king Henry VIII

Something to Behold

Here is a story, 14 episodes long, that ran in the summer of 1960. It starts with another collaboration between Kreigh Collins and an unknown artist. I have no recollection of ever coloring or painting on these bromide proofs but who knows, it could’ve been me. Visiting Ada as an eight- or or nine-year old, I recall hanging out in my grandfather’s studio on a couple of occasions. I remember paging through the stacked copies of the NEA Daily and Sunday Comics. This would have been around 1975, after my grandfather had died. If I had to guess, the colorization was the work of one of my cousins, Josh or Karen. Whomever it was, it was no doubt sanctioned by Grandma Collins. My collection of these bromides is incomplete so I suspect that many, probably “better” examples, were taken home by the young artist as a keepsake.

When King Henry VIII has pirate trouble, there’s only one man for the job.

Apparently, it’s a shock that nice Brian Hudson has taken to such a life of crime. But what catches my attention is Kevin’s reference to his own childhood. Ten years in, almost nothing has been revealed about Kevin’s backstory, except that as an orphaned child he was found, raised, and trained for battle by the character Stub (MacTavish Campbell MacGregor, a regular character at the strip’s onset).

Seen in the final two panels of the June 12, 1960 episode, keep an eye on the blonde mademoiselle. With her mask off, she’s certainly something to behold (as Kevin soon learns).

I’m not exactly sure how Kevin leapt down from from that gizmo (seemingly hoisting him onto the ship) faster than the barrel and crates could fall, but his efforts were rewarded quite handsomely.

To be continued…

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

Kevin the Mole

When I first starting collecting Kreigh Collins’s comics, I wasn’t aware of many fruitful places to look for them. I knew of ebay’s existence, but I didn’t think to look there. I can’t remember where I found the listing for my first purchase, but it was printed rather than online. Around this time, I was also collecting books my grandfather illustrated—I found these on a couple used booksellers’ websites.

One 2009 search on abebooks turned up a hit for 37 color KEVIN L’AUDACIEUX third-pages—from a newspaper Québeçois. They weren’t expensive, so I made the purchase—my second, comics-wise. The plan was to translate them back to English, set all the type on my computer, and digitally combine everything—and plug a hole in my collection.

Soon after the comics arrived, my ambitious bubble burst. Their color wasn’t great, most were cropped so tightly that edges were missing, and I realized I’d vastly overestimated how much French I remembered. I soured on the whole deal and changed my mind about buying another similar lot. (The irony is that now I’m most interested in foreign translations). Years later, the item was still listed—as I recall, PRINCE VALLIANT was on the other side—but no longer.

Later, when my “discovery” of ebay made collecting easier, I considered these episodes in French nearly worthless. But recently, through emails exchanged with a friend from Spain, I learned that these unloved thirds did have value. Gregorio graciously offered to combine them with the corresponding bromide proofs, replace le dialogue française with the English from the proofs, and return them. I found his method amazing, and was very impressed with the results. Gregorio also extended the color from the third-pages to the edges of the bromides’ frames, giving them a distinct appearance.

I offer a sincere thank you—this sequence’s remaining color episodes were all produced by Gregorio. Now, picking up where we left Kevin, he has just agreed to infiltrate a gang of conspirators plotting against Queen Elizabeth.

In the last panel, I’m assuming Kevin also has his fingers crossed.

Once Kevin sees Pedro, it seems he’s having second thoughts about his role as a mole.

To be continued…

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

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.

Old Scores, Old Scars

Chicago Tribune episodes are preferable to those found in other newspapers—except in cases where they are damaged. My copy from November 25, 1956 had gotten torn long ago, and the remedy my grandfather used was cellophane tape. 64 years later, it left quite a nasty yellow diagonal scar. I often complain about third-page examples, but in this case one from the Detroit News helped save the day. (The tear ran from Mary Campbell’s “hard scotch skull” in the splash panel all the way to the word “Tribune” in the running head). Now, back to the action.

While Mary immediately regrets their decision, Kevin relishes the opportunity to settle an old score. As the ensuing melee devolves into hand-to-hand combat, even Mary gets in on the action.

Things look especially grim for Kevin as Mary manages to escape.

The sequence ends dramatically—and with a unique layout. Instead of a single, double-decked splash panel, Collins includes two, the second being a silhouette. Having King Henry arrive on the scene of the conflagration at the moment of climax is a bit contrived, but there is no time to be wasted as he introduces Kevin’s next adventure.

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

Tamper; Tantrum

Two rivals vie for Lady Goodly’s affections, yet she only has eyes for another.

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Kevin is trapped, and has only a risky escape plan.

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The Duke takes the bait, Kevin plays possum, and Percival?

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Percival came through in the clutch. Here are the sequence’s final two episodes in color, as third-pages; I don’t have a color example from June 25, 1961.

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

 

Sidling Up

Like other cartoonists, Kreigh Collins looked to his family and friends when it came to naming characters, but sometimes the comic strip characters’ names came first. “Kevin the Bold” debuted several months before Collins’ son Kevin was born, and Kevin’s ward Brett appeared about nine years before my brother made the scene.

I’ve always wondered what my uncle Glen (Kevin’s twin) thought of the title of his father’s best-known strip—at least two characters named Glen eventually appeared, but they didn’t have large rolls. And while Brett played a major part, I always thought it would be nice if  there was a character named Brian.

