Michael DeForge

Last updated
Michael DeForge
Michael DeForge, Small Press Expo, September 2017.png
DeForge in 2017
Born1987
Area(s)cartoonist
Notable works
Lose
Very Casual
Ant Colony
http://www.michael-deforge.com

Michael DeForge (born 1987) is a Canadian comics artist and illustrator. [1] [2]

Contents

Biography

DeForge grew up in Ottawa and attended the University of Toronto, dropping out after two years. [1] He lives and works in Toronto. [3]

According to DeForge, he has "always been drawing cartoons" and learned to read and draw from his parents' comic strip collections such as Bloom County , Far Side , Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes . [4] [5] [6] He has described Peanuts as his all-time favorite cartoon strip. [7] He read and tried to draw in the style of superhero comics until junior high and high school. [4] He has described his early comics as "just these dinky revenge cartoons" in response to having been "picked on a lot growing up". [5] In high school he realized that drawing could be a vocation and started drawing gig posters, initially in exchange for free entrance to concerts until he started charging for his work. [5] He became interested in the work of Marc Bell (which he saw for first time in Exclaim! ) and Matt Brinkman and has described Chester Brown's I Never Liked You as his "introduction to alternative comics". [4] [6] [8] He also cites Chloe Lum and Yannick Desranleau's Seripop work as strongly affecting how he wanted to draw for some time. [4] Artists that he cites as having been important during formative points in his life include Hideshi Hino, Jack Kirby, Derek Jarman, Eduardo Muñoz Bachs, Prince, Mary Blair, Saul Steinberg and Mark Newgarden. [4]

DeForge worked as a designer for Cartoon Network's Adventure Time . [9] [10] He has described his work as a "props and effects designer" with "odd bits of storyboard work, character design and concept art" and "the best day job I could have ever asked for". [10]

He self-identifies as a Socialist. [11]

Work

DeForge had been an active member of the regional Toronto comics scene for several years before his Cave Adventure webcomic and the first issue of Lose brought wider exposure. [12] He has said that attending the 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) and seeing all the work at the festival provided him with the impetus to make his own comic series, Lose. [7] He also met Annie Koyama, who became his publisher, at that festival. [7] Before the 2009 TCAF, DeForge had been experimenting with a variety of short comics and strips. [7] He has described Lose as his first "real" comic. [7]

Lose #1, the first issue of his "one-man anthology series", published by Koyama Press in 2009, won "Best Emerging Talent" at the 2010 Doug Wright Awards. [13] [14] [15] Lose #2, published by Koyama in 2010, was nominated in the 2011 Doug Wright Awards "Best Book" category. [15] [16] All but the last 3 pages of the 24 page comic features DeForge's story It's Chip, described by Koyama as "a stand alone horror comic about two children and the monsters they find in the woods". [16] [17] Rob Clough, writing in his High-Low column in The Comics Journal, described it as combining "sibling rivalry and family/school dynamics with weird anthropomorphic cuteness with some truly disgusting, repulsive images", a "tremendous success" and "a story I'd point to if asked to name truly successful and innovative Fusion comics". [2] DeForge has said that "Fusion comics", a term coined by Frank Santoro to describe a cartooning style that fuses influences from a variety of sources such as alternative comics, genre comics, manga and animation, is an appropriate way to describe some of his comics but it's not something he sets out to achieve when working on a comic. [18]

Spotting Deer (2010), a 12-page full-colour comic described by DeForge as documenting "the biology and behavioural patterns of a fictional species of slug called the 'Spotting Deer,' who are deer-shaped and deer-sized and populate most Canadian cities", won the 2011 Pigskin Peters Award for best non-narrative or experimental work. [8] [19] The comic was developed from the initial idea of "formatting it like an encyclopedia entry". [8]

The third issue of DeForge's Lose series was published by Koyama in 2011 and debuted at the 2011 TCAF. [20] [21] DeForge's work won the 2011 Ignatz Award for "Outstanding Comic" and was nominated for the "Outstanding Artist" and "Outstanding Series" awards. [22] Lose #3 also received a nomination for the Doug Wright Award for "Best Book". [15] The issue included the 3 page Improv Night, the main story Dog 2070, Manananggal and some Ant Story strips. [2]

