Michael DeForge ANT COLONY
The debut graphic novel from a dazzling newcomer with a singular, idiosyncratic style
From its opening pages, Ant Colony immerses the reader in a world that is darkly existential, with false prophets, unjust wars, and corrupt police officers, as it follows the denizens of a black ant colony under attack from the nearby red ants. On the surface, it's the story of this war, the destruction of a civilization, and the ants' all too familiar desire to rebuild. Underneath, though, Ant Colony plumbs the deepest human concerns-loneliness, faith, love, apathy, and more. All of this is done with humor and sensitivity, exposing a world where spiders can wreak unimaginable amounts of havoc with a single gnash of their jaws.
DeForge's striking visual sensibility-stark lines, dramatic color choices, and brilliant use of page and panel space-stands out in this volume.
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
Canada Import
Hardback
22.5 × 28.5 cm
110 full-color pages
"The Toronto cartoonist's first full-length graphic novel follows a clutch of misfit ants, trying to maintain some semblance of civilization in the shadow of war. Psychedelically gorgeous, uncomfortably funny." - Sean Rogers, Globe & Mail Best Books of 2014
“[Ant Colony] is . . . absurd and existential . . . [DeForge] grants no victors and no spoils.” -Harper's Magazine
“Ant Colony goes beyond any of his previous work, laying out the psychosexual hang-ups and strange power dynamics of characters who are as deep and complicated as an anthill's network of caves.” -National Post
“Ant Colony is a sort of life-during-wartime love story in which the characters happen to be stylized ants, centipedes and spiders inhabiting a world rendered with outsized surreal flair.” - Montreal Gazette
“Every so often a book comes along that knocks you flat on your ass and makes you wonder where the hell you've been and why you haven't seen anything like it sooner.Ant Colony is exactly that kind of book . . . an intensely charismatic, thoughtful, evocative little world that DeForge has filled with memorable characters, burning philosophical questions, and moments of true humanity that shine through the stylized thoraxes and angled antennae of his kooky creations. The year may be young, but I am confident when I say that this may just be the best graphic novel of 2014.” -Nerdist
The debut graphic novel from a dazzling newcomer with a singular, idiosyncratic style
From its opening pages, Ant Colony immerses the reader in a world that is darkly existential, with false prophets, unjust wars, and corrupt police officers, as it follows the denizens of a black ant colony under attack from the nearby red ants. On the surface, it's the story of this war, the destruction of a civilization, and the ants' all too familiar desire to rebuild. Underneath, though, Ant Colony plumbs the deepest human concerns-loneliness, faith, love, apathy, and more. All of this is done with humor and sensitivity, exposing a world where spiders can wreak unimaginable amounts of havoc with a single gnash of their jaws.
DeForge's striking visual sensibility-stark lines, dramatic color choices, and brilliant use of page and panel space-stands out in this volume.
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
Canada Import
Hardback
22.5 × 28.5 cm
110 full-color pages
"The Toronto cartoonist's first full-length graphic novel follows a clutch of misfit ants, trying to maintain some semblance of civilization in the shadow of war. Psychedelically gorgeous, uncomfortably funny." - Sean Rogers, Globe & Mail Best Books of 2014
“[Ant Colony] is . . . absurd and existential . . . [DeForge] grants no victors and no spoils.” -Harper's Magazine
“Ant Colony goes beyond any of his previous work, laying out the psychosexual hang-ups and strange power dynamics of characters who are as deep and complicated as an anthill's network of caves.” -National Post
“Ant Colony is a sort of life-during-wartime love story in which the characters happen to be stylized ants, centipedes and spiders inhabiting a world rendered with outsized surreal flair.” - Montreal Gazette
“Every so often a book comes along that knocks you flat on your ass and makes you wonder where the hell you've been and why you haven't seen anything like it sooner.Ant Colony is exactly that kind of book . . . an intensely charismatic, thoughtful, evocative little world that DeForge has filled with memorable characters, burning philosophical questions, and moments of true humanity that shine through the stylized thoraxes and angled antennae of his kooky creations. The year may be young, but I am confident when I say that this may just be the best graphic novel of 2014.” -Nerdist
The debut graphic novel from a dazzling newcomer with a singular, idiosyncratic style
From its opening pages, Ant Colony immerses the reader in a world that is darkly existential, with false prophets, unjust wars, and corrupt police officers, as it follows the denizens of a black ant colony under attack from the nearby red ants. On the surface, it's the story of this war, the destruction of a civilization, and the ants' all too familiar desire to rebuild. Underneath, though, Ant Colony plumbs the deepest human concerns-loneliness, faith, love, apathy, and more. All of this is done with humor and sensitivity, exposing a world where spiders can wreak unimaginable amounts of havoc with a single gnash of their jaws.
DeForge's striking visual sensibility-stark lines, dramatic color choices, and brilliant use of page and panel space-stands out in this volume.
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
Canada Import
Hardback
22.5 × 28.5 cm
110 full-color pages
"The Toronto cartoonist's first full-length graphic novel follows a clutch of misfit ants, trying to maintain some semblance of civilization in the shadow of war. Psychedelically gorgeous, uncomfortably funny." - Sean Rogers, Globe & Mail Best Books of 2014
“[Ant Colony] is . . . absurd and existential . . . [DeForge] grants no victors and no spoils.” -Harper's Magazine
“Ant Colony goes beyond any of his previous work, laying out the psychosexual hang-ups and strange power dynamics of characters who are as deep and complicated as an anthill's network of caves.” -National Post
“Ant Colony is a sort of life-during-wartime love story in which the characters happen to be stylized ants, centipedes and spiders inhabiting a world rendered with outsized surreal flair.” - Montreal Gazette
“Every so often a book comes along that knocks you flat on your ass and makes you wonder where the hell you've been and why you haven't seen anything like it sooner.Ant Colony is exactly that kind of book . . . an intensely charismatic, thoughtful, evocative little world that DeForge has filled with memorable characters, burning philosophical questions, and moments of true humanity that shine through the stylized thoraxes and angled antennae of his kooky creations. The year may be young, but I am confident when I say that this may just be the best graphic novel of 2014.” -Nerdist
