Mitzi McCoy – Kevin the Bold – Up Anchor

Seventy-five years ago, on November 7, 1948, the Sunday only Mitzi McCoy by illustrator Kreigh Collins debuted.

Maurice Horn described Mitzi as “a blond heiress with a passion for adventure and a knack for getting herself into hot water, in her sentimental as well as in her adventurous life.”

Ron Goulart said Mitzi “was fiercely independent but inclined to get into trouble and need a man to help her out.” That man was usually reporter Tim Graham.

Kreigh Collins and his writers had a tendency to explore history, both factual and fictional. That took the strip in a major departure when, on September 24, 1950, young Dick Dixon visits Tim Graham’s editor Stub Goodman and, as is his wont, spins a tale.

The following Sunday, October 1, 1950, saw the debut of Kevin the Bold.

For the next eighteen years Kreigh Collins illustrated the adventures of Kevin during The Renaissance years. Like Prince Valiant, this strip was not anchored to one exact time period.

Abberation

In at least one paper the first Kevin the Bold strip was not given that title, instead in The Santa Ana Register of October 1, 1950 there appeared Mitzi McCoy – The McCoy Legend with a logo supplied by either Collins or the syndicate.

Anyway …

The adventures of Kevin the Bold ran until October 27, 1968 when the strip time-jumped back to the modern era.

Up Anchor began, still Sunday only, on November 3, 1968. The seafaring of Kevin Marlin and family would run for little over three years until February 27, 1972.

Kreigh Collins’ 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.

All images, except the “The McCoy Legend” and all links, except the Kreigh Collins profile, come from Kreigh’s grandson Brian E. Collins whose website, Kreigh’s Comics, is a treasure trove of Mitzi and Kevin comic strips.

_{all images are © NEA and the estate of Kreigh Collins}