In 2011, Study Group Magazine issue #1 included DeForge's Riders comic. [23] Deforge's 2 page comic Young People was included in Marvel's Strange Tales II (Strange Tales MAX #2) anthology for non-mainstream comics writers and artists, published under the MAX imprint. [12] [24] ComicsAlliance described it as a story where "teenage superheroes flee the scene when powers they can’t fully control melt one of their teammates into a puddle of sentient water". [24] "Comics", a two-page spread of assorted comics edited by Alvin Buenaventura's in the print edition of The Believer has included DeForge's Titters strip since 2011. [25] [26] Frank Santoro's Riff Raff column in The Comics Journal included DeForge's Intermission Funnies, a weekly gag strip, from August to December 2011. [25] [27] DeForge's four-part serial Rescue Pet was published in the quarterly magazine Maisonneuve's 2011 issues. [25] [28] Mothers News have published Deforge's monthly strip, Military Prison, since November 2011. [29] DeForge has described the strip as his " Wizard of Id fan fiction". Abbey Loafer, a monthly strip, was published in Offerings, a "non-profit, volunteer-based monthly newspaper that covers Toronto's fringe music and arts scene", from December 2011 until July 2013. [30] [31]

DeForge self-published Open Country #1 in May 2011 and issue #2 in fall 2011. [32] Originally planned as a five-part series, DeForge abandoned it "midway through, destroyed all the artwork for and then threw away all the unsold copies". [33]

DeForge has collaborated with Ryan Sands on a number of projects. [34] In 2010, they co-edited Prison for Bitches, described by DeForge as "a Lady Gaga tribute zine full of artwork, writing, and comics". [6] In 2011 and 2012, they co-edited the three issues of Thickness, "an anthology of erotic comics" published by Youth in Decline. [34] [35] Thickness #1 featured work by Katie Skelly, Jonny Negron, Ze Jian Shen, Derek Ballard, True Chubbo. [35] Thickness #2 featured work by Angie Wang, Brandon Graham, Mickey Zacchilli, Lisa Hanawalt, True Chubbo, Jillian Tamaki and included DeForge's College Girl by Night. [35] [36] Thickness #3 featured work by Lamar Abrams, Jimmy Beaulieu, Edie Fake, Julia Gfrörer, William Cardini and Sean T. Collins, Gengoroh Tagame, True Chubbo, Andy Burkholder and HamletMachine. [35] DeForge and Annie Koyama co-edited Root Rot, a forest themed anthology, in 2011. [25] [37] The anthology included work by Jon Vermilyea, Derek M. Ballard, Dan Zettwoch, T. Edward Bak, Robin Nishio, Ines Estrada, Lizz Hickey, Mickey Zacchili, Jesse Jacobs, Jason Fischer, Hellen Jo, Angie Wang, Greg Pizzoli, Joe Lambert, Bob Flynn and Chris "Elio" Eliopoulos. [38] Although DeForge has said that he has "never actually had much interest in being an editor", he co-edited Thickness and Root Rot because he supported the idea behind each book, and enjoys working with Ryan Sands and Annie Koyama, who he said did most of the "heavy lifting". [25]

In February 2012, Secret Headquarters published DeForge's Incinerator minicomic one-shot, [39] [40] [41] and Exams, an 8-page webcomic, was published online by Study Group. [42] Space Face Books published the 8 page minicomic one-shot Molecule, in November 2012. [43]

The fourth issue of DeForge's Lose series, "the fashion issue", was published by Koyama in September 2012 and debuted at the 2012 Small Press Expo (SPX). [44] [45] It won the 2013 Ignatz Award for "Outstanding Artist" and Lose won the "Outstanding Series" award. [46] The issue included Someone I Know and Canadian Royalty together with shorter stories such as The Sixties. [47]

Smoke Signal #15, published March 2013, included two collaborations with Leslie Stein, Watertest, written by DeForge and drawn by Stein, and It's a Lovely Day in Amsterdam, written by Stein and drawn by DeForge. [48] In 2013, Uncivilized Books published DeForge's Structures 24-34, the third issue in their Structures zine series where artists are asked to contribute 11 designs for new structures. [49] Structures 1-11 was by Tom Kaczynski and Structures 12-23 by Vincent Stall. [49]

