kreigh collins

The Secret Valley

The peak years for “Kevin the Bold” were the 1950s, but by mid-1957, the Chicago Tribune, an early champion of the comic, was running inferior one-third page versions of the strip. While other papers continued running the strip as a half-page, like the Detroit News, many soon followed suit with the dreaded one-thirds.

Finding half-page examples of the comic from the late-50s can be difficult, so I am lucky to have numerous syndicate proofs in my collection. These proofs (veloxes?), show the entire half-page comic, and are printed on a nice heavy stock. Kreigh Collins used these to provide color guides to the NEA. He would paint them with watercolors, and these would be used by the NEA as guides while colorizing the comics. Extra copies of the proofs were kept in Collins’ studio, and sometimes these ended up being used like coloring books by either his youngest sons or his grandchildren. In retrospect, it’s a real shame, but at the time it probably seemed like a “grand” idea (to use a word that reminds me of Gramma Collins). While some of these proofs were colored or painted on, others suffered a worse fate, as the aspiring artists attempted collages, apparently, cutting holes in the proofs with scissors.

The following sequence, which ran from November of 1960 to January of ’61, has 11 episodes. I have cleaned up one that was painted on (our young artist hadn’t gotten very far with the November 27 episode—for once a short attention span proved beneficial), and I used some one-third page comics to patch up two others.

Despite these flaws, the sequence itself is wonderful. It contains all of the strip’s classic elements: beautiful scenery, a gorgeous young woman (smitten with Kevin, naturally), mystery, and action, plus a nice feat of engineering. It begins with Kevin taking a needed break from his adventures; he has returned alone to Ireland.

KTB 112060 BWP 150 cc

KTB 112760 BWP 150 BW cc

After falling into the trap, Kevin’s captors comment on his size and strength, comparing him to one of the ancient gods they worship. Despite his appearance, a perplexed Kevin is released to Barda, the daughter of the cult’s leader.

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

Special Man Is Wanted

Artists and illustrators often have models pose for them — Kreigh Collins frequently enlisted his family with the task. Occasionally, a special situation would call for a hired model, and such was a case for an early “Kevin the Bold” sequence. Getting a help wanted ad on the front page of the local paper was helpful, and the Grand Rapids Herald provided some nice promotion for Collins’ year-old comic.

KTB Man 01 cc

The “special man” needed to be of a specific stature, as he would be donning a centuries-old suit of armor recently donated to the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Since historical authenticity was important to Collins, having a live model for reference would be very useful, as knights in armor were a staple of his comic strip.

The newspaper page was trimmed so that no publication date showed, but an article on the page had some information that placed it in late July of 1951. The NEA’s production schedule required comics to be inked two to three months ahead of their publication date, and with this sequence appearing in September, the timing of the newspaper article made sense.

The fifth “Kevin the Bold” sequence introduced a new villain, Baron Von Blunt. Was his new Flemish armor modeled after the set from the Grand Rapids Public Museum?

KTB 092351 hf 150 qcc

KTB 093051 HF 150 QCC

Most of the early “Kevin” comics in my collection are from the Chicago Sunday Tribune, but the September 30, 1951 comic shown above ran in the Detroit News. (Most likely, the comic had debuted in the News with this sequence). Collins’ artwork is especially strong in this period, but the printed results from the News are no match for those of the Tribune.

KTB 100751 HF 150 QCC

Kevin and his squire, Stub, had been separated during the previous sequence, in which Kevin was gravely injured. Once reunited, Stub fills his knight in on the details of the task he has been assigned — training an army of men to face Baron Von Blunt, the same ruthless man that had already made an enemy of Kevin. The October 7 comic is another beauty from the Trib, with more to follow.

Of note: The Grand Rapids Public Museum has a rather impressive collection of Kreigh Collins’ original artwork.

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

The Double-Cross

Despite getting away with the gold, the greedy Hammerhead schemes to cut Frenchy out of the deal—and turn him into the fall guy.

However, suspecting as much, Frenchy returns with a plan to turn the tables on Hammerhead. A detail I hadn’t previously noticed was Captain Frenchie’s peg leg. Reviewing the previous episodes indicates it was indeed apparent, but I didn’t catch any references to it in the captions or dialog.

A term that could perhaps use an explanation, the “ship’s boat,” is found in the final panel. Not a redundancy, the ship being a large vessel and its boat being the small utility boat it carried (or towed).

Despite his injured leg, Kevin manages to ensnare Frenchy and alert the soldiers at Governor Pedro’s fort. The chapter concludes, and in an extremely unlikely transition, Kevin and the Elysia are blown a bit off course (more than 8,000 miles!). The storm managed to send the Elysia all the south way from the Irish Sea, until it rounds Cape Horn and eventually settles… in Japan (and another 10,000 miles off course).

