Thursday, July 31, 2008

Mouse Guard Autumn 1152

A Review of the book by David Petersen…

Issue 3 Cover - The one that started it for me

The Collected Hard Backed Cover

Back when it first appeared I picked up a copy of issue #3 of Mouse Guard Autumn 1152, so when I saw it had been collected together as an hard backed book version I bought it.

The square format sets it apart from many of its contemporaries as soon as you see its cover, but it isn’t just the design aspect of Mouse Guard, which engaged me, there is far more to it than that.

Engaging me nowadays, as I tend to buy more re-issued hard backed collections (my Jack Kirby collection is coming along nicely) or the occasional European albums with only the occasional foray into new books, is no mean feat.

The artwork, obviously the first thing you notice with sequential art is exquisitely executed and the writing fills in the space behind the pictures perfectly, adding to the warmth and charm of the characters.

The story is an engaging tale and carries the reader along at a pace. It is one of the few books recently that I have sat and read in one sitting. Not that it is a simple or sparsely worded tome, no just a well balanced and well told tale of characters you can immediately identify and associate with.

The use of anthropomorphic characters is of course nothing new, but these kinds of stories have always held wonderment for me. After all companies like Disney have made an empire out of their use, but David’s Mice are so easily recognised as Mice with all the qualities of men and women, without the guise of human form.

I liked issue #3 when I bought it, and my assumptions about the overall storyline upon reading that issue, where correct, as I found out when I recently read the full story.

I can’t wait to see the second series, Mouse Guard – Winter 1152 and the third series, Black Axe – 1099-1016, if this first foray is anything to go by.

I recommend you go out and check out this wonderful story.

It’s the kind of thing you can read on a winter’s evening, although I don’t for one second suggest you wait that long, just re-read it when the cold, dark nights draw in.

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
July 31st 2008

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