In May 2013, Koyama published Very Casual, a collection of what they described as notable short stories from DeForge's mini comics, online comics and anthology contributions. [50] [51] It won the 2013 Ignatz Award for "Outstanding Anthology or Collection". [46] Douglas Wolk, writing in The New York Times , described it as a collection of "perverse, funny, haunting stories" where DeForge "warps and dents the assured, geometrical forms of vintage newspaper strips and new wave-era graphics into oddly adorable horrors". [50] It includes All About the Spotting Deer which Wolk described as starting as "a dry parody of nature documentaries" that "mutates into a vignette about an unhappy author, then into a routine about Canadian self-celebration, and ultimately folds in on itself". [50]

The fifth issue of DeForge's Lose series was published by Koyama in June 2013 and debuted at the 2013 Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE). [52] [53] The issue included three self-contained stories, Living Outdoors, Muskoka and Recent Hires. [52]

DeForge's monthly webcomic Leather Space Man, has been published on Random House of Canada's Hazlitt site since August 2013. [54] According to Chris Randle, writing for Hazlitt, it "imagines Prince as an unearthly fetish-gear-wreathed enigma, then imagines the implications of that". [55] Space Face Books published The Boy In Question 20 page minicomic one-shot in the summer of 2013. [56] Duk Duk Goose was published online by Study Group in October 2013. [57] The November 2013 issue of ArtReview Magazine including DeForge's 2 page strip Dot Com. [58]

Ant Colony (2014), DeForge's first book-length story, collects his web based weekly strip Ant Comic. [4] [59] [60] [61] Drawn & Quarterly publisher Chris Oliveros described DeForge as "one of those rare talents who emerge, out of the blue, with a fully formed and singularly unique vision" and a "striking visual sensibility and peculiar sense of humor...entirely his own". [62]

Commercial work

In 2013, DeForge, along with Ryan Sands, started working on a pilot for Cartoon Network. Entitled MallNation, the concept for it came into fruition in 2013, with DeForge and Sands working on a pilot over the course of a year. [63] Development stalled while writing a storyboard for its pilot episode, prompting both to discuss the project while releasing concept art. It was pitched as an animated television series revolving around the entire student population of an elementary school being punished for scoring the lowest on a standardized test out of the entire country through being confined inside of an abandoned shopping mall. Exploring how the children would learn to "live together and get along with each other in this unsupervised, anarchic society" was the central theme to the series, DeForge explained, with "all the cliques of the school branch off into their different storefronts". [64] DeForge further noted that episodes would expand upon the blueprint of the mall as the children explore and work together "to build something new and cool out of their situation." [64]

Writing for her website Comics & Cola , Zainab Akhtar found the premise disturbing to ponder, but likewise something that she would secretly wish to happen to herself. In addition to praising DeForge and Sands, she felt "actually gutted this didn't get made; it looks and sounds amazing", and hoped for it to continue in another incarnation. [63] The blog posts by DeForge and Sands' which Akhtar referred to regarding the pilot were later taken down by Cartoon Network, with DeForge stating that he had "jumped the gun" [65] and Sands establishing that further discussion would have to wait. [66]

Twitter

Paste named his Twitter one of "The 75 Best Twitter Accounts of 2014" ranking it at #9. [67]

Bibliography

Minicomics, webcomics and anthology contributions

Series

Collections

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bagge</span> American cartoonist (born 1957)

Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics Neat Stuff and Hate. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth. He won two Harvey Awards in 1991, one for best cartoonist and one for his work on Hate. In recent decades Bagge has done more fact-based comics, everything from biographies to history to comics journalism. Publishers of Bagge's articles, illustrations, and comics include suck.com, MAD Magazine, toonlet, Discover, and the Weekly World News, with the comic strip Adventures of Batboy. He has expressed his libertarian views in features for Reason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative comics</span> Independent comic publications

Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which in the past have dominated the American comic book industry. They span across a wide range of genres, artistic styles, and subjects.

