Story and art by David Petersen
Mouse Guard: The Black Axe is a prequel tale, telling us the origins of the beloved Celanawe and times long before he became the savior of Lockhaven. Issue two picks up as he and Em, a long lost cousin, travel to Port Sumac to procure travel across the North Sea in search of the legendary – and missing – axe. There they meet Conrad, a boat-mouse of questionable honor, but one whom Celanawe is able to lightly manipulate into bearing them across the unknown free of charge.
Petersen’s dialogue flows easily and gives an unquestionably noble air to his rodent characters, adding depth and richness to the world they occupy. This comes across especially well with Celanawe’s narration: you can envision the aged hero curled in a rocking chair in his twilight years, regaling the younger guard-mice with tales from his youth. The time spent in Port Sumac in this issue is some of the most interesting in the Mouse Guard series, presenting us with this world’s version of a pirate’s cove that comes across as dangerous, but never as seedy as in more human portrayals.
As always, Petersen’s artwork is beautiful, sometimes fitting of a more permanent display than sequential storytelling. Since Petersen creates both the words and the art, it is apparent that he is able to more successfully pair his scripts with his images than most creative teams are capable of. If I have one knock against the book it has to be the lettering. Although stylistically interesting, the script used for Celanawe’s narration is sometimes aggravatingly difficult to read.
All told, The Black Axe #2 is a fun and engrossing continuation to the tale of Celanawe’s history, and I can’t wait to see where he, Em, and Conrad end up after their journey across the North Sea.
