These episodes ran in the spring of 1960, and it’s not just Anne who is enjoying the scenery—Brett is, too.
Anne has learned of her family’s machinations, but she’s blinded by her infatuation with Sir Cardiff. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the poor soul Cardiff ran over…
While Anne has her nurse watching over her, with Brett it is Kevin—a fortunate turn of events for both youngsters, with malevolent characters like Cardiff scurrying about.
This chapter dates from 1960. In March 20’s transitional episode, readers meet Anne Hayes. She’s quite a handful for her guardian, a nurse who attends her.
For the most part, I have both black and white velox half-page proofs and third-page tearsheets of its episodes. Going forward, I will combine them when I can.
Now, back to Miss Hayes. At seventeen, she’s more woman than girl, and to the chagrin of those around her, she is attracted to a certain type of man.
Whenever this blog’s anniversary rolls around, I try to come up with something interesting and comprehensive. This year, I decided to create an outline of all the chapters of my grandfather’s Sunday comics.
Kreigh Colins’ career as an NEA-syndicated cartoonist lasted for over 23 years. MITZI McCOY debuted in 1948 and ran for a couple years before it morphed into KEVIN THE BOLD in 1950. In 1968 it morphed again into UP ANCHOR! In all, they added up to 1,221 Sunday episodes spread across 105 chapters.
Here is the list, with links to the corresponding blog posts where applicable. (Apologies in advance for any linking errors! If you find one, please let me know). The chapter titles listed below aren’t official, they’re just things I came up with, often based on the villain or where the action takes place.
1966 78. Kevin the Warlock (from Dutch comic book) 79. The Search for the Northwest Passage 80. Sir Frances Drake 81. Stormy 82. The Story of the Norman Conquest (English and Serbian versions)
1967 83. Sir John Drayke Returns from Hispanola 84. Tankard the Bold 85. The True Story of Captain John Smith 86. Leonardo DaVinci Redux 87. Buried Treasure
“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!
Kevin heads back, bearing terrible news for Baron Warwick.
Despite his contempt for his brother Reggie, Roland is enraged, and Lenore’s appearance spells more trouble for Kevin.
The Baron urges patience but refuses to stop Roland. Meanwhile, Reggie has found his usual form.
Despite his failings, Reggie is much the superior swordsman to Roland, and Kevin easily disarms his opponent, using a favorite trick. My Detroit News third page is lacking in quality; in the final panel, Anne shouts, “Cease it, I pray you!”
In a shocking turn of events, Reggie admits the truth. The chapter ends quickly and the action transitions to Ireland, and a group of pagans. (It’s a beautifully-illustrated chapter that begins here).
Five episodes into the chapter, we finally learn the name of Reggie’s more responsible brother, Roland, when Baron Warwick instructs him to go and fetch Lenore. In KEVIN THE BOLD, generally the villains are men—but not always. Enter the medicine woman—or is she more of a witch?
Lenore’s medicine has helped Kevin, who is convalescing at Baron Warwick’s home.
As the news gets out about what happened at the tavern, Kevin eventually finds out too.
In an odd move, Baron Warwick has sent his less responsible son on a mission to restore honor to the family name. Let’s check in on Reggie’s progress.
Harassing a barmaid and raising Kevin’s ire—so much for that whole “restoring honor” thing!
At this point, the Manchester Evening News had been featuring episodes of KEVIN THE BOLD for over three years—nonetheless, things could go wrong. The March 4, 1961 edition carried the episode above (originally published on September 18, 1960) but the following issue (March 11, 1961) carried the October 2, 1960 episode. The missing episode (September 25, 1960) is shown below.
It’s a very unfortunate that it had been skipped—it features the most critical action of the entire story arc!
Unsure of Reggie’s fate, a weakened Kevin runs for his life.
In its 21 July, 1956 edition, the Manchester Evening News (England) began to include KEVIN THE BOLD on its “Saturday Comet” kids page. These syndicated versions appeared five-plus months after their original NEA publication dates, and ran in a black and white tabloid format. The NEA likely pitched the News because of a new face being added to KEVIN’s roster—King Henry VIII.
