Writer/Artist: David Petersen
Publisher: Archaia Studios Press
It is hard not to like this book. David Peterson produced remarkable work with Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and now he's providing a sequel series.
A group of mice must overcome the harsh reality of winter. They are low on food and other supplies like medicine. Five mice are sent into this snowstorm to gather food and medicine, so the others can survive the winter. Their journey is difficult and severe, but they reach Sprucetuck by tunnelling into the snow and avoiding the horrendous snowstorm. Sprucetuck is a remote mice colony who live in an old tree. When the five mice buy the Elixer they need, there is no time for them to rest. They set foot into the winter land again to get the medicine back as quickly as they can. The mice have to travel at night when a dangerous enemy lucks in the dark.
There is an amazing sweetness to this comic book that has all the qualities what makes The Wind in The Willows a classic. Mouse Guard is a fairy tale-like narrative that appeals to both children and adults, which every classic children’s book does.
Peterson and Archaia Studios Press have taken a bold leap to bring us a totally different experience when it comes to comic book reading. No men in tights or bigger than life fables that splashes from the pages. I admire their courage to publish this narrative in a market dominated by Marvel and DC superhero books.
These mice are no superheroes, but still they do heroic deeds. Petersen accomplishes to reveal the drama of what it must be like to be a small mouse travelling through a winter storm. The mellowness of this wonderful adventure is just the right mood to drag you into this world of talking mice.
David Petersen is handling all the creative aspects of Mouse Guard, which by itself is a huge achievement. His art is more like good picture book illustrations than Disney animation. He has found his own voice and style which makes this a solid read. I can imagine that for an artist it is difficult to create unique characters out of mice that basically all look the same. But by giving the mice diverse costumes and accessories, each character is defined individually. Maybe Petterson could have brought slightly more characterization through dynamic variations of the mice's heads, but I can see this is a hard task because the head of a mouse doesn’t has a lot of variation in it. For instance, an older mouse could have hanging ears or more hair under his chin to simulate a beard, but that’s just my interpretation.
The scenes in the snow demonstrate a wonderful color palette, and you can feel the cold leaping from the pages. When the mice enter Sprucetuck, Petersen uses warm colors to make this a lovely safe haven, which made me want to drink a cup of hot chocolate.
My minor criticism of Mouse Guard involves the lettering. It is creative but not always easy to read, especially the curly letters in some captions.
If you love fairytales, this is a must have for you, and if you haven’t already bought the excellent hardcover of Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 the first part of this epic, do yourself a favour and order it, because Mouse Guard is the comic book equivalent of Watership Down.
For more information about this reviewer, go to www.martijnform.com
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