WE ARE HUNGRY

Summary

A Mother's love for her babies transforms them into hunters. Printed with hand-carved linocut stamps. This zine stars an Amaurobius ferox mother (aka black lace-weaver spider), her babies and trophic eggs.

Preview

mother spider, trophic eggs, baby spiders, text reads: WE ARE HUNGRY! COPYRIGHT MAGGIE UMBER, WE ARE HUNGRY MAGGIE UMBER

Mother spider, baby spiders, trophic eggs, text reads: WE ARE HUNGRY! FEED US MOTHER! THANK YOU FOR THESE EGGS. THEY ARE TASTY!

Mother spider, baby spiders, trophic eggs, text reads: WE GROW OUR BODIES BULDGING TOO TIGHT WE MUST SHED OUR SKIN!!

Mother spider, baby spiders, trophic eggs, text reads: A MOTHER'S LOVE FOR HER BABIES!

Blurbs

love love love
— dakota knicks

ghost prints
— ShayLee Bissell

Reviews

baby spiders like tiny stars
— Anthony Tadlock

One of a slate of recent releases by Umber, each of which have wildly different aims visually and narratively. She leaves color behind for this one. A stark comic composed of open landscape pages and blocked printed letters and spiders. WE ARE HUNGRY (everything is in all caps in here) is a short tale of matriphagy. This is where a mother's young eat her body. A process natural to some spider species. All the phrasing is urgent and clipped. With gems like, "OUR VENOM COURSES THROUGH ITS BODY" stamped out in rigid black letters. It's less anthropomorphism, and more a translation of the baby spiders' base desire for survival. The central image is a huge black spider and her brood— made with stamps. Some dark, others lighter and "off register" creating an echoing or skittering effect. There is an insatiable hunger for these growing offspring. The simple language and compositions make this read something like a demented board book. The the stark image of the tiny spiders overwhelming their mother is anything but comforting. It's eerie, but also kind of endearing. The ultimate maternal sacrifice.
— Comics Blogger

Trailer

Credits: WE ARE HUNGRY was performed for ZINE NOT DEAD VIIII.
Programmed in p5.js by Maggie Umber.
Music: Ossuary 6 - Air Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).
Digital Font in Video credits: Chunk by Meredith Mandel.

Events

✍ Advanced copies at Zine Pavilion, ALA (American Library Association), 2023

✍ Debuted at ZINEmercado, 2023

✍ 5/25-6/10/18 Plants & Animals, The Learning Machine, Chicago, IL. Curated by Rebecca LADIDA

✍ 7/7/18 ZINE NOT DEAD VIIII, Vam Studio Co., Chicago, IL. Presented by Perfectly Acceptable & Bred Press

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