Collection: Katherine Collins (Arn Saba)

Katherine Collins, born in Vancouver, was known as Arn Saba until 1993 when she came out as a trans-woman. Arn’s mother and great-grandmother were both published cartoonists, and she started drawing comics at around age six. In 1977, she moved to Toronto and began appearing on, and eventually writing and producing for, the CBC Radio program Morningside among other shows. She produced nearly 100 skits, adapting classic newspaper strips. In 1979, Collins wrote and produced The Continuous Art, a five-part CBC documentary, exploring comics’ cultural ghettoization. It featured interviews with some of cartooning’s greatest names. Collin's character Neil the Horse ran in Canadian newspapers from 1975-1982, and subsequently starred in fifteen comic books, from 1983-88. Neil was the first (and last) musical comic book, with original songs. There was a five-part Neil musical comedy play on CBC in 1982. In 1993, Katherine was obliged to leave comics. The collected Neil The Horse, from Conundrum, is her first return to the field.