Mouse Guard - The Black Axe Hardcover – 13 Dec. 2013

This is prequel to the first two Mouse Guard books and doesn't disappoint. David Petersen is an amazingly good draftsman and creates a visually and culturally plausible mouse world. His mice aren't pretty-pretty but are very cute all the same, the Guards are valiant creatures fighting to survive in a dangerous world, to protect their various townships and keep the trade routes between them open.I picked the first one up in a charity shop, thought how enchanting it was and put it back on the shelf but, being a big kid at heart, decided to get it anyway and since then I've bought the later two volumes as son as they appear. They aren't really intended for children as the dangers the mice face are very real and they occasionally meet heroic deaths that would probably upset the very young.While the stories are good it's the visuals that really sell the series to me. Petersen is obviously a child of the cinema and comic book age presenting his images from fascinating angles in drawings that are detailed and subtle. He says he spent a lot of time as a child climbing trees and the books somehow bear this out in his use of unusual viewpoints. I hope they keep appearing and while they do I will go on buying them. They are the sort of books that need to be read in paper editions - ebook formats just wouldn't do justice the imagery and the layouts.

Beautifully drawn and written book. Just as much fun for an adult as a child!! Absolutely love this and had to buy a copy after picking it up on a whim in a bookstore and flicking through the pages. I was stunned by the drawings. Very unique and charming.

A great little volume. Each strip is eyecatching and enthralling.

Lovely book

Love this series. The art is amazing, intricate, and inaginative.

Grandioso comoralo es de buena calidad todo

Pleased with this product & service from this seller.

Hervorragende Zeichnungen, eine spannende Geschichte die von Anfang bis Ende fesselt. Wenn man die anderen Mouse Guard Bücher mag, dann kommt man um dieses hier ebenfalls nicht herum!

Erst war ich skeptisch, da ich mir eine Weiterführung der ersten beiden Teile gewünscht habe,aber die Geschichte überzeugt durch abwechslungsreiche Schauplätze und einer abwechslungsreichen Story.Für jeden Mouse Guard Fan vollkommen zu empfehlen!

Brilliant. Read to my kids several times.

The Mouse Guard has faced one of it's greatest challenges, treason from within, and managed to survive thanks to the actions of other brave mice of the guard...and the Black Axe a lost hero. In this prequel Celanawe, the Black Axe, tells the story he promised to tell Lieam...the story of how he came by the Black Axe. Celanawe is a one of the guard, one of the bravest there is, and is happy to serve for as long as he is able. Until a relative, Em, comes to take him on a journey away from all he knows into new dangers across the sea to find the lost Black Axe. An ancient weapon of the mouse guard and one that is needed once again to help defend the kingdom. Only Celanawe can wield the axe, but can he find it in time?The artwork is probably my favorite part of this story. Don't get me wrong the story is great as well, but the artwork is still stunning. Beautiful watercolor drawings that just capture enough detail in the characters and their surrounding to make them seem real, especially the depiction of the fur of all of the various creatures that appear. In this book David brings his skill to depicting some of the larger four legged hunters for the first time. I love the depiction of their armor and how its made up of skulls of dead animals, crab shells, and even fish and the little details that David adds to the depictions to make it come to life. I especially like the level of detail in the duck that shows up to help them escape, it's absolutely beautifully done. I don't think I've discussed it before, but David captures the movement of the characters well...those little details that help the characters feel real and alive that help us connect with them better. The little movements as they try to make their way silently away from the weasels are done fantastically. This is still the type of book that I can just sit down with for hours on end and look at all of the details in the illustrations.This again is a gripping tale and has just the right mix of drama to keep readers interested without being overwhelming with so much going on. David creates a pace to the tale that is pitch perfect, always making you want more. And that subtle tension that we see in the previous two volumes remains and is there at the very beginning of the story and continues to build throughout the book.This tale is a bit darker and younger readers might be a bit upset about what happens to a couple of the characters, but they should still enjoy it and finding out about the Black Axe.This is just a fantastic story and I would recommend it for all ages, because it has a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy. I can't wait to read the next volume in the series.

This is a great book - Petersen's art and storytelling remain top-notch - and it would definitely deserve 5 stars based on the story, art, and the physical product itself.But do yourself a favor and do not read the preface before you've read the book - it spoilers the ENTIRE STORY! It gives away every twist and surprising moment. (It also reads like its written by a five year old, and contains no interesting content or insight, basically extending to "I like this book," but that's neither here nor there.)I was lucky enough to be warned by friends, but I know people who were really disappointed to have the story spoilered like that. Do yourself two favors: 1) buy this book, because it's great, and 2) don't read the preface.

the immersive nature of Mouse Guard is subtle. Yes, the illustrations are simply glorious and the history of players is rich and textured, but it's deeper than that. these are in no way cute and bumbling rodents rescuing a princess from anti-social individuals with an unnatural predilection for distributing fruit from sources of questionable harvesting practices and where the concept of consumability standards are remarkably low. these mice are fighters. they protect others of their kind from a long list of predators (and more often than not win) while they travel along the hidden paths to the various mouse cities and enclaves that exist and where mouse culture survives. the settings are remarkable and the story is well paced. no spoilers here. but if you've read the first two books of this series or the Legends of the Guard, you have a good idea of where this story goes and what the cost of any grand quest is likely to be.

Bought for my nephew's birthday gift. He couldn't keep his nose out of it long enough to eat his birthday dinner.

I started playing mouse guard with a friend of mine who i D&D with, and i discovered there were comics as well. I freaking love these. a must read for a comic or midevil lore fan.

The living mythos of the Black Axe could have several volumes about the weilders of the axe.Again, the artwork is enough to pull off the shelf and take a look.I love how Celanawe has corrected the pronunciation of his name several times.

Really like the saga, Nice add to the collection the Hard Cover compilation.

Great story, I love the art. Really I love all the Mouse Guard books I've read so far.

Epic Mouseguard story, if you like Fall and Winter, Black Axe is possibly a step up. The quality of the paper stock is the best of any graphic novel I've ever purchased, each page is like card stock. I gave it a 4 / 5 because the back page was folded on delivery, the crease is nearly gone after some compression but it is still visible.