Mouse Guard: The Black Axe

David Petersen has crafted a rich & profound history for the Black Axe.  In this tale the reader discovers more about the world beyond the mouse territories.  Most of this story takes place in the past revolving around three characters Em, Celanawe & Conrad.  This is a great quest story about how Celanawe became the Black Axe & his lineage.  The greatest part of this story is the building of the legend that would make one hell of a bedtime story for any child.  Em introduces the reader to this history of the Axe which brings more depth to the world as a whole.  Celanawe like many of the guards mice in the previous two volumes goes through a life changing series of events to bring him to the place to were he is currently.  This story also sheds light on Conrad who dies in the Fall 1152.  Again like all of the previous books in this series David Petersen's art work speaks volumes & in most cases convey more than the text.  I really like the last page of were Lieam is reading Em's book which Celanawe has augmented to Kenzie & Saxon.  If David Petersen's tale of the mouse territories comes to an end here it would be a fulfilling & satisfying ending.  That being said the last page really could be the forward to whole new set of adventures with the guards mice.   

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152

This volume picks up shortly after the events of the previous volume, the guards mice are on a quest for Gwendolyn.  By the second chapter the story takes a new twist from quest to exploration & self discovery, David Petersen has done some great characterization in this title in making the reader care about these characters that have each had only a little screen time.  Again this title shows shades of Lord of the Rings with the Kenzie, Saxon & Sadie's discovery of Darkheather.  Meanwhile Celanawe & Lieam continue the journey back to Lockhaven during which they become mentor & student similar to the likes of Al'Lan Mandragoran & Rand Al'Thor from the Wheel of Time series, Henry Ducard & Bruce Wayne from Batman or even Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi of Star Wars fame.  I am really looking forward to a continuation of the story because the end of this volume feels like the calm before the storm like the worst is still to come. I am also interested to see how the revelations & the new status quo for the main characters affects the next entry into the series.   

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152

This is a cross between a comic book & a children's picture book.  On the one hand if you are a fan of Lord of the Rings or any other fantasy, medieval works this is a title for you. If you are wanting to introduce your children to that type of literary work then this is a great introduction.  Unlike many of the graphic novels put forth by the mainstream publishers like Marvel, DC, Darkhorse & Image this is an all ages title where as you can see that most titles by the others publishers are for teens & up.  Overall I thought this was a great read it reminded me of the Church Mice series by Graham Oakley that my parents read to me as a child.  I did feel that there were some time jumps in which the reader had to infer what happened in between chapters but overall it was still great.  I also kind of wished that the reveal of the traitor had taken longer to figure out, it would have built more suspense for the reader.