Mouse Guard Fall 1152

There are a few things that I look for when reading a new comic or a graphic novel: 1) it has a great storyline 2) compelling characters 3) great artwork 4) it’s a continuing series (provided it meets the other criteria, it just means that I don’t have to say goodbye to new friends so quickly) and 5) that it’s got a little bit of something in it for everyone.  And Mouse Guard definently meets that criteria for me…and that last one is probably the most important one.  I like being able to take a comic and it had it friends, family members, and people that I work with and tell them that there’s something in this one just for you.  And I’m betting that they’ll be something that interests you here as well.

The Mouse Guard is composed of those brave mice that fight off intruders, guide mice on journeys from one village to the next, and find safeways and paths through dark territories for their fellow mice.  And they watch each others backs and avenge the fallen.  Saxon, Kenzie and Lieam, three of the bravest Guardmice, are on a mission to find a missing merchant who never arrived home.  But when they find him, dead, they also find a dark secret–there is a traitor in the Guard’s rank.  One that seeks to bring everything down around their ears.  Mice must stand strong against the dark and old heroes rise to help battle evil once more.  Before the end friends will be lost, trust will be broken, and the city may yet fall.  Can the mouse guard reveal the traitor in time?  Or will all be lost?

The artwork is probably my favorite part of this story.  Don’t get me wrong the story is great as well, but the artwork is stunning.  Beautiful watercolor like drawings that just capture enough detail in the fur and the scales and the surrounding to make them real.  David avoids the habit that many artists fall into which is to try to draw every scale, every strand of fur, which ultimately makes everything look like a mess.  Instead David captures just the bare essence of what is needed.  I think one of the best parts of the story is early on, right before Lieam takes on the snake, where he’s just giving it that dead level stare daring it to attack.  I also really like the fight scene where tho mice are taking on multiple crabs.  Crabs, if you aren’t aware, have more colors than most people imagine and all manner of little details that make it and David just does an absolutely wonderful job of capturing those details.  This is the type of book that I can just sit down with for hours on end and look at all of the details in the illustrations.  And then get lost in the story all over again.

I love David’s writing in this first volume and how he draws influences from such a wide variety of stories, from “The Three Musketeers” to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” and yet still creates his own compelling story.  He lets the tension build up slowly and carefully and then reveals the mystery and the plot twist just the right moment so that you don’t ever feel like you figured it out too soon.  He also does a great job of creating the characters and making it easy to relate to them, even the villains.  You just feel like you understand where they’re coming from, even if you don’t agree with their methods you realize they have a point of sorts.  And he even points that out in the epilogue.

This is just a fantastic story and I would highly recommend it for all ages.  It has a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy.  I even hear they’ve got an RPG of it (and I know few people that have played and enjoyed it.)  I can’t wait to read the further adventures of the Mouse Guard.