Mouse Guard

AUTHOR: Petersen, David

ARTIST: David Petersen (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Archaia Studios Press

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 2006-

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2007-2010

Publication History

Mouse Guard is a collection of miniseries published by Archaia Studios Press. David Petersen is the creator, writer, and artist of the series. Each miniseries is six issues. Following the publication of single issues, each miniseries is collected in a hardcover volume by Archaia Studios Press.

Petersen self-published the first issue of Mouse Guard in black and white through ComiXpress, a print-on-demand company. He sold this issue at the Motor City ComicCon in May of 2005. Archaia Studios Press became aware of the series and published the first miniseries, Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, beginning in February, 2006. The series was published bimonthly, and the sixth issue was released in December, 2006. The hardcover collection was published in May, 2007, with a paperback version released in March, 2008, by Villard Press.

The first issue of the second series, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, was released in August, 2007. There were significant delays in the publication of this miniseries. Though planned as a bimonthly miniseries, the final issue was not published until May, 2009. The hardcover collection was published in July, 2009. The reasons for the delay were related to both the creative and the business sides of publishing. While drawing Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, Petersen also worked on a Mouse Guard role-playing game, which slowed his production. Additionally, Archaia Press Studios was bought by Kunoichi in 2008, and there were several publication delays during the transition of ownership.

In a departure from previous formats, Archaia Studios Press published a four-issue monthly miniseries called Legends of the Guard beginning in June, 2010. Each issue featured three short stories by comic book creators who were invited by Petersen to join the project. Each issue also had a framing sequence drawn and scripted by Petersen that introduced the three stories. The hardcover collection Legends of the Guard was released by Archaia in November, 2010. Mouse Guard: The Black Axe, a six-issue bimonthly miniseries written and drawn by Petersen, had the first issue published in December, 2010, and was scheduled to be completed in 2011.

Plot

Three guard mice, Lieam, Kenzie, and Saxon, search for a merchant mouse who has gone missing. The three mice find the merchant’s cart of rice but no sign of the merchant. A snake attacks, and the guard mice retreat and wait for the snake to depart. Believing the snake to be gone, they exit their shelter and discover a hole with snake eggs. While Saxon and Kenzie destroy the eggs, Lieam is attacked by the snake. Lieam kills the snake, and the mice confirm that the snake ate the merchant. Kenzie discovered a map of Lockhaven, the home of the Mouse Guard, in the merchant’s grain, which means the merchant mouse was a traitor.

Sadie, a guard mouse, is ordered to discover what has happened to Conrad, a guard mouse stationed near the shoreline of Mouse Territories who has sent no communication for some time. Sadie finds Conrad, who reveals that he has been in hiding and spied a mouse give a map of Lockhaven to a merchant mouse. They plan to take this information to Lockhaven, but crabs attack Conrad’s home; so that Sadie can make an escape, Conrad sacrifices himself in battle with the crabs.

Lieam, Kenzie, and Saxon enter the mouse city of Barkstone to search for leads concerning the traitor’s plans. While Kenzie and Saxon create a diversion by staging a duel, Lieam disguises himself as a common mouse and asks a map maker if he has a map of Lockhaven. The map maker, believing Lieam to be a part of a rebel group called the Axe, tells him the map has not arrived but that they march at dawn. Lieam is treated as a new recruit of the Axe. At the conclusion of their duel, Saxon and Kenzie are captured by the Axe, bound, and left defenseless outside the city walls. An old mouse, Celanawe, drags Kenzie and Saxon to his house but keeps them tied up.

Celanawe, whose ax was recently stolen, believes Kenzie and Saxon were left outside Barkstone because they were thieves. Celanawe claims to be the Black Axe, a legendary champion of the Mouse Guard, and interrogates Kenzie and Saxon about where they have taken his weapon. Kenzie and Saxon free themselves, explain their situation, and invite Celanawe to join them in defending Lockhaven. Lieam travels with the Axe but is discovered to be a guard mouse and taken prisoner.

Midnight, a member of the Mouse Guard, is revealed to be the leader of the Axe. He has stolen Celanawe’s black ax and leads an army to Lockhaven. Celanawe takes Kenzie and Saxon to an old stockpile of weapons and arms them with swords. Sadie reaches Lockhaven before the others and warns the residents of the city that there is a traitor. They prepare their defenses, as Midnight and his army reach the city.

Midnight’s army is able to breach the doorway of the city, but the portcullis falls, leaving a large number of his army outside the city. Celanawe leads Kenzie and Saxon through a secret passage into the city. Lieam escapes and arms himself. The battle reaches its climax in the chamber of Gwendolyn, the matriarch of the Mouse Guard. She insists the Mouse Guard must protect all mice while allowing each city to remain sovereign, while Midnight argues that uniting the cities under his rule will strengthen all. Lieam, Saxon, Kenzie, and Celanawe arrive in time to save Gwendolyn and capture Midnight. Midnight is banished outside Mouse Territories, but Gwendolyn fears a hard winter is coming.