In a case of “be careful what you wish for,” eventually a Brian appeared—he was a misogynistic cad. Appearing a few years before I was born, It’s not like I was named for him, but couldn’t his name have been spelled with a “Y”? This guy is especially onerous.

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A black-hearted rogue, indeed! (What is especially galling to me was that the Duke’s bad behavior was in the name of procuring a birthday gift, and this episode ran on my birthday).

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I guess I’m not the only one being overly sensitive, the Duke also seems a bit prickly.

Perhaps curious only to me, but in the two panels after the throwaway, the movement Kevin is making can only be described as “sidling.” Not commonly represented in comics—or anywhere, really—the only place I ever remember hearing the word is in this 1965 Johnny Cash A-side. A shame—it’s a great word!

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Here are the first two episodes in color, as third-pages; I don’t have a color example from June 18, 1961.

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

 

Changing of the Guard

As the battle intensifies and the zaniness builds, the story arc reaches its conclusion. Here, “having sport with cheeses” means knocking the fire brigade from the rigging.

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The only way this could be better was if it was flaming cheese (a Detroit favorite).

An interesting detail in the April 23, 1961 episode above is how the strip’s logo is partially obscured  by Grommet’s monstrous ship. By the next Sunday’s comic, the old logo will have disappeared, replaced by a new one, and accompanied by the byline, “Story by Jay Heavilin.” While this new chapter carries over a couple of characters from the one that preceded it, the tone of the comic strip’s narrative changes.

After begging her father to accompany Kevin to England, Elsa and her mother set off on the journey across the North Sea with him. Allowing his wife and daughter to make the crossing in Kevin’s small boat—Kevin obviously made quite an impression Mr. Van Loo.

Meanwhile, in London, King Henry meets young Percival Southwick, and quickly sizes him up.

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The new logo was enlarged slightly for the May 7, 1961 episode, below, and looks great—its proportions work quite nicely with the amount of vertical space provided by a single tier of panels. A taller logo meant it took up more real estate horizontally, and apparently Collins didn’t like the tradeoff. As far as I can tell, the logo would always appear at the smaller size going forward.

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

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

 

Sir Guy’s Revenge

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The pirates picked a fight with the wrong crew—even the “gentle” artist Stephen gets into the act. (It’s always interesting to note how Kreigh Collins portrayed artists in his comics).

Louise Essex is slowly coming to her senses; unfortunately, she’s still a bit naive.

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Kind of a funny thing, lovely Louise is running around and can’t seem to make an impression on the men—meanwhile they’re both headed to the shore, to scrutinize the same boat.

Jacob Merrily, an acquaintance of Stephen’s, was introduced during the previous sequence—in the March 4 episode. When Stephen went into hiding, the kindly old sailor gave him shelter; following a chance encounter with Louise, his protective instincts kick in again.

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Sadly, things didn’t work out the way Jacob had intended.

Next, will Stephen stop for lunch? Or will Kevin persuade him to investigate the smoke first? Check back next week for this story’s conclusion!

Note to readers: I know you’re situated all over the world, but wherever you are, I hope you are healthy and safe from the coronavirus. The situation is getting a bit worse where I am, in northern New Jersey, but at this point my family and I are fine. I sincerely hope the same is true for you.

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

The Battle Draws Nigh

A surprise visit by Louise catches Sir Guy Thornberry unawares. (It’s hard to imagine what they see in him, but Sir Guy certainly attracts lovely young ladies).

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Shoving  Jacob Merrily to the ground, Thornberry shows his true colors, and Merrily’s comment proves to be prophetic.

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The May 27 episode is a beauty, with especially arresting opening and closing panels. The events are equally portentous with Louise naively sharing sensitive information and Kevin discussing the merits of different sailing rigs. It also includes an interesting sailing term of the day, shouted by the watch. These days, left is referred to as “port” side of a ship, as is “starboard” for the right, but in the 16th century, the left was known as the “larboard” side.

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As Stephen Moore sketches, the battle draws nigh.

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

Lovesick Louise

The action from the preceding story arc continues, and with many of the same characters. Sir Guy Thornberry has skulked offstage, but for how long? For reasons unknown, Louise Essex is smitten with the scoundrel. Meanwhile, King Henry has an important job for Kevin—once he overcomes a certain obstacle.

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The second panel has a nice rendering of the Cliffs of Dover.

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By this point, there wasn’t much difference in the print quality of the comics in the Chicago Sunday Tribune and the Detroit News (as shown below). One detail the Tribune versions lacked was the comic’s date inked into one of the panels (shown in the final panel of the News version). For Trib comics that didn’t appear at the top of a page, with the date typeset directly above, a nice personal detail for me is the date written on them, recognizable to me as done by my grandmother, Theresa. (“Teddy” also frequently modeled poses for her husband and basically served as his secretary).

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The colors are a bit richer in the “Tribune” version, but in the third panel there seems to have been some indecision whether to include a yellow background or not.

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I think the second and third panels look better with a white background.

Another nice family detail is found in the name of the ship Kevin captains. Argonaut was the name of Kreigh Collins’ own sailboat, a yawl—somewhat smaller than her namesake (I think she was only 25′ long). And while Collins purchased his schooner Heather later this same summer, she too was dwarfed by Kevin’s ship.

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Collins and his family sailed aboard “Argonaut” (shown at left in Racine, WI) from 1952–1956, and aboard “Heather” (shown in Annapolis, MD) from 1956–1972.

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