Mouse Guard Labyrinth And Other Stories

Archaia goes all-in with this hardcover Free Comic Book Day anthology.

Title: Mouse Guard Labyrinth And Other Stories
Publisher: Archaia
Date: 2014
Writer: David Petersen, Royden Lepp, Adam Smith, Sean Rubin, Tom Hammock, Ramon K. Perez
Artist: David Petersen, Royden Lepp, Kyla Vanderklugt, Sean Rubin, Megan Hutchison, Ramon K. Perez
Colorist: Ian Herring
Letterer: Deron Bennett


Gotta hand it to Archaia. They know how to do Free Comic Book Day right. This is a beautiful full-color hardcover anthology, and yes, it's a freebie.


This book has six stories, some complete short graphic stories and others just teasers. Archaia's deal with the Jim Henson Company is represented with stories set in the world's of Labyrinth and Farscape. The rest of the stories represent Archaia's stable of original creations.

First up is "The Tale of the Axe Trio", an absolutely wonderful Mouse Guard short that tells the tale of three sisters who inherited the fabled Black Axe together, and wielded it as a team. This is a really fun bit of lore for the Mouse Guard universe, and it's the most complete story here.

I also enjoyed the Labyrinth piece, although I must admit to not having seen Labyrinth since, well, probably since the 80s.

Rust was a visual treat, although just a tease in terms of story, and Bolivar was a fun quirky bit of surrealism.

The remaining two stories, Farscape and Will O' The Whisp, got a bit bogged down in the complexity of their respective universes, and these felt more like standard Free Comic Book Day preview fare.

Still, this blows away anything that I've seen any other publishers doing for FCBD, and I found it to be worth a read just for the Mouse Guard story.

Rating: 8/10

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152

I had a great day at Arisia today selling my comics, and I was on my first panel of the convention, a discussion of comics for all ages. When I was putting together a stack of favorite comics will all-ages appeal, I noticed this unread volume of Mouse Guard, and I started reading it on the way up to the con, with the thought that it might be a title I wanted to talk about. Although the subject of Mouse Guard never came up in the panel, I ended up continuing to read the book during downtime at my dealers table and finished it tonight. So this will be my second Arisia review, in this case a book I read at the con, rather than one I purchased there.

Title: Mouse Guard: Winter 1152
Publisher: Archaia
Date: 2009
Writer: David Petersen
Artist: David Petersen

With supplies depleted as winter approaches, the guardmice send messengers to the nearby towns to request needed supplies and to invite the leaders to a summit to find common solutions to the threats facing the mice. David Petersen envisions a medieval-style society made up of mice and the warrior-mice who serve as their protectors.

While one group is split up as they struggle to make it home, treachery lurks in the halls of Lockhaven.

This was my first introduction to Mouse Guard, aside from a couple of their FCBD books, and I was very impressed. The fight scenes are harrowing and intense. The characters go through a whole range of interpersonal conflicts even as they loyally fight to save each other and their home.

The art is absolutely gorgeous, and the story built to a powerful climax, and followed with an epilogue that left plenty of room for further adventures.

Bonus material in this hardcover graphic novel edition include an introduction by Dinotopia creator James Gurney, maps, and pinup art by Geof Darrow, Stan Sakai, Craig Rousseau, Nate Pride, Sean Wang, and Jane Irwin.

Rating: 8.5/10

Mouse Guard / The Dark Crystal Preview One-Shot

Title: Mouse Guard / The Dark Crystal Preview One-Shot
Date: 2011
Publisher: Archaia
Writer: David Petersen, Brian Froud, Brian Holgun, Jim Henson, Jim McCann
Artist: David Petersen, Alex Sheikman, Lizzy John, Janet Lee
Letterer: Dave Lanphear

Flip Book. There are actually four features here, and they're all good. I'm a huge Dark Crystal fan, so I was skeptical about adding new story, but the Dark Crystal prequel that's presented here captures the flavor of the film beautifully. It focuses on the character Aughra, who sees all but allows herself to be blind to the flaws in the character of her only son, flaws that will eventually lead to the downfall of the world of Thra.

Flip the book over to find a grim and clever fable from the world of Mouse Guard, about a mouse who uses his wits to defeat three predators who had been terrorizing the land.

Also in this volume is a gorgeous four-page Season of the Dapper Men story, and a feature on the upcoming graphic novel A Tale of Sand, which adapts Jim Henson's only completed but unfilmed screenplay. Although they're very different properties, all of these stories have a nice fantasy feel to them, and the result is a very satisfying collection that left me interested in reading more of all four features.

Rating: 8/10