After winter has fallen, Kenzie leads Saxon, Sadie, Lieam, and Celanawe on a journey to outlying mouse cities. They act as ambassadors, asking the leaders of the cities to come to a council at Lockhaven. They also request supplies for Lockhaven. Using her sling, Sadie blinds in one eye an owl that attacks the group. At Lockhaven, under the care of a healer named Abigail, Rand is slow to recover from an injury he suffered during Midnight’s attack. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn worries about their dwindling supplies. While returning to Lockhaven, Kenzie, Saxon, and Sadie fall into an old weasel tunnel. Lieam and Celanawe remain aboveground and plan to complete the journey to Lockhaven with the supplies, while those in the tunnel seek an exit.

Lieam and Celanawe struggle through a freezing rain as Celanawe teaches Lieam to be a complete mouse who does not need others to guide him. Saxon, Sadie, and Kenzie travel in the tunnel, hoping it is abandoned. At Lockhaven, Gwendolyn discovers that Abigail has poisoned Rand with Hemlock.

Gwendolyn orders Lockhaven sealed to search for Abigail. On the way to Lockhaven, Celanawe and Lieam are forced to burrow under the snow to await the end of the freezing rain. Saxon, Kenzie, and Sadie discover that the old weasel tunnel is infested with bats, which leads to a brief battle, during which Saxon is separated from Kenzie and Sadie. Celanawe and Lieam hear a sound outside their burrow, which is the wounded owl waiting for them to emerge.

The owl attempts to eat Celanawe, but his armor protects him. Lieam and Celanawe attack the owl. In the tunnels, Kenzie and Sadie search for Saxon but are unable to find him and fall asleep in each other’s arms. Saxon discovers the skeleton Master Loukas, the guard mouse who trained him. An emotional Saxon takes Loukas’s sword and buckle. At Lockhaven, Abigail is discovered pouring poison into the city’s well. She is shot with arrows and falls into the well.

Saxon reunites with Kenzie and Sadie, and they discover flowing water underground. They plan to paddle upstream. Aboveground, the owl injures Celanawe but Lieam is able to injure the owl as well. Saxon, Kenzie, and Sadie discover a cistern in the river that is cracked at the base. This cistern is the well into which Abigail poured poison. They are pulled up the well into Lockhaven. The owl kills Celanawe, as an enraged Lieam prepares to attack.

Lieam wounds the owl and retrieves Celanawe’s black ax to finish the creature. Sadie and Saxon ride on the back of hares to search for Lieam and Celanawe. They find Lieam carrying Celanawe’s body to Lockhaven and return to the city. Saxon and Gwendolyn acknowledge their mutual attraction. Celanawe’s body is burned as Lieam recalls his friend’s final words, in which Celanawe instructed Lieam to carry on the title of the Black Axe.

Volumes

•Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (2007). Collects issues 1-6, featuring the rise and fall of the traitorous Midnight.

•Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 (2009). Collects issues 1-6. Features the journeys of Guard Mice to outlying mouse settlements for supplies, as well as the death of Celanawe, the Black Axe.

•Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard (2010). Collects issues 1-4. Features guard mice telling stories of past exploits of the Mouse Guard.

Characters

•Lieam is one of the youngest guard mice. He has red fur, wears a green cloak, and carries a bow and arrow. He will briefly become Celanawe’s apprentice before taking on the legendary role of the Black Axe.

•Kenzie is a respected leader among the guard mice. He is level-headed and strategic in battle. He has gray fur, wears a blue cloak, and carries a staff. He develops a romantic relationship with Sadie.

•Saxon is a headstrong guard mouse who is always ready for a fight. He has brown fur, wears a red cloak, and carries a sword. He begins a romantic relationship with Gwendolyn.

•Sadie is a guard mouse assigned to watch the shoreline of Mouse Territories. She has brown fur, wears a maroon cloak, and carries two daggers. She develops a romantic relationship with Kenzie.

•Conrad is a guard mouse who is also assigned to watch the shoreline of Mouse Territories. He has gray fur, a brown cloak, and a peg leg. He carries a fish hook with a segment of fish line as a weapon. He is killed in a battle with crabs.

•Midnight is the mouse guard’s weaponsmith. He has black fur and a black cloak. He believes the Mouse Guard has been too passive and plans a rebellion to place himself as ruler of a united Mouse Territories. He is banished when his rebellion is thwarted.

•Rand is the guard mouse in charge of Lockhaven’s security. He has brown fur and wears a yellow cloak. He is a defensive specialist and carries a shield.

•Gwendolyn is the matriarch and leader of the Mouse Guard. She is one of the youngest matriarchs the Mouse Guard has had. She wears a blue tunic and light-blue cloak. She believes the Mouse Guard’s duty is to protect mice when called upon but to allow each city its own sovereign rule.

•Roibin is Gwendolyn’s scribe and a poet. He has gray fur and wears a hooded brown cloak.

•Landra is a quartermaster of Lockhaven. She has black fur and wears a green cloak. When Rand is injured she is placed in charge of tracking Mouse Guard movements.

•Abigail is a healer at Lockhaven. She has dark gray fur and wears a brown cloak. She is discovered to have been a believer of Midnight’s ideology and a traitor to the Mouse Guard. She poisons Rand with hemlock to slow his healing and is shot and killed while attempting to poison Lockhaven’s water supply.

