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.