Collins’ third and final NEA feature, Up Anchor!
Did Someone Say “MItzi”?
“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!
Kreigh’s Comics 