Comic Review: Michael DeForge's "Ant Colony"

Like a wicked fever dream or a Ralph Bakshi film, Michael DeForge's Ant Colony, published by Drawn & Quarterly, is a comic that manages to be completely otherworldly while at the same time lucid enough to be relatable. Originally published online and fully readable here, DeForge's vision of a colony of ants marching through life (and through the giant ant queen's "sex canal") is a fitting tribute to the unpredictability and fragility of living, portrayed by one of the more twisted graphic artists working today.

The black ants of the story are beautifully drawn, each with their own individual digestive system and unique head and body shape, distinguishing them from their completely identical red ant counterparts. The black ants, who remain mostly nameless, are expected to fulfill their duties for their Queen, but DeForge's main characters are philosophers, frustrated lovers, dubious fathers, and freaked out children who end up on a series of misadventures. As this was originally a webcomic, there is less of a central narrative so much as there is a series of events that culminate in a war between the black ants and the red ants, who are high on the dripping pink milk of the neighbouring wolf spiders, and the collapse of the hive, foretold by a boy ant who, having subdivided a worm into so many microscopic living pieces and inhaled them, gains prophetic powers. Yep, it's a trippy book. It feels slightly disjointed, but there is enough of a link between the stories that you care about the characters and their overall fate within the story.

This comic is definitely not for kids

The beauty of the desolation DeForge illustrates is in the small details. The colour in the world is hyperreal and rich, further immersing the reader in the bizarre scenarios played out on the page. The landscapes are suitably bleak, yet alive with the population of creatures such as the limousine centipede and the wolf spiders who are basically wolf heads on spider legs. The ant queen herself is a masterpiece; a giantess of a woman with flowing red hair, sitting languorously with legs akimbo with a stream of tiny ants marching between her legs. This is definitely not the classiest comic, but it is pulled off with such sheer audacity and gorgeous art I was hooked from beginning to end. If there's one thing I'm upset with, it's that the ending, which is suitably enigmatic, is quite abrupt and left me instantly wanting more.

I highly recommend you pick up this book, so you too can appreciate the angst of ants:

Performance Review: The Paper Cinema's "The Odyssey"

As a huge animation and puppetry fan, I can't say enough good things about The Paper Cinema's latest show based on Homer's The Odyssey. Founded in 2004 by Nicholas Rawling, Imogen Charleston and Christopher Reed, The Paper Cinema utilizes paper cutout puppets and wonderful visual tricks of perspective in front of a camera to create animation in real time for the audience. Odysseus is on the hunt; one puppeteer moves the Odysseus puppet in a way that he is both running and panting, as the second puppeteer whirls trees across the camera behind Odysseus creating the sense of movement and speed. The effect is both engrossing and at times unbelievable. Buildings are created through a slow zoom as the puppeteers manipulate pillars and archways in an uncanny manner, and the sea as Odysseus drifts by on a raft is full of movement and energy. It truly must be seen to be believed (watch the trailer below).

The creators adapted the many trials of Odysseus, Telemachus, and Penelope with clear reverence for the source material, but also with a sense of play and anachronistic flair. While the story and visuals mostly reflect those of Ancient Greece, Telemachus takes a soul-searching journey on his motorcycle, while Penelope's suitors are all wolves in immaculate modern day suits getting drunk on champagne. The monsters in this production have real weight, and the puppeteers do a great job creating a sense of danger. Odysseus has to deal with the despondent giantess Calypso, the terrifying jagged cyclops, and even the great god Neptune himself. There are plenty of tender moments as well, such as in a flashback of Odysseus and Penelope sharing an embrace before he leaves for the Trojan war, to their fated reunion a decade later. The battle against the suitors towards the end of the show was poetry in motion.

The immersion I felt while watching the show could not have been achieved without its immaculate music, composed by Christopher Reed, Ed Dowie, Quinta and Matthew Brown (you can listen to and purchase the soundtrack on bandcamp here). The combination of piano, violin, guitar, electronic keyboard and clever use of the saw, lend themselves perfectly to the visuals appearing on screen. From the cheerful 'Rosy-Fingered Dawn,' to the sleazy track 'The Suitors' reflecting the mooching wolfish layabouts sniffing at Penelope's heels, the soundtrack is evocative of the deep emotions of a husband and wife separated by a decade, and the series of travails hampering their reunion. Foley work is used to great effect for sounds such as the waves, and the low rumble of a sleeping cyclops.

This is a show not to be missed. It is currently touring across the UK and Germany.