As a child, Collier was introduced to the work of Robert Crumb, whose work has been a significant influence. (Collier's cross-hatching style is particularly reminiscent of Crumb's work.)[1] Before breaking into comics, Collier served in the Canadian Army from 1987 to 1990. He drew comic strips for the army newspapers the Cornwallis Ensign, CFB Chilliwack Mountaineer, and CFB Valcartier Adsum.[2] His Army training also introduced him to long-distance running and the biathlon, in which he has competed nationally.[1]
His first comic strip was published in 1986 in the R. Crumb-edited magazine Weirdo, and his work has been published in numerous other comics anthologies, including Duplex Planet Illustrated, Drawn & Quarterly, The Comics Journal, and Zero Zero. Most of the material from his anthology submissions was collected in Just the Facts: A Decade of Comic Essays.
Fantagraphics published four issues of the aptly titled series Collier's in the 1990s. Much of this material was reprinted in Portraits from Life. Drawn & Quarterly later published volume two of Collier's, lasting two issues.
Collier's Surviving Saskatoon documents the true story of David Milgaard, a man who spent over 20 years in prison after he was wrongfully accused of the brutal rape and murder of a nurse in 1969.
Collier featured in a 2013 episode of CBC Radio program Wiretap, describing his experiences rejoining the army at 41, also the subject of his book Chimo.[3]
For the 2014–15 Alex Colville retrospective held at the Art Gallery of Ontario and National Gallery of Canada, Collier produced a commissioned work inspired by Colville that was displayed as an installation and also published in print under the title Colville Comics (2014).[4]
Collier lives with his wife, Ontario artist Jennifer Hambleton, and son James (born in 1999), in Hamilton.
Awards
Collier's The Frank Ritza Papers was nominated for a Doug Wright Award for Best Book in 2005.
