Ant Colony

*Starred Review* A colony of black ants serves as a vehicle to examine the human condition in this stunningly accomplished graphic novel. As the denizens go about their ant-like activities the males seek food, service the queen (depicted as a grotesque colossus), and wage war on a nearby red-ant colony, while the infertile females tend to the children they fret, bicker, and gossip in a recognizably human fashion. A cataclysmic clash with the red ants results in the destruction of both colonies, with the fate of their civilization resting on a handful of survivors a homosexual couple, a youngster imbued with strange powers of prophecy from inhaling earthworm particles, a cowardly cop who dodged the battle, and a baby red ant. The story's conflation of the peculiar and the prosaic is reflected in DeForge's artwork, which offsets a disturbingly bizarre drawing style, reminiscent of Mark Beyer but even more idiosyncratic, with straight-on camera angles and a nearly unvarying nine-panel grid. A quietly unsettling, masterfully realized work that marks DeForge who has a handful of comic books and a stint as a designer on the Adventure Time animated series to his credit as a leading figure in the alternative-comics scene.--Flagg, Gordon Copyright 2014 Booklist

Toronto-based Eisner Award nominee DeForge (Lose) creates a demented tale of an ant colony and its uncertain end with just a handful of ants playing an active part in the plot. He alternates among the stories of a pair of worker ant lovers, a cowardly ant cop, a sociopathic father, and his prophet son. The ant queen also appears, as do other invertebrates including spiders and bees. A red ant colony and the colony of the main characters virtually annihilate each other leaving the protagonists to attempt, somehow, to begin a colony anew. The artwork is bizarre, bordering on the disturbing at points. Although the ant characters aren't named, Deforge clearly distinguishes each ant visually. The black ants' organs are depicted, while each has a distinctly shaped head and colored face. His spiders look like dogs and a centipede is some sort of stretch SUV. The color scheme is an odd mix of brilliant yellow and pink with duller earth tones and pastels. Verdict This may be of interest to alternative comics fans but will leave other readers scratching their heads.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* A colony of black ants serves as a vehicle to examine the human condition in this stunningly accomplished graphic novel. As the denizens go about their ant-like activities—the males seek food, service the queen (depicted as a grotesque colossus), and wage war on a nearby red-ant colony, while the infertile females tend to the children—they fret, bicker, and gossip in a recognizably human fashion. A cataclysmic clash with the red ants results in the destruction of both colonies, with the fate of their civilization resting on a handful of survivors—a homosexual couple, a youngster imbued with strange powers of prophecy from inhaling earthworm particles, a cowardly cop who dodged the battle, and a baby red ant. The story's conflation of the peculiar and the prosaic is reflected in DeForge's artwork, which offsets a disturbingly bizarre drawing style, reminiscent of Mark Beyer but even more idiosyncratic, with straight-on camera angles and a nearly unvarying nine-panel grid. A quietly unsettling, masterfully realized work that marks DeForge—who has a handful of comic books and a stint as a designer on the Adventure Time animated series to his credit—as a leading figure in the alternative-comics scene. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Toronto-based Eisner Award nominee DeForge (Lose) creates a demented tale of an ant colony and its uncertain end with just a handful of ants playing an active part in the plot. He alternates among the stories of a pair of worker ant lovers, a cowardly ant cop, a sociopathic father, and his prophet son. The ant queen also appears, as do other invertebrates including spiders and bees. A red ant colony and the colony of the main characters virtually annihilate each other leaving the protagonists to attempt, somehow, to begin a colony anew. The artwork is bizarre, bordering on the disturbing at points. Although the ant characters aren't named, Deforge clearly distinguishes each ant visually. The black ants' organs are depicted, while each has a distinctly shaped head and colored face. His spiders look like dogs and a centipede is some sort of stretch SUV. The color scheme is an odd mix of brilliant yellow and pink with duller earth tones and pastels. Verdict This may be of interest to alternative comics fans but will leave other readers scratching their heads.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

DeForge's quasi-philosophical graphic novel about a collapsing ant colony begins with dark humor and travels in circular fashion through bleak tragedy and the occasional bout of slapstick. The ant characters are a mixed bunch: a police officer, the queen ant herself, and a child who is treated as a prophet. But most of the story revolves around a pair of male lovers, who resent having to sexually service the queen for no good reason. Their dialogue is deadpan and played mostly for laughs ("I'm extremely uncomfortable around cops. Also, I am a pacifist"). That is, until war breaks out against a marauding band of red ants that have been leaving the savaged corpses of black ants like the victims of a serial killer. The threats are many—marauding spiders and humans wielding magnifying glasses are among the ants' greatest fears. With an existential crisis spreading through the colony, there's an echo of Beckett and "I can't go on. I'll go on" rippling through these pages. DeForge's bright, twisted art brings a further uncertain kick to this epic farce. The laughs are many, but they are dry and brittle ones. (Feb.)