That chapter can be found here.

_______________________________________________________________

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

Kevin the… Klutz?

A rare case of clumsiness leaves Kevin in a tough spot.

I don’t have any color versions of these three episodes, but Kreigh Collins’ amazing linework really shines in these black and white velox proofs.

Dramatically rendered in three silent panels, Kevin climbs aboard, despite a bum ankle.

Meanwhile, Pedro is nervous about the gold…

_______________________________________________________________

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

The Ol’ Switcheroo

Hammerhead enlightens Captain Frenchy.

The beautifully-illustrated February 10 episode, and the ones that follow, are brightened by the appearance of Carmine, Pedro’s wife.

Carmine, certainly lovely to gaze upon, is also kind-hearted—but unfortunately, her good nature will lead to trouble.

_______________________________________________________________

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

Governor Pedro

The following chapter of Kevin’s adventures originally appeared 61 years ago, in early 1963. It ran for 12 weeks, and most of the episodes consist of black and white velox proofs, supplemented with color versions wherever possible.

The sequence’s introductory panel introduces the villains, Bill Hammerhead and Captain Frenchy.

The unexpected encounter leads to Bill gaining an ally in his audacious plan to steal gold from King Henry.

Fine-tuning their plan at an alehouse, the two quickly insult Molly, a lovely young barmaid. Everyone takes notice when the royal coach arrives, with Molly greeting Kevin with some of her establishment’s malty refreshment. She also gives him the welcome news that leads to a happy reunion.

Bill Hammerhead’s plan, as yet undelineated, seems to involve the old switcheroo.

To be continued…

_______________________________________________________________

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

Boom RIde

Due to their short supply of water and food, Kevin Marlin sets off, without even a fully-formed plan.

The pirates trust Kevin—some more than others!

Those filthy hippies probably needed a bath, anyway!

The story arc ends, but unfortunately, Kevin Marlin and his family haven’t seen the last of the pirate trio.

_______________________________________________________________

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

Marooned!

While Kreigh Collins never managed to sail Heather to the Bahamas, his Sunday comics counterpart Kevin Marlin did. While heading back to Florida, an unusual boat was spotted.

Many pieces of original artwork for UP ANCHOR! are found in a collection at the Grand Rapids Public Library, including those for two of the episodes in this installment.

In a case of “no good deed goes unpunished,” the Marlin family are ambushed.

The ersatz Manson Family members decide to maroon Heather‘s crew on a desert island, but not before the Marlins lay eyes on the hippies’ prisoner, Pedro.

While the reunion is nice, a plan to save themselves would be nicer!

_______________________________________________________________

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

It Was Murder!

Among some recently-acquired UP ANCHOR! half pages were most of the episodes of a story arc with an unusual plot element—murder. The choice of portraying hippies as villains was likely inspired by the tragic and ugly Manson family murders, which had occurred in the summer of 1969. In fact, the Tate-LaBIanca trial was under way when these episodes were published in late 1970.

The Marlin family, whose journey aboard Heather had led to a temporarily relocation in Florida, had just returned from Maine. Kevin Marlin had been hired to sail a cutter from Connecticut Down East. To return “home” and hear such terrible news would be very unsettling.

A couple things from the October 11, 1970 episode that caught me eye were the Manson Family lookalikes in the center panel and the second panel of WATER LORE. Occasionally, Kreigh Collins would directly reference his personal life, but I had never seen him mention his father. He was much closer to his mother.

As Heather is being provisioned, some Easter Eggs are revealed on the labels of the packages being brought aboard. In the first panel, Kevin caries a case of “Jesiek’s Oil.” Back home in Michigan on Lake Macatawa, Heather spent her winters “on the hard” at Jesiek Brothers Shipyard. Based on the box carried by his friend, I’d wager that “Schottenburg’s” was a nearby grocer the Collins family patronized. The second tier’s second panel shows Dave and Erik pestering their mother about dinner—here a box is simply labelled “Boy Food.”

The provisions were needed for an upcoming trip to the Bahamas. While many of the adventured that take place in UP ANCHOR! were based on real events, alas, a trip to the Bahamas was a dream that was never realized for Kreigh’s family. The Marlin family’s adventures in Florida were inspired by the journey the Collinses took in 1959–1960, but the Chicago Tribune’s sudden cancellation of KEVIN THE BOLD in December, 1959 necessitated a reappraisal of the family’s financial situation and resulted in the cancellation of the Bahamas leg of the trip.

_______________________________________________________________

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