Kreigh Collins (1908-1974) was an American cartoonist, illustrator and painter. He was the creator of the comic strip Kevin the Bold .
Born in Davenport, Iowa, Collins received his formal training as an artist at the Cincinnati Art Academy and the Cleveland Art School. He worked for many years as a magazine illustrator before signing on with the NEA syndicate to produce his first newspaper comic strip, Mitzi McCoy . In late 1950, this Sunday-page contemporary melodrama about a wealthy heiress made an abrupt transformation into a late-Medieval adventure strip. Kevin the Bold first appeared October 1, 1950. This beautifully drawn Sunday strip, focused on one of Mitzi McCoy's 15th Century Irish ancestors, ran in syndication for nearly twenty years. In 1968, Collins began work on the strip Up Anchor, a modern tale about sailing, loosely based on the real-life experiences of the Collins family. Up Anchor ran until 1972.
In addition to his magazine and newspaper work, Kreigh Collins illustrated a number of books during his career, including The Perilous Island: A Story of Mystery in the Aleutians (Philadelphia: Winston, 1942), The Amazing Story of Christopher Columbus (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Pub. Association, 1961) and David Livingston (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Pub. Association, 1961). Collins was an active painter throughout his life and completed a number of public murals in and around Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kreigh Collins died in 1974 at the age of 66.
From the guide to the Kreigh Collins Cartoons, 1966-1967, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