A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 or less.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Brown</span> Canadian cartoonist (born 1960)

Chester William David Brown is a Canadian cartoonist. Brown has gone through several stylistic and thematic periods. He gained notice in alternative comics circles in the 1980s for the surreal, scatological Ed the Happy Clown serial. After bringing Ed to an abrupt end, he delved into confessional autobiographical comics in the early 1990s and was strongly associated with fellow Toronto-based cartoonists Joe Matt and Seth, and the autobiographical comics trend. Two graphic novels came from this period: The Playboy (1992) and I Never Liked You (1994). Surprise mainstream success in the 2000s came with Louis Riel (2003), a historical-biographical graphic novel about rebel Métis leader Louis Riel. Paying for It (2011) drew controversy as a polemic in support of decriminalizing prostitution, a theme he explored further with Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus (2016), a book of adaptations of stories from the Bible that Brown believes promote pro-prostitution attitudes among early Christians.

Matt Feazell is an American cartoonist from Hamtramck, Michigan, primarily working in minicomics. He is best known for his wryly humorous The Amazing Cynicalman series and the simple "stick figure" art style he uses for it. Cynicalman appears in the introduction to Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics, in which Feazell's work is cited as an example of "iconic" art taken to its greatest degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drawn & Quarterly</span> Canadian publishing house

Drawn & Quarterly (D+Q) is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic content, as well as the quality of printing and design. The name of the company is a pun on "drawing", "quarterly", and the practice of hanging, drawing and quartering. Initially it specialized in underground and alternative comics, but has since expanded into classic reprints and translations of foreign works. Drawn & Quarterly was the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s.

The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a year in 2001 due to the show's cancellation after the September 11 attacks. As of 2014 SPX has been held in either Bethesda, North Bethesda, or Silver Spring, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Doucet</span> Canadian comic artist and writer

Julie Doucet is a Canadian underground cartoonist and artist, best known for her autobiographical works such as Dirty Plotte and My New York Diary. Her work is concerned with such topics as "sex, violence, menstruation and male/female issues."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Horrocks</span> New Zealand cartoonist

Dylan Horrocks is a New Zealand cartoonist best known for his graphic novel Hicksville and his scripts for the Batgirl comic book series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Shuster Award</span>

The Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and comics retailers and publishers by Canadians. The awards, first handed out in April 2005, are named in honour of Joe Shuster (1914–1992), the Canadian-born co-creator of Superman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Wright Award</span> Annual award for Canadian cartoonists

The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning are literary awards handed out annually since 2005 during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival to Canadian cartoonists honouring excellence in comics and graphic novels published in English. The awards are named in honour of Canadian cartoonist Doug Wright. Winners are selected by a jury of Canadians who have made significant contributions to national culture, based on shortlisted selections provided by a nominating committee of five experts in the comics field. The Wrights are handed out in three main categories, "Best Book", "The Spotlight Award", and, since 2008, the "Pigskin Peters Award" for non-narrative or experimental works. In 2020, the organizers added "The Egghead", an award for best kids’ book for readers under twelve. In addition to the awards, since 2005 the organizers annually induct at least one cartoonist into the Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartoonist Hall Fame.

<i>Ed the Happy Clown</i> Graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown

Ed the Happy Clown is a graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. Its title character is a large-headed, childlike children's clown who undergoes one horrifying affliction after another. The story is a dark, humorous mix of genres and features scatological humour, sex, body horror, extreme graphic violence, and blasphemous religious imagery. Central to the plot are a man who cannot stop defecating; the head of a miniature, other-dimensional Ronald Reagan attached to the head of Ed's penis; and a female vampire who seeks revenge on her adulterous lover who had murdered her to escape his sins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Huizenga</span> American cartoonist (born 1977)

Kevin Huizenga is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comics character Glenn Ganges, who appears in most of his work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Sturm</span> American cartoonist

James Sturm is an American cartoonist and co-founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. Sturm is also the founder of the National Association of Comics Art Educators (NACAE), an organization committed to helping facilitate the teaching of comics in higher education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Beaton</span> Canadian comics artist (born 1983)

Kathryn Moira Beaton is a Canadian comics artist best known as the creator of the comic strip Hark! A Vagrant, which ran from 2007 to 2018. Her other major works include the children's books The Princess and the Pony and King Baby, published in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The former was made into an Apple TV+ series called Pinecone & Pony released in 2022 on which Beaton worked as an executive producer. Also in 2022, Beaton released a memoir in graphic novel form, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, about her experience working in the Alberta oil sands. Publishers Weekly named Ducks one of their top ten books of the year.

