Katherine Collins facts for kids

Katherine Shannon Collins is a talented Canadian-born cartoonist and writer. She is also known as a media personality, stage performer, and composer. Katherine Collins is famous for creating the newspaper comic strip Neil the Horse. This popular comic ran for many years, from 1975 to 1991.

About Katherine Collins

Katherine Collins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her birthday is July 6, 1947. She was originally named Arnold Alexander Saba, Jr. Her family has a history of creative people. Her maternal great-grandmother, Mary Adda "Dolly" Collins, was a painter, writer, and illustrator.

Katherine's mother was also a cartoonist and loved collecting comics. This helped Katherine become interested in comics from a young age. She grew up reading comics by artists like Carl Barks and Milton Caniff. Later, she enjoyed underground comics by artists such as Robert Crumb and Trina Robbins. Growing up in Canada, she experienced both American and British comic styles.

Her Career in Comics

Creating Neil the Horse

Katherine Collins is best known for creating Neil the Horse. This comic series first appeared in Canadian newspapers. It ran from 1975 to 1982. A company called Great Lakes Publishing helped distribute it.

Later, Neil the Horse became a comic book series. There were fifteen issues published between 1983 and 1988. These comic books were released by Aardvark-Vanaheim and Renegade Press.

Collins tried to continue the comic in print, but it was difficult. There were also plans to make Neil the Horse into a movie or TV show. However, these projects did not happen.

Maaheen Ahmed, a writer, described Collins's work on Neil the Horse. She said it was "rooted in the North American independent comics scene." The comic brought back "forgotten elements of comics memories." These included "girls’ comics" and "childish funny animals." Collins herself said she didn't think of her comics as looking back. Instead, she saw them as a different way to look at real life.

Recent Recognition

In recent years, Katherine Collins's work has become popular again. Many people are recognizing her contributions. In 2017, Conundrum Press published a special collection of her work. This book is called 'The Collected Neil the Horse'.

This collection includes all fifteen issues of the Neil the Horse comic book. It also features her weekly comic strips. Plus, it has other important pieces from her career.

Awards and Honors

Katherine Collins has received several important awards for her work. These awards celebrate her achievements in the world of comics.

In 1983, she received an Inkpot Award. This award is given to people who have made great contributions to comics and other arts. Other famous artists like Neil Gaiman and Art Spiegelman have also won this award.

In 2013, Collins was honored by the Joe Shuster Award. She was inducted into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame. She sent a video message to accept this special honor. In 2017, she was also inducted into the "Giants of the North" hall of fame. This was part of the Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning.

Personal Life

Katherine Collins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has lived as a transgender woman since 1993.

It has been mentioned that Collins wrote a book about her personal journey. This book was about her experience of becoming a woman. However, it seems that this work was never published.

In 2008, Katherine Collins shared that she was recovering from leukemia. This is a type of cancer that affects blood cells.