The Frank Ritza Papers

by David Collier

Cult cartoonist David Collier has fans such as Chris Ware, R. Crumb and Joe Sacco patiently waiting for his next comic. This new 192 page Collier trade paperback will deliver all expectations and beyond with a quirky collection of stories about his family, living life in the army and the search for information on a local artist he discovers, Frank Ritza. Along with the story, Collier provides over 100 sketch book pages from London, Los Angeles and Saskatchewan. This book is a natural companion to the entire D+Q line (especially Seth’s It’s a Good Life and Joe Sacco’s Notes From a Defeatist.)

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Art

182 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collier is an artist I've heard of before and I think I've read a few of his shorter pieces in various anthologies. I was pretty excited to read a longer work by him. This really isn't it though. What appears to be a sizeable novel is really just a ~40 page comic journal inter-spliced with a large selection of his sketch book drawings.

The story really didn't grab me, although it was interesting enough as far as autobiographical comics go. The sketchbook selections didn't excite me.

Bonus points for being the only comic I've read that has its action take place in Saskatchewan.

Wikipedia says "Collier featured in a 2013 episode of CBC Radio program Wiretap". I have to listen to that episode!

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A peculiar and very interesting book, it contains a short comic story from cartoonist Dave Collier split into 4 parts, with a sketchbook section interjected in-between from three different years and locations in his life. I have read two graphic novels and other anthologized works from Collier before, so I knew I would like the comic story, but I wasn't sure I would care about the sketchbook section. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It's filled with portraits, interesting facts, observations, jokes, and, well sketches. Collier could have been a single panel gag cartoonist. He's an artist, storyteller, and curious and insatiable intellect worth checking out.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd book. Collier mixes extensive sketchbook sections with a meandering autobiographical story (sections of the story are separated by long sketchbook chunks; the story sections end with statements like "continued on the 48th page following"). The relevance of the title does not become clear until the final few pages of the book, when collier finally discovers art by the eponymous figure in a small Ontario town and gets interested in the artist. As slice of life memoir, the story is fine but not exceptional. The sketchbook section is fascinating for its range of materials. The Crumb influence on Collier practically bellows at one form every page--not that that is a bad thing necessarily, but it is fascinating to see an artist so thoroughly absorb the influence of another artist. Fans of autobio and of Canadian comics should check this out.