The Masters of the Universe media franchise has appeared in several comic book series. Most were small publications, which were included as bonuses with action figures. Standalone comic-book series were also published by DC, Marvel Comics, London Edition Magazines and Image Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Davis</span> American cartoonist and illustrator

Eleanor McCutcheon Davis is an American cartoonist and illustrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian comics</span> Comic originating in Canada

Canadian comics refers to comics and cartooning by citizens of Canada or permanent residents of Canada regardless of residence. Canada has two official languages, and distinct comics cultures have developed in English and French Canada. The English tends to follow American trends, and the French, Franco-Belgian ones, with little crossover between the two cultures. Canadian comics run the gamut of comics forms, including editorial cartooning, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, and webcomics, and are published in newspapers, magazines, books, and online. They have received attention in international comics communities and have received support from the federal and provincial governments, including grants from the Canada Council for the Arts. There are comics publishers throughout the country, as well as large small press, self-publishing, and minicomics communities.

Koyama Press was a comics publishing company founded in 2007 by Annie Koyama and based in Canada. Since its establishment in 2007, Koyama Press sought to promote and provide support to an array of emerging and established artists, including Michael DeForge, Jesse Jacobs, Rokudenashiko, and Julia Wertz. Koyama Press funded and produced a diverse collection of publications and artist's projects, including comics, art books, exhibitions, prints, and zines. In 2018, Koyama Press announced its intent to cease operations in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Glidden</span> American cartoonist (born 1980)

Sarah Glidden is an American cartoonist known for her nonfiction comics and graphic novels.

