Ant Comics
February 27, 2013 4:48 AM Subscribe
Ant Comics. (nsfw for giant ant queen sex).
I'm going to feel weird about accidentally stepping on ants now. I think.
posted by fight or flight at 5:34 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by fight or flight at 5:34 AM on February 27, 2013
Aw dang, did we break the site?
posted by fight or flight at 5:51 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by fight or flight at 5:51 AM on February 27, 2013
This is Michael DeForge's work. Immediately recognizable. Previously.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:54 AM on February 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by shakespeherian at 5:54 AM on February 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Christ these are brilliant.
posted by MartinWisse at 6:22 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by MartinWisse at 6:22 AM on February 27, 2013
Great stuff!
If you enjoyed reading about ant sex, you might also enjoy Chris Ware's depictions of idealized bee sex.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:29 AM on February 27, 2013
If you enjoyed reading about ant sex, you might also enjoy Chris Ware's depictions of idealized bee sex.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:29 AM on February 27, 2013
Caterpillars v ants v wasps in Hans Rickheit's six-page Mother's Day comic. (Metafilter Projects previously).
posted by Paul Slade at 6:34 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by Paul Slade at 6:34 AM on February 27, 2013
Strangely misogynistic.
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:41 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:41 AM on February 27, 2013
Strangely misogynistic.
How so?
Much of the interest in this for me came down to the disconnect of human desires and motivations projected down into the alien society and biology of ants -- which ends up pointing up how both ants and humans are alien and artificial and bizarre.
I don't think it's de facto misogynistic to point out that ant biology does not involve gender equality.
posted by ook at 6:58 AM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
How so?
Much of the interest in this for me came down to the disconnect of human desires and motivations projected down into the alien society and biology of ants -- which ends up pointing up how both ants and humans are alien and artificial and bizarre.
I don't think it's de facto misogynistic to point out that ant biology does not involve gender equality.
posted by ook at 6:58 AM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also: Very reminiscent of Anders Nilsen's Big Questions [PDF].
posted by shakespeherian at 6:58 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by shakespeherian at 6:58 AM on February 27, 2013
Loved this - more, please.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 7:10 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 7:10 AM on February 27, 2013
I guess it was the "so gross in there" remark that got to me.
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:12 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:12 AM on February 27, 2013
I guess it was the "so gross in there" remark that got to me.
I find this response interesting. It's misogynistic to say it's gross inside a vagina? What if it was a non-sexualized orifice like a woman's mouth or nose? Would it be homophobic if I said a man's anus was gross? I ask because frankly I believe every human orifice is gross in its own unique way and I don't think that says anything about the quality of the person in charge of the orifice.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:41 AM on February 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I find this response interesting. It's misogynistic to say it's gross inside a vagina? What if it was a non-sexualized orifice like a woman's mouth or nose? Would it be homophobic if I said a man's anus was gross? I ask because frankly I believe every human orifice is gross in its own unique way and I don't think that says anything about the quality of the person in charge of the orifice.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:41 AM on February 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I find this response interesting. It's misogynistic to say it's gross inside a vagina? What if it was a non-sexualized orifice like a woman's mouth or nose? Would it be homophobic if I said a man's anus was gross? I ask because frankly I believe every human orifice is gross in its own unique way and I don't think that says anything about the quality of the person in charge of the orifice.
Also, it's an ant.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 8:42 AM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, it's an ant.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 8:42 AM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also this comic is not at all accurate in terms of ants' reproduction.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:59 AM on February 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by shakespeherian at 8:59 AM on February 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
Thousands of ants just did their business in that vagina. That's why it's gross.
posted by jewzilla at 10:12 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by jewzilla at 10:12 AM on February 27, 2013
Holy moly this is just the kind of thing I'd like to be able to create.
posted by Jonathan Harford at 10:34 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by Jonathan Harford at 10:34 AM on February 27, 2013
Holy moly this is just the kind of thing I'd like to be able to create.
posted by Jonathan Harford at 10:34 AM on February 27 [+] [!]
