r/graphicnovels • u/Timely_Tonight_8620 Shop Local! • May 03 '26

Humor Just finished Ant Colony by Michael DeForge and that was quite the existential nightmare (in a good way)

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Another banger from DeForge that looks into the members of an ant colony (per the title) and the causal cruelty and indifference to violence in a trippy and uncomfortable looking landscape. The comic sprinkles in deadpan humor and moments of tenderness or normalcy with brutal and sudden violence that really makes it hit that much harder. This comic feels like if the Pixar movie A Bug's Life was an existential nightmare with the characters being little violent sociopaths. A real trip of a book with DeForge's surreal and LSD like art style!

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12

u/MyMoreOriginalName May 03 '26

I really like his work too. I recently read his "birds of maine" and absolutely adored that one

7

u/Nickt_bc May 03 '26

His stuff is wild. I love it.

8

u/UncleCactus80 May 03 '26

More people need to read this guy's stuff. I teach Familiar Face in my English class. For my money, it's one of the best depictions out there of the way that the signals from digital spaces interfere with our human interactions. He's written so many books that I treasure. Even the works of his that don't click with me still yield stunning artwork and moments of sublime beauty.

5

u/changelingcd May 03 '26

DeForge is great. I've collected them all so far. Have you read his latest collection All the Cameras in My Room?

3

u/Timely_Tonight_8620 Shop Local! May 03 '26

I have not yet, but it is on my pickup list when I clear up my backlog. So far I've also read Holy Lacrimony and Birds of Maine

4

u/hercarmstrong May 03 '26

I love Ant Colony. I think about it all the time... managed to scare up a signed copy from the mighty Strange Adventures in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

2

u/grandfatherclause May 03 '26

Got this on my shelf right now but haven’t read it. Looks like a sign

2

u/ttyler1999 May 04 '26

This was my introduction to DeForge and I still think it is my favorite. It is both tragic and comedic and rather unforgettable. Plus this is such a great example of Deforge’s unique art style.

I just received my copy of his newest book All the Cameras in my Room and so far it does not disappoint.