Mr. Ant and the Pest was a comic illustrated by Ted Phillips and believed to have been a launch comic on Ted's Fun Site around March 22, 1998.
The Joke
Mr. Ant and the Pest features two interconnected tenets of late 1990s Ted Phillips humor, irony and violence, as well as his absurdism. This comic tends to subvert expectations to the point of reflecting reality, adding the comedy of truth.
The comic features two household pests, an ant and a mouse, both of whom are trying to take cheese that has been left as bait on a mousetrap.
First, the irony relates to the expectation that one of them will be caught in the trap; however, the expectation is subverted and reality is reflected when the mouse is able to successfully take the bait without being caught by the trap.
Second, the expectation would be that a mouse should not be fearful of a smaller, weaker, and slower competitor, but as in reality, the mouse is skittish and runs away.
Next, the ant, whose species are excellent trackers, follows the trail of the mouse to the location of the trap, which the reader can see in advance. Violence is typically understood as ironic comedy when either the observer or the receiver has prior knowledge of potential injury and rather than avoidance proceeds towards making the injury reality.
The final panel features absurdism, as the ant is still alive after being decapitated, swearing revenge. The implication is that in the sequel, Mr. Ant will be intact and healthy.
The comic features two household pests, an ant and a mouse, both of whom are trying to take cheese that has been left as bait on a mousetrap.
First, the irony relates to the expectation that one of them will be caught in the trap; however, the expectation is subverted and reality is reflected when the mouse is able to successfully take the bait without being caught by the trap.
Second, the expectation would be that a mouse should not be fearful of a smaller, weaker, and slower competitor, but as in reality, the mouse is skittish and runs away.
Next, the ant, whose species are excellent trackers, follows the trail of the mouse to the location of the trap, which the reader can see in advance. Violence is typically understood as ironic comedy when either the observer or the receiver has prior knowledge of potential injury and rather than avoidance proceeds towards making the injury reality.
The final panel features absurdism, as the ant is still alive after being decapitated, swearing revenge. The implication is that in the sequel, Mr. Ant will be intact and healthy.
History
The comic appeared on Ted's Fun Site on or after March 22, 1998, likely as a launch comic on the site. He originally intended for Mr. Ant and the Pest to become a series, with new ant-ics posted to the site regularly.
When Ted began experimenting with 3D graphics and navigation on Ted's Fun Site, Mr. Ant and the Pest was the only comic Ted attempted to convert to 3D imagery. However, this was never completed.
When Ted's Web Site disappeared in 1999, this comic was no longer available to the public.
Unlike other comics by Ted Phillips, Mr. Ant and the Pest was illustrated completely using a computer, so there were no physical cels. When John Phillips moved to Millbrook in October 2000, he took the original hard drives with him, so the only remaining copies of the comic at the studio were on a floppy disk backup of Ted's Fun Site.
However, by the time Ted launched Thingamabob.com2 in December 2000 and sought to recover Mr. Ant and the Pest, he no longer had copies of the software required to open the backup files, as the software's owner John Phillips had also taken them when he moved to Millbrook.
When the Cracked Egg Studios web site first listed it as an early comic, Mr. Ant and the Pest was misremembered as being called "Mr. Ant and the Cheese."
Over the years, the floppy disk media deteriorated and the comic was considered to be permanently lost. However, Nick Phillips had made another copy of the Ted's Fun Site's comics backup on a hard disk in 2007. In March 2024, analysis of the surviving data allowed recovery of Mr. Ant and the Pest, over 2 decades after it was lost.
The comic reappeared when the Cracked Egg Studios web site re-released Ted's Fun Site on March 19, 2024.
When Ted began experimenting with 3D graphics and navigation on Ted's Fun Site, Mr. Ant and the Pest was the only comic Ted attempted to convert to 3D imagery. However, this was never completed.
When Ted's Web Site disappeared in 1999, this comic was no longer available to the public.
Unlike other comics by Ted Phillips, Mr. Ant and the Pest was illustrated completely using a computer, so there were no physical cels. When John Phillips moved to Millbrook in October 2000, he took the original hard drives with him, so the only remaining copies of the comic at the studio were on a floppy disk backup of Ted's Fun Site.
However, by the time Ted launched Thingamabob.com2 in December 2000 and sought to recover Mr. Ant and the Pest, he no longer had copies of the software required to open the backup files, as the software's owner John Phillips had also taken them when he moved to Millbrook.
When the Cracked Egg Studios web site first listed it as an early comic, Mr. Ant and the Pest was misremembered as being called "Mr. Ant and the Cheese."
Over the years, the floppy disk media deteriorated and the comic was considered to be permanently lost. However, Nick Phillips had made another copy of the Ted's Fun Site's comics backup on a hard disk in 2007. In March 2024, analysis of the surviving data allowed recovery of Mr. Ant and the Pest, over 2 decades after it was lost.
The comic reappeared when the Cracked Egg Studios web site re-released Ted's Fun Site on March 19, 2024.