References

  1. 1 2 "Michael DeForge, cartoonist". What Things Do. Archived from the original on 2014-02-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Rob Clough (5 October 2011). "The Burden of Promise: Fusion & The Comics of Michael DeForge". The Comics Journal.
  3. "Featured Guests". Toronto Comic Arts Festival.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 J. Caleb Mozzocco (5 February 2014). "Ant-Man: Cartoonist Michael DeForge On His Graphic Novel 'Ant Colony' - Interview". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Nick Gazin (4 December 2009). "Michael Deforge Really Likes Shoe". Vice.
  6. 1 2 3 "Lose: An Interview with Michael DeForge". The Excerpt. 5 August 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Interview: Michael DeForge (Lose #1 & #2, 2010)". Avoid the Future. 9 April 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 "A Q&A with Doug Wright Award winner Michael DeForge". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 13 May 2011.
  9. Marc Arsenault (11 October 2011). "Meet The Artists of Adventure Time". Wow Cool. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014.
  10. 1 2 Alex Dueben (27 January 2014). "Michael DeForge builds an "Ant Colony"". Comic Book Resources.
  11. "Michael DeForge's passion for comics and interest in utopian societies shapes his graphic novels and comic art". CBC.
  12. 1 2 Matt Seneca (3 March 2011). "Michael DeForge: Making the Most Exciting Work in Comics Today". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014.
  13. "Lose 1". Koyama Press. 2009.
  14. "Michael DeForge - Biography". Drawn & Quarterly.
  15. 1 2 3 "Past Winners". Doug Wright Awards.
  16. 1 2 "Lose 2". Koyama Press. 2010.
  17. Martin Steenton (15 April 2010). "Lose #1 & 2, Michael DeForge (Koyama Press, 2009-10)". Avoid the Future.
  18. Chris Randle (26 April 2011). "Playing Nightmares for Laughter". Toronto Standard.
  19. "Spotting Deer". Koyama Press.
  20. "Lose 3". Koyama Press. 2011.
  21. "LOSE #3, by Michael DeForge". TCAF. 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-03-05.
  22. "2011 Ignatz Award Winners". Small Press Expo.
  23. "Study Group Magazine #1". Study Group Comic Books. 2011.
  24. 1 2 Laura Hudson (21 February 2011). "Perry Bible Fellowship Meets Galactus in the Strange Tales II". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 "Michael DeForge". Squidface & The Meddler. 2011.
  26. "All the Issues of the Believer". McSweeney's.
  27. Michael DeForge (2011). "Intermission Funnies". The Comics Journal.
  28. Eric Mutrie (23 December 2011). "Interview With Michael DeForge". Maisonneuve.
  29. "Back issues of Mothers News". Mothers News. Archived from the original on 2014-02-05.
  30. "Abbey Loafer". Michael DeForge. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11.
  31. "Offerings". Offerings.
  32. 1 2 Sean T. Collins (2011). "Comics Time: Open Country #1". Attentiondeficitdisorderly.
  33. "Haiyan benefit sale/auctions". Michael DeForge Blog. Michael DeForge. Archived from the original on 2014-02-06.
  34. 1 2 Tom Spurgeon (12 May 2013). "CR Sunday Interview: Ryan Sands". The Comics Reporter.
  35. 1 2 3 4 "Thickness". Youth in Decline.
  36. Sean T. Collins (1 January 2012). "'I generally want my comics to feel like dreams': An interview with Michael DeForge". Comic Book Resources.
  37. "Root Rot". Squidface & The Meddler. 2011.
  38. "Root Rot". Koyama Press. 2011.
  39. "SHQ + Michael DeForge". Secret Headquarters. 7 February 2012.
  40. Frank Santoro (1 April 2012). "New Talent Showcase 2". Riff Raff. The Comics Journal.
  41. Noah Berlatsky (6 November 2013). "You're a Dismembered Meme, Charlie Brown". The Hooded Utilitarian.
  42. Michael DeForge (19 February 2012). "Exams". Study Group Comic Books.
  43. "Molecules". Space Face Books. 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12.
  44. "Lose 4". Koyama Press. 2012.
  45. "SPX 2012 Debut Books". Small Press Expo. 2012.
  46. 1 2 Joseph Hughes (15 September 2013). "Michael DeForge Leads Your 2013 Ignatz Award Winners". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014.
  47. Alex Hern (17 March 2013). "Review: Lose #4". New Statesman.
  48. Smoke Signal #15, Desert Island, March 2013, pp. 7, 19
  49. 1 2 "Structures 24-34". Uncivilized Books. 2013.
  50. 1 2 3 Douglas Wolk (31 May 2013). "Healthy Appetites". The New York Times.
  51. "Very Casual". Koyama Press. 2013.
  52. 1 2 "Lose 5". Koyama Press. 2013.
  53. "2013 EXPO - debuts". The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo. June 2013.
  54. Michael Deforge. "World of the Leather Space Man". Hazlitt, Random House of Canada. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28.
  55. Chris Randle (16 January 2014). "A Bug's Strife: On Michael DeForge's Ant Colony". Hazlitt, Random House of Canada.
  56. "The Boy In Question". Space Face Books. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-09-20.
  57. Michael DeForge (24 October 2013). "Duk Duk Goose". Study Group Comic Books.
  58. Paul Gravett (November 2013). "Michael Deforge: The Awe and The Awfulness". ArtReview Magazine.
  59. David Berry (29 January 2014). "Breakdown: The bright and horrible world of Michael Deforge's Ant Colony". National Post. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014.
  60. Sean Rogers (7 February 2014). "Ant Colony: Add Michael DeForge's latest to the canon of great funny animal comics". The Globe and Mail.
  61. Sean T. Collins (25 March 2013). "Reviews - Ant Comic". The Comics Journal.
  62. Tom Spurgeon (13 July 2012). "D+Q Announces Publishing Deal With Michael DeForge For His Ant Colony Book". The Comics Reporter.
  63. 1 2 Akhtar, Zainab (August 4, 2014). "Michael DeForge and Ryan Sands' abandoned Cartoon Network show, MallNation". Comics & Cola. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  64. 1 2 Armitage, Hugh (August 4, 2014). "Michael DeForge, Ryan Sands reveal rejected Cartoon Network project". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  65. DeForge, Michael (August 4, 2014). "MallNation". Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  66. Sands, Ryan (August 3, 2014). "Update". Youth in Decline. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  67. Hongo, Hudson (15 December 2014). "The 75 Best Twitter Accounts of 2014 :: Comedy :: Lists :: Paste". Paste . Retrieved 26 December 2014.