The Ancients
By Joe Berger | 909 FollowersAbout The Ancients
“The Ancients” wander the high plains, occasionally pausing to ponder the fecklessness and inscrutable ways of the youth, who mill about in the valleys below—sometimes befuddled, sometimes stoical; often wrong, mostly silly.
Modern technology rarely impinges on this liminal realm, though sometimes artifacts from our time are discovered, their uses and origin the subject of intense speculation.
“The Ancients” often refer to themselves in the first person plural, reflecting a sort of combined consciousness—our internal monologues reflected back at us. Often about dishwashers.
If you’ve ever been old, you’ll find a home here.
Meet Joe Berger
Joe Berger has been an artist, illustrator, animator and cartoonist since the early 1990s. As one-half of Berger & Wyse, he produced a weekly cartoon in The Guardian for nearly 20 years. He is the author of several picture books and graphic novels for children, and he has illustrated more than 50 books for other authors.
He has produced Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated title sequences, short films and interstitials, and for the last six years he has been focused on art, making limited-edition giclée and screen prints for sale. He has been writing and drawing “The Ancients” weekly since 2023.
Words and pictures are the backbone of everything Berger does, and although he uses a computer to composite and color, his work all starts with a dip pen and Indian ink on paper—the same tools he has used since borrowing How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way from the local library when he was 12.
Cast of Characters
Nevus
World-weary, self-important and desperately out of touch—there’s a bit of Nevus in all of us, whether we like to admit it or not. All he wants is to share the vast reserves of wisdom he has accumulated over the years. No takers? At heart, he’s a bit of a worrier.
Jot
Jot is perhaps the sunniest of the elders. His naive optimism can act as a useful foil to his friends’ more cynical leanings. He’s generous with his appreciation of others’ jokes and can occasionally throw out a decent one himself, though most of his time is spent worrying.
Calendula
Doubting and skeptical, Calendula’s trust must be earned. She has to call on vast reserves of patience to keep her cool, though her sometimes fierce countenance helps her avoid having to suffer fools too often. Underneath it all, she’s as worried as the rest of us.
Daucus
Daucus, perhaps even more than her friends, fights any external pressure—perceived or real—to conform or to be seen as “relevant.” She is content to plow her own furrow, secure in her own skin. She is a punk, a rebel, a warrior. Did I say warrior? I meant worrier.
The Youth
Are they a homogeneous lump, or are they just too distant to properly see? While the focus of “The Ancients” is, well, the ancients, the youth are never far away with their baffling, infuriating ways. They don’t seem to be doing anything especially malign, but honestly, how can you really tell?