Warm and Fuzzy Part Two

Mouse Guard #1-3





So this is Mouse Guard, a new series from Archaia Studio Press, that has been heralded as the new Bone, and renowned across the blog-o-sphere. I don't know if it's as good as Bone, as at least 2/3 of that series was some of the best comiking I've ever read. Regardless, Mouse Guard is quite good and after getting you up to speed, I'll tell you why.

Mouse Guard stars mice as the heroes of the tail (ba-dump), as you might expect from the title and the pretty pictures above (hence the title of the post: mice are mammals, thus warm, and hairy, thus fuzzy), who are part of an organization called, you guessed it, the Mouse Guard. Their job in times of peace (the Guard was formerly a military unit), is to protect travellers and the like against various woodland enemies. They can also act as pathfinders, weather watchers, and body guards. The characters thus far in the series are Lieam, a reddish coloured mouse who upholds the traditions and honour of the Guard, Saxon, a hothedded brown mouse that doesn't take guff from anyone, Kenzie, a more experienced grey mouse who leads Saxon and Lieam on missions, Sadie, a female mouse who, though courageous, knows the meaning of sacrifice, and finally, the mysterious leader of the Guard, Gwendolyn, who we have yet to meet.

Issue #1 opens with a grain merchant on his way from Rootwallow to Barkstone who tells us that he waived the protection of the Guard because he thought they were more needed elsewhere. Dumbass. Needless to say, the merchant meets misfortune and it is up to Lieam, Kenzie, and Saxon to solve the mystery once it is noticed that the merchant never made it to his destination. They come across his cart only to be attacked by the snake that (presumably) finished off the merchant. The trio puts up a good fight, but make a tactical retreat as Kenzie thinks they can't take it down. In their hiding place, Kenzie delivers the great line: "It matters not what you fight, but what you fight for." After a bit, the snake seems to have left and they emerge to find a nest full of snake eggs, which Kenzie and Saxon promptly destroy. This leaves poor Lieam to deal with the returning snake. And deal with it he does. He jumps into the snakes mouth and stabs it through the head. If that isn't awesome, I don't know what is. Once the snake is dispatched with, the plot thickens as we find out that the unfortunate merchant was a traitor providing secret documents to someone in Barkstone. The issue ends with the trio determined to find out who the documents were going to.

Issue #2 focuses on Sadie who has been tasked with finding a missing Guard member, Conrad, who was last seen in Cologero. Conrad is an older, alcoholic mouse with a peg leg. Again, awesomeness. He surprises Sadie as she rummages through his house then tells her about secret meetings the grain merchant of issue #1 had with a mysterious stranger. They plan to leave for Lockhaven in the morning, but are thwarted by no less than 6 crabs bent on VENGEANCE! What do crabs have to be mad about? I don't know. Who understands the complex phsyche of the multi-legged crustacean? Anyways the duo try to take them down and put up a good fight, but superior numbers win out and Conrad is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice so that Sadie can escape with the information he gave her.

Issue #3 features the Boyz Boyz of issue #1 on their way to Barkstone. They encounter another guard member on the road by the name of Midnight. He can only be described as the token Ninja of any well put together organization. He's all black and carries a bunch of swords and as we all know, black + swords = Ninja. You can't beat that...well maybe with Samurai Pizza Cats, but I digress. They arrive in the city and try to track down some leads on the merchant's delivery location. They realize that they are being followed and Saxon creates a diversion so Lieam can slip away. The diversion? A no-holds barred duel between Saxon and Kenzie! We get to see two of the Guard's elite throw down in a sword vs. staff fight, which Saxon takes a wee bit too seriously and seems to really knock Kenzie out. Meanwhile, Lieam finds that a cartographer (map maker for those non-book learnin' type folk) was the destination for the documents and that there is a coup planned by an armed group of militants called the Axe (no, not that Axe Doug). Lieam joins to gain more information and the other two Guardsmen are tied up and ejected from the city.

Is it good? Yes. Next question. Haha I kid. The book is written and illustrated by David Petersen and his story is very engaging. His illustrations are abso-fucking-lutely (I'm listening to "Usages of the Word Fuck" by Monty Python as I write this) gorgeous and you wouldn't think that expressing emotions on mice is easy, but Petersen sure makes it look that way. The format of having a square comic really adds to the effect of his art because everything is a bit more spread out than the trasitional comic format. Despite being someone of a straightforward tail (haha I love that), of good guys trying to do the right thing, we get elements of mystery and action as well that really engage the reader. Each of the characters has a unique personality and they interact very well together. I actually didn't see what the big deal was when I first read through them, but I did a re-read for this article and I am impressed. Petersen has said in a recent Wizard article that he has lots of stories to tell about the Guard and I for one can't wait. I'll make a prediction right here on June 12, 2006 that the mysterious stranger that was meeting with the merchant is Gwendolyn, the leader of the Mouse Guard.