For six years, Henry VIII became a recurring KEVIN THE BOLD character; his swan song was September 16, 1962. (And no surprise, once ”Old Coppernose” was gone, the News dropped KEVIN). As part of the “Saturday Comet,” KEVIN appeared with a few other comic strips—likely Saturday dailies. The News occasionally labelled this section the “Evening News International Cartoon Page,” and KEVIN’s neighbors included THE SAINT, by Leslie Charteris, Francis Durbridge’s PAUL TEMPLE, plus THE PILGRIM BROTHERS and FUDGE THE ELF.
The following story arc ran for a couple of months in early 1961. It’s a parable about wealth and honor involving two unalike brothers, other interesting characters, swordplay, and more.
When possible, the News’ version will be accompanied by third-page versions from the Detroit News.
The following article appeared in an in-house NEA publication, and also ran in various newspapers that had picked it up from NEA. Written by Jay Heavilin, it picks up the story about Heather and her crew’s Great Loop journey as the schooner neared home. Since the NEA offices were located in Cleveland, Kreigh Collins and crew would be sailing directly past NEA HQ as they neared the western end of Lake Erie on their way to Heather’s home port on Lake Macatawa. They still needed to nearly circumnavigate the lower peninsula of Michigan—nearly 500 miles through lakes St. Clair, Huron, and Michigan—but with 5,000 miles already logged, they were on the homestretch.
The final installment of this story arc includes two new additions to my collection—the two color third pages shown below. These episodes (and three dozen others) came from my new friend Dave, a vendor from New Jersey. This spring, I paid him a visit, intending to purchase the episodes, but he insisted on giving them to me. Thank you, Dave!
The black and white portions of final three episodes come from photographs I took of the originals, which are located in one of the Grand Rapids Public Library’s special collections. (If I remember correctly, they are found on the fourth floor. Highly recommended!)
Meanwhile, back in New Orleans, the situation is frantic.
And when things couldn’t get worse…
Oh, what a relief!
In the third frame of the final episode of the chapter, young Dave utters what seems to have become something of a catchphrase, “Some things are hard to explain.” I haven’t kept track of all the instances, but I recall Pedro uttering the line in a mid-1960s episode of KEVIN THE BOLD.
On this journey south, articles often appeared in the newspapers of the towns Heather and her crew visited. I don’t know if my grandfather acted as his own publicist, or if the mere sight of his boat drew reporters looking for some interesting local news (47-foot schooners were a rarity on the Mississippi). It certainly helped if the newspaper featured KEVIN THE BOLD in their comic sections. However they came about, the articles sometimes provided some interesting information, such as this one, from the January 13, 1960 Fort Meyers News-Press.
Over the years, as my comics collection has grown, the thing that surprised me most was the number of countries in which Kreigh’s comics were published. Aside from a single Swedish Tom Mix comic book and a tear sheet from a Cuban newspaper, my research had yielded no acknowledgement of his work appearing in markets outside the US and Canada—and I always wondered if Collins was aware of (and compensated for) these additional NEA revenue streams.
Finally, that question was answered—check the top of the article’s third column. Speaking of KEVIN THE BOLD, Collins is quoted as saying, “…the strip has been surprisingly well received. It now appears in Canada, South Africa, Yugoslavia, Sweden, France and other countries on the Continent. A very fine reproduction appears in the Manchester (England) Guardian.”
This example from the Manchester Guardian ran December 31, 1960, five an a half months after its original publication date (July 10, 1960)
I hadn’t been aware of any British papers carrying his work—it’s wonderful to learn something new after all these years of research!
Meanwhile, back to the funny pages’ version of Heather…
More obstacles—and more helpful strangers. By the time they reached New Orleans, Kevin Marlin and his crew had to be feeling pretty good about their state of affairs.
Like sailing weather, things can change change quickly, and not always for the better. Where’s David?!
Kreigh’s Comics 