What's stopping you? All you need to make comics is a pen, some paper and a little imagination.
posted by Paul Slade at 11:44 AM on February 27, 2013
posted by Jonathan Harford at 10:34 AM on February 27 [+] [!]
What's stopping you? All you need to make comics is a pen, some paper and a little imagination.
posted by Paul Slade at 11:44 AM on February 27, 2013
But I only have two out of three!
obvious joke is obvious
and irresistible
posted by ook at 12:02 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
obvious joke is obvious
and irresistible
posted by ook at 12:02 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Aw dang, and here I was working on an FPP about Deforge :(
I'll try to get it polished up and post the links to this thread tonight while it's still on the front page.
posted by Merzbau at 12:12 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'll try to get it polished up and post the links to this thread tonight while it's still on the front page.
posted by Merzbau at 12:12 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
What's weird is that I can't tell what's based on true facts and what isn't. Ants like sugar but are killed by Sweet'n'Low? That's totally believable. Ants affected by smells? Yeah, pheromones. Monthly sperm deposits in the queen? Um, that sounds odd, but I've heard odder on nature documentaries.
posted by benito.strauss at 1:31 PM on February 27, 2013
posted by benito.strauss at 1:31 PM on February 27, 2013
What's weird is that I can't tell what's based on true facts and what isn't.
For starters, there are no male ants. Every member of an actual hive is female, males only show up during breeding season to inseminate new queens and then die off in a matter of days. Spiders don't have milk. Earthworms do not divide infinitesimally. It's best to treat it as its own little self-contained reality.
posted by Quart at 2:09 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
For starters, there are no male ants. Every member of an actual hive is female, males only show up during breeding season to inseminate new queens and then die off in a matter of days. Spiders don't have milk. Earthworms do not divide infinitesimally. It's best to treat it as its own little self-contained reality.
posted by Quart at 2:09 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
There are male ants, but they have wings, and are short-lived enough and single-purpose enough that it's easiest to think of them as inseminators and nothing else (they develop from unfertilized eggs, to boot). Fertile females also have wings and they mate with the males in the air (once only), after which they are fertilized for the remainder of their lives. These new queens land on the ground, shed their wings, and crawl off somewhere either to start a new colony or to join an extant colony-- if they're starting their own, their bodies slowly digest the now-useless wing-powering muscles so they don't starve to death while they lay eggs and gradually build a colony which will then feed them.
Every other ant is an infertile female, because (like in Jurassic Park) the biological default tends to be female.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:26 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Every other ant is an infertile female, because (like in Jurassic Park) the biological default tends to be female.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:26 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
This is weird. But awesome. But terrifying.
posted by asnider at 5:46 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by asnider at 5:46 PM on February 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wow. That was so good. I feel like I just got run over by a truck of creativity.
posted by threeants at 6:37 PM on February 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by threeants at 6:37 PM on February 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
For some odd reason, the tone really reminded me of the manga The Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezu. (I've never read any other manga before or since, and I read it in French, so take that with a grain of Sweet 'n Low.)
posted by threeants at 6:38 PM on February 27, 2013
posted by threeants at 6:38 PM on February 27, 2013
What's stopping you? All you need to make comics is a pen, some paper and a little imagination.
It's early days yet, but I assure you I am working on it!
posted by Jonathan Harford at 7:33 PM on February 27, 2013
It's early days yet, but I assure you I am working on it!
posted by Jonathan Harford at 7:33 PM on February 27, 2013
I love ants. I also love comics. It's like this was created just for me! I love it.
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:47 PM on February 27, 2013
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:47 PM on February 27, 2013
I absolutely loved this, thank you! I'm definitely going to have to buy some of the man's work on paper.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 6:41 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 6:41 PM on February 28, 2013
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posted by seanmpuckett at 5:23 AM on February 27, 2013 [5 favorites]