Artistic Style

Petersen’s art style is much closer to realism than cartoon drawing. While the narrative does feature anthropomorphized mice, they are not in the cartoon style popularized by Walt Disney. The mice walk on their hind legs, wear cloaks, and carry weapons, but they are drawn in a natural style. The mice are modeled on the body types of actual mice and rendered in realistic proportion to the natural world around them. Other animals that make appearances, such snakes, owls, or rabbits, are also drawn in a natural style that avoids a distorted cartoon reality.

Petersen’s art style is influenced by his own experience in printmaking, specifically etching and woodcutting. Petersen’s backgrounds are detailed, relying heavily on crosshatch and stipple shading. Occasionally there will be large panels in which the mice are drawn small in the foreground, in front of an expansive background with highly rendered details.

Petersen’s choice to depict mice as naturally as possible presents a challenge, in that mouse faces do not emote in a way that readers may find familiar. To overcome this problem, characters will occasionally have a word balloon with no text but only a symbol, such as a question mark or exclamation point, to express emotion. This circumvents the difficulty of displaying emotion on the faces of mice while at the same time adhering to the established realistic art style.

The artistic style does not change significantly as the series progresses; the coloring between Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 varies to reflect the seasons. Fall 1152 is colored with warm, earthen tones, with orange and brown being dominant colors. Winter 1152 is much starker, with white and gray representing the most dominant colors.

One aspect of Mouse Guard that stands out from other comic books is the size and shape of the pages. While a standard comic is roughly 6 x 10 inches, Mouse Guard is 8 x 8 inches.

While the number and shape of panels varies greatly throughout the series, the panels are all rectangular. The page layouts may vary, but the grid always conforms to the square page with minimal dead space in the gutter between panes and in the edge.

One sequence that departs from the standard artistic style of the series occurs when Midnight discovers a scroll containing the legend of the Black Axe. The art changes for several pages to a style similar to illuminated manuscripts. The pages have a yellowed background, reminiscent of parchment, and lettering that includes decorative initials and marginalia.

Themes

Many of the themes of Mouse Guard are interrelated and become apparent in the duties willingly accepted by the Mouse Guard. Because the mice are drawn in natural proportion to the world around them, the foes they battle are often significantly larger than the mice themselves. The Mouse Guard references an earlier war with weasels and is shown battling a snake, crabs, bats, and an owl in this series. An element of David versus Goliath emerges as these battles unfold, with the mice often being triumphant. The size of the mice is shown to be less important than their skill, bravery, and devotion to their cause. Another aspect of this is stated explicitly in the series, “It matters not what you fight but what you fight for.” The mice have inferior size and strength to the animals that naturally prey on them, but they fight for more than simple food. Additionally, the mice have a culture that provides them with tools and weapons, while the snake, crabs, owl, and bats do not have any additional implements. Part of the Mouse Guard’s success can be attributed to the way the mice have pursued learning, giving them more than the simple natural instincts with which they were born.

However, because of their natural disadvantages, they often must be willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. The needs of the mouse civilization are shown as outweighing the needs of a single guard mouse. This theme is evidenced not only when a mouse such as Conrad sacrifices himself so that important intelligence can reach the Mouse Guard, but also when guard mice must leave other members in danger for the greater good. For example, Saxon, Kenzie, and Celanawe see that Lieam has been captured by the Axe and are in a position to attempt a rescue, but they know that Lieam would want them to work to protect Lockhaven rather than try to free him.

Learning from the past, or from those with greater experience, is also an important theme. This is explored particularly in the relationship between Lieam and Celanawe, and its antithesis is shown when Midnight misinterprets the past and the legend of the Black Axe and twists it to his own ends.

Impact

Mouse Guard is significant in that represents an independent, self-produced product that has become a success in the industry. Its format size departs significantly from the mainstream, as does its artistic style and narrative topic. Also, in an industry that is most often defined by collaboration among writers, artists, colorists, and letterers, Petersen provides all of the creative input for the series. This auteur-style production is rare.

Because the comic book industry remains dominated by comic books that are in the superhero genre and published by either Marvel Comics or DC Comics, any comic book that is financially viable and falls outside those parameters helps to diversify the marketplace. Petersen’s success may have opened doors for other creators with a singular vision that similarly departs from the standard content found in comic book stores. Because of the quality of the story and the targeted age group of the series, Mouse Guard has been adopted as a recommended text for many elementary and middle schools.

Further Reading

Gaiman, Neil. The Books of Magic (1993).

Glass, Bryan J. L., and Michael Avon Oeming. Mice Templar (2007- ).

Smith, Jeff. Bone (1991-2004).

Bibliography

Griffith, Paula E. “Graphic Novels in the Secondary Classroom and School Libraries.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 54 (November, 2010): 181-189.

Stafford, Tim. Teaching Visual Literacy in the Primary Classroom: Comic Books, Film, Television, and Picture Narratives. New York: Routledge, 2010.

Withrow, Steven, and Alexander Danner. Character Design for Graphic Novels. Burlington, Mass.: Focal Press, 2007.