Oh Hell Yes: Mice With Swords With 20-Sided Dice

Mouse Guard scribe David Petersen was at GenCon this weekend, and he's posted this brilliant poster for the upcoming RPG on his blog...

I just wish Gary Gygax had lived to see this. Kenzie stabbing through a D20 is one of the nerdiest images I've ever seen, and it's my new desktop. This game was supposed to come out "Summer 2008", but Mouse Guard time always seems to move verrrry slowly, why, because quality takes time.

Historical Context: I'm particularly excited about this game because the first RPG I ever played was a homemade campaign based on the Brian Jacque's Redwall series. I loved those books all through grade school, and the chance to roleplay a mouse with sword still holds a great deal of allure. Although if I remember correctly, the last time I did it ended with our entire party being killed by a badger in the throes of Bloodwrath, who may or may not have actually been a member of said party. These things happen.

Choose Your Own Mouse-Venture

One of the most appealing qualities of the Mouse Guard comic is the level of detail author David Petersen gives his medieval mouse society. The lush and intricate world of the Guard is a perfect setting for adventuring, and a board game and RPG are already in the works. Petersen recently posted one of his sketching exercises for different playable mice characters on his website - each one of these little guys is packed with character, and seeing them all together in one page is a bit overwhelming. After the jump I've picked out a select few, in an attempt to guess which caste they might fit into...

Mouse in Shining Armor

Cartographer Mouse

Chef Mouse

Fashion Forward Mouse

Emperor's Royal Guard Mouse

Rice Paddy Mouse

Pan Mouse

Falstaff Mouse

Archbishop Mouse with Alter Bee

Gaston Mouse


Lil' Jon Mouse

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 Comes Out TODAY!?

Whadahuh? So after several weeks of wondering what the heck happened to the second series of Mouse Guard (it recently premiered at Comic-Con, but has been M.I.A. in stores) author David Petersen had this to say on his blog:

"Winter 1152 Issue #1 *UPDATE* Due to a mix-up at Diamond, the books didn't ship out and have been at Diamond's warehouse for weeks. (The books were set to go out for the 25th of July!!!) Now it looks like the release date will be August 15th barring an unforseen incident."

Why, that's today! Winter 1152 isn't on the Diamond shipping list nor my local comic shop's in-store list for tomorrow, but I'm still going to expect that upon showing up for my comics, I'll be greeted with a big celebratory sales display adorned with adorable yet honorable sword-wielding mice. If this is not the case, there's going to be trouble. And by trouble, I mean tears.

Related: Geekanerd's musings as to which of the Guard will die in during Winter 1152...

UPDATE!!! David Petersen just updated his site - he meant to say August 22nd. It's still not on the Diamond Shipping list. I can't take the suspense....

Mouseguard 1152: Who's Gonna Die?!

Yesterday we posted a link to IGN's preview of Mouse Guard 2: Winter 1152 #1. IGN's write-up includes the cryptic phrase, "It's a winter not every Guard may survive." This would coincide with something author David Petersen told me way back in March, during the New York Comic Con - "I can't promise everyone's gonna survive this time." Eek! He wouldn't really kill one of our three heroes, would he? Surely it will be Sadie, the girl-mouse who the IGN preview indicates will become a more important player in the second series. Important enough....to die?

*cold wind blows*

But I don't want Sadie to die either, as she's the strongest and coolest of the two female characters in the book. Let's hope Winter 1152 doesn't yield another case of women-mice in refrigerators.

In other David Petersen news, fans should check out his new blog where he posts tons of never-before-seen original artwork, both from Mouse Guard and his personal collection, such as this awesome Han and Chewie watercolor.


Finally, after the jump, check out the super-short video interview I did with David Petersen where he drops the aforementioned death-quote, plus a few other tidbits of info on the second series of Mouse Guard.



The Mouse Guard segment starts at 1:19...the interview was part of the late great Pulp Secret Report.

Sneak Peek at Mouse Guard 2

IGN has some scans from the upcoming second book in the Mouse Guard epic, Winter 1152. They are, unsuprisingly, drop dead gorgeous. Please check them out at IGN. The first issue hits stores next week. Oh, and if you haven't read the first Mouse Guard book, you have to buy it right now. It's one of the most beautiful graphic novels you'll ever read, hands down bar none without a doubt insert cliche here. But seriously folks.