spanish armada

Honor among Foes

The first and last episodes shown here are third pages combined with BW versions found online from the Allentown (Pa.) Call-Chronicle. While assembling the images, I noticed that the one appearing in newspaper was vertically scrunched, slightly, a few percentage points. I don’t know if that paper purposefully ran scaled-down versions so that they took up less space or if the distortion was just a result of the images being scanned. At any rate, the combined comic shows how the original was cropped to yield the third-page, and what was deemed unnecessary (hint: don’t crop out the ladies!)

Kevin does the honorable thing by dispatching Tom, and is rewarded with an unexpected display from Don Diego, who also acts virtuously (despite his previous handsiness with Inez).

With the cards in your favor, playing by the rules, sometimes you lose.

Holding tight to his principles, the fate of Don Diego (and Kevin) now lies with the flip of a coin.

An interesting question indeed from Dolores—and the men are saved by the wily Inez.

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

Gift of the Sea

Washed up and nearly dead, Kevin and Diego are discovered. 

I’d think that there’d be easier ways for these two beauties to catch men, but Ill go along with it. Will Kevin?

Sign me up for #TeamDelores

Wise old Pepe stalls for time, but Dolores is quick to act. She opts to liberate the foreigner, and with a glance at the throwaway panel, it’s easy to see why Kevin went along with her plan—for one night, anyway.

Kevin leaves, and gets lucky (again?), by bumping into Tom.

In a scene from the comics that would be shocking today, Diego awakens, and sexually harasses his caretaker. It’s kind of a textbook case of an interaction between a powerful man and a powerless female underling. It seems Inez has seen this sort of stuff before and deftly bats away Diego’s advances. Elsewhere, Kevin bravely stands sentinel.

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

Maritime Hazards

The first eight episodes of this sequence made a compelling first act, and a wonderful second act is made from the next four episodes. The action involves plotting for revenge, building a secret armada, a catfight with flying fish (?!), gorgeous sailing scenes… and is essentially what convinced me rerun this sequence.

Kevin unseals the King’s orders, and a couple of likable “enemies” are introduced.

Also referenced is Catherine of Aragon, yet another historical figure I was inspired to look up thanks to my grandfather’s comic strip. Ah yes, King Henry’s first wife, the spurned Spanish princess who died young, tragically. Yes, I understand Diego’s beef with England.

Moving on, we are introduced to Inez and Dolores, AKA Sheepface. Me-oww! The claws are out!

Yes, the fish are flying! And some beautifully-rendered panels follow, featuring longboats and more of my favorite fishing girls.

These gals have a much more intense rivalry than my other favorite blonde/brunette duo, Betty and Veronica!

The July 26 episode (below) is evidence of Kreigh Collins’ personal experience with and love of sailing. The perspectives shown accurately reflect the imminent collision at sea. At this point Collins mostly sailed aboard a 45-foot schooner, but he still owned a 19-foot Lightning, whose hull pretty closely resembles the boat Kevin is shown sailing. Sailing downwind, the square-rigged boat has less maneuverability than Diego’s lateen-rigged double ender. But pointing into the wind, the Spaniard has no intention of passing port to port, as would be the custom.

That’s right—even sailing solo, acting as a spy in foreign waters, and rammed by an unnamed boat, Kevin is duty-bound to try to rescue his antagonist at sea.

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

A Young Man’s Fancy

Her interest piqued, Tom Chiswick has made a fine impression on Miss Makepeace, and she’s shocked to see what unfolds.

Tom is bewildered. Jumped by thugs, one of whom was Pedro, and set upon by a master swordsman, revealed to be Kevin. Then, following an explanation, the tables turn as someone makes a strong impression on him.

Things are moving quickly, yet they are about to speed up. And with Spring in the air…

Without a nice half-page for the June 28 episode, a third-page example combined with a black-and-white velox proof will have to suffice—not bad! And it shows how much of the original illustration was lost when it was edited.

With an abrupt answer to his question, Tom is dispatched. Only later does Becky confront the feelings she has for her suitor.

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

Kevin vs. the Spanish Armada Redux

At this blog’s onset, I didn’t have a clear plan, other than the general idea of trying to raise my grandfather’s profile. The first several posts introduced Kreigh Collins’ three NEA Service features, and the next few entries covered some generalities. I was fortunate to stumble upon the (rather obvious) idea of posting on Sundays, and I soon learned that one weekly post would be plenty. Eventually it dawned on me to post complete story arcs over the span of several weeks. With an ample inventory from which to pick, I decided on a lengthy chapter near the midpoint of Kevin the Bold‘s run. 

At the time, the only examples I had of this particular chapter were one-third page versions, but I proceeded anyway—it seemed like a solid example of one of Kevin’s adventures. Five-plus years later, I’ve run about half the episodes my grandfather created, and there’s still plenty to choose from. Nonetheless, I thought revisiting this particular sequence might be a good idea, since I recently acquired half page examples of 16 of the 19 episodes.

As the prior episode transitions to a new story, two new characters are introduced—wealthy shipbuilder Thatcher Makepeace and his Becky, his lovely daughter.

The chapter shows hallmarks of not being written by Collins, but there is plenty of fantastic artwork to come.

Alas, Mr. Makepeace doesn’t realize the spunkiness of his gently-raised little girl. They grow up so fast!

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

Secrets, Intrigue

Chained in the bilge, Kevin is powerless. Young Glenn continues to be his eyes and ears as the suspense builds.

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The Spaniards take action on a plan to safeguard their navagational secrets on the Seahawk, which they have commandeered from Captain Mendoza. Meanwhile, the “Kevin l’audacieux” comics continue to have been butchered. C’est dommage!

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Glenn the Loyal

The orphan Glenn, his dog Inky and lovely Maria are bound for Spain. They sail aboard the Sea Hawk, with Kevin acting as their escort. Glenn fiercely defends his dog after witnessing some ill treatment by Captain Mendoza. In defending Glenn, Kevin nearly comes to blows with Mendoza. The captain’s reputation as a scoundrel has proven to be accurate. In the October 18 comic, tempers flare again.

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The sails of an enormous fleet have been spotted on the horizon. As was his style, Collins has woven history into his narrative — “Kevin the Bold” often reads like an illustrated  historical novel.

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Finalement! Une bande dessinée intacte. Mais il est noir at blanc! Merde!!

Kreigh Collins had four sons. Like-named characters based on the older two were featured in “Up Anchor.” The younger boys were twins, and one was named Kevin. I’m not sure exactly which was named for whom, but the comic debuted five months before my uncle. Fourteen years later, a character named Glenn appeared — perhaps my other twin uncle thought this was just a bit overdue. Another common name between the comic strip and the artist’s family was Brett, Kevin’s ward and the name of Kreigh’s first grandchild. Again, the character preceded the person (this time by nine and a half years). Glenn’s dog Inky was modelled on not one of the family’s cocker spaniels, but on a neighbor’s dog (also named Inky) who spent a lot of time at the family house in Ada.

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