Love and Fiction – A Book Blog

Recently, twyls picked up a pair of interesting books from our local library – Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Mousegard: Winter 1152 by David Petersen (actually, I should say two graphic novels). Since I share twyl’s affection for rodents of all kinds, and I’m always looking for good comic book stories, I decided to read them too. We both liked the series so much we chose to do another split review. Since I picked the first book to review, so I will get things started.

This story, Mouse Guard: Fall 1152,  was originally published by Archaia Studios Press in 2006 as  a six issue series. While several characters are introduced throughout the book, I will outline the the three main protagonists. First up is Kenzie (the gray-furred one) – the mature, thoughtful leader of this particular Mouse Guard patrol. Next up is Saxon (the brown-furred one) – a brash but brave soldier who often clashes with Kenzie. Finally there is Lieam (my personal favorite) – the youngest member of the Mouse Guard and still learning the ways of the world.

What starts out as a routine missing person mission winds up getting the trio involved in a dark plot to overthrow the current leadership of the Mouse Territories. Along the way they meet Celenawe, who claims to be the legendary hero known as The Black Axe. The rest of the story is a race against time as the rebel army advances on the Mouse Guard headquarters, Lockhaven. And, of course, there’s the climatic battle scene at the end. While the members of the Mouse Guard defeat their adversaries, that does not mean that all ends well. But I’ll let twyls will fill you in on the rest of the story…

I have to admit, at first I didn’t think I would like this book. I’ve read plenty of stories with anthropomorphic characters, and dropping mice into a sword and sorcery tale seemed a bit too silly for me.  After reading it, however, I fell in love. The simplicity of the world is endearing. There’s no magic or grand backstory; it’s just a stalwart group of mice fighting against nature to survive. And you really get such a good feel for the characters that you almost forget they’re mice. The artwork is clean and straightforward, also, and the design elements are simple but evocative. The entire production has a timeless quality. Naturally, I’d highly recommend it for kids of all ages and anyone else who is young at heart.

P.S. – Interestingly enough, this is not the only comic book to featuring sword wielding mice. Another series, entitled Mice Templar, debuted just months after this one came out.  It’s published by Image Comics and created by Bryan Glass and Michael Avon Oeming. So if you can’t get enough of cute, little rodents acting like Conan the Barbarian you should check out that series as well. Let me know how you think it compares to this one.