It's a comic book I remember reading many years ago and probably no one else will know of it, but here goes...

I think it was a DC comic. It consisted of several "short stories" of a sci fi/horror nature. There is one story that I can remember a few details from. An astronaut/pilot in an atomic powered rocket crashes in the desert. He is not killed but I think he is paralyzed. The radiation from his ship causes the ants in a nearby ant colony to mutate and become intelligent. Their civilization grows at an accelerated rate and they build cities, etc. All this time the pilot is kept alive by the ants(I think) and he observes everything that is happening. Including when two rival ant factions destroy each other in an atomic war.

Although I think it is unlikely that anyone will remember this specific issue maybe someone can remember what series/title this could have been in? I think it was published in the early/mid eighties.

I believe you're talking about Wasteland. A great comic from that time period. Don't know the specific issue, but here's the forum for John Ostrander, 1 of the guys who wrote it:
http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/ostrander/

I'm betting he could tell you if it was that comic, and what issue. It was also written by Del Close, who has since died. He was a real interesting guy, quite the life story. Donated his skull to a theater to use as Yorik in Hamlet, as long as he got billing for it! Here's a page about him:
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/.../khjdelcl.html

Wow. That must be what they based the Futurama episode on (when Bender is trapped floating through space). Pretty neat.