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Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen

This Book Is About

Mice struggle to live safely and prosper among all of the world’s harsh conditions and predators. Thus the Mouse Guard was formed. They are not simply soldiers; rather, they are guides for common mice looking to journey without confrontation from on hidden mouse village to another. The Guard patrol borders, find paths through dangerous territories, watch weather patterns, and keep the mouse territories free of predators. Follow the adventures of three of the Guard’s finest-Lieam, Saxon, and Kenzie-as they seek to uncover a traitorous plot against the Guard.

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My Thoughts On This Book

I discovered Mouse Guard at the 2007 ComiCon when I strolled down an aisle and passed the Achacia Press booth. There was the Fall 1152 graphic novel propped up in all it’s glory and the strong, Autumnal oranges on the cover caught my eye. Am I ever glad I chose that aisle to go down in order to get wherever I was going! I really enjoy Mouse Guard and I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the Winter graphic novel (oh, if only I had more room for comic storage and didn’t have to wait till the graphic novels come out).

What I like about Mouse Guard is the medieval-style setting, the light hand with the anthropomorphizing, the fresh feel of the artwork and the skillful use of color. This is NOT a furry comic, where the characters are humans who look like animals. The characters are mice who behave similar to humans; walk-upright, live in towns, keep bees, have weapons, bake bread, draw maps, plot to overthrow the social structure, defend their neighbors, etc. They’re tiny in a massive world, like real mice, and get eaten by snakes and are menaced by crabs. Clothing is almost exclusive to the Mouse Guards, who wear colored capes as the insignia of their commitment/position.

The picture at right is page X#X of Fall 1152 and it’s the image that sold me on the comic when I was flipping through the graphic novel; a cozy Victorian-style mansion on the beach, with dune grass looming over it and orange crabs the size of my palm clambering on the roof. Bought my copy post-haste and hurried up to the game room to read it. Don’t think I even bothered continuing on to whichever part of the ComiCon floor I was originally headed to when I passed their booth in the first place.

The layout of Mouse Guard is horizontal, like PX!, instead of the traditional vertical page alignment. I think I prefer horizontally laid-out comics, because the action seems concentrated in one area and lends itself well to cinematic play with the frames. Full page splashes also feel larger in this format.

The Mouse Guard website is at www.mouseguard.net and is the more direct way than the artist’s website to find news and images from this graphic novel.

Rating & Levels For This Book

I Give This Book four Vikings out of five (”great”)	Violence Level three Burning Village out of five	Romance Level zero Hearts out of five
# of actual vikings in book: 0 What do these levels mean? »	Humor Level zero Smiles out of five	Lust Level zero Kisses out of five

Author and Publishing Information For This Book

Author & Book Details Title: Mouse Guard volume 1: Fall 1152 Author(s): David Petersen {www.davidpetersen.net} ISBN#: 9781932386578 Genre(s): anthropomorphic fantasy graphic novel Edition Reviewed: first edition Illustrations: color Page Count: 192 Part of a Series: yes, volume one (collecting all Fall 1152 issues)

Publishing & Copyright Details Publisher(s): Archaia Studios Press Copyright: 2007, 2005 In Print: yes Original Language: English Published in Other Languages: no Buy This Book Online » Find a Local Comic Shop » Find a Local Book Store »

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