Reviews

Ant Colony by Michael DeForge

Only show reviews with written explanations

I loved ANT COLONY because it defied me. I assumed as it began that anthropomorphized ants would stand in for the foibles of the human condition and I would be left with a brightly colored sit-com that I’d likely grow weary of before the end. Despite reading a great review, rarely am I enthralled by animals acting human so at best I was kinda hoping for a brightly colored Seinfeld episode. Instead I stumbled into a dazzling mixture of many things I love: Yellow Submarine meets Animal Farm with the dark touches of David Lynch and the light touches of early Woody Allen with Joan Miro attempting pop art and Albert Camus trying to act silly. Took a few pages before I let go and trusted the author—I may have actually been half way through before I let myself realize just how much fun I was having—alternately laughing and being grossed out. Certainly not for everyone, would be less surprised if someone hated it than if they had no opinion at all. The story is less about ants acting human than it is revealing how much of being human is still baseline animalistic. Like the characters of ANT COLONY we are searching for something we can rarely define with legs hopelessly shortened by our lack of empathy, self-awareness and imagination. These bigger themes are couched in art work that seems at first childish (or at least for children) but soon veers into the grotesque and surreal often reminding me of 60’s psychedelic poster art—something very much in my wheelhouse. While ANT COLONY reminded me of many things, it felt like a wholly unique creation.

jekutree's review

Go to review page

4.0

Ant Colony is a very charming look into the lives of ants in an ant colony. The book has cute, cartoony art from Michael Deforge and his sense of story telling through his art is really impressive. The colors pop and create a really appealing look for the book. The story starts by bouncing between a few characters who remain nameless throughout the story and they all eventually link together when something happens to the colony. There’s a kind of crazy ant whose son becomes a sort of prophet, 2 gay ants whose relationship is explored throughout the story (the one with the red face being my favorite character) and a coward police ant. All the characters are likable and actually really well written, the book has such a charm to it that when you start, you can’t stop reading.

8/10

marmageddon's review

Go to review page

dark funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

egg_gremlin's review

Go to review page

5.0

Michael DeForge seems to have a great talent for creating idiosyncratic, surrealist worlds that somehow make perfect sense. Something horrific and unexpected happens, and you find yourself thinking "Oh, of coarse that would happen! It was completely inevitable." And it leaves you with a feeling that doesn't have a name yet, some combination of disgust, fear, and disfulfilment.

And yet, even with all the surrealism and sad bits and disgusting bits to ponder, the biggest question I'm left with is "How in the world does an ant know the words to 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King'?"

mumbles's review

Go to review page

2.0

I really like the style of art and the color schemes. But the story was a bit too aggressive for me.. i think maybe it was all just a little too on the nose about the mundanity and bleakness of living in a work obsessed capitalist world… it is clever but it hurts!

sydneyrp143's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jm_donellan's review

Go to review page

5.0

Existential, anthropomorphic, strange and sprawling. The art is simple, bright and surreal and the characters are excellent. I picked this up on a whim and I'm now very excited to check out more of DeForge's work.