Mouse Guard: The Owlhen Caregiver & Other Tales

Mouse Guard: The Owlhen Cargiver & Other Tales

Archaia 2021

By David Peterson

Which of life's biggest lessons can be learned from the smallest amongst us?

A young mouse learns that compassion and kindness are the great virtues in "The Owlhen Caregiver." "Piper the Listener" finds a brave mouse venturing into wild country to learn the tongues of other beasts. And a grizzled oldfur shares the lesson of putting a whisker out too far in "The Wild Wolf."

This really is one of the industry’s best offerings. I’d forgotten how much I’d missed this until I read this issue and it’s all coming back to me now. The characters, this world and both the innocence and hardened way of life they endure it just makes you happy, comfortable and with familiar old friends and new ones it doesn’t get much better than this. While I would love to see arc after arc of this return I also understand that it after a while it needs to come out naturally instead of forced so after this I’ll wait for more again and now I’ve got to read the series I own to remember that life can be difficult but you never truly have to face anything alone. Though part of me hopes this sparks something that characters have stories they still want told.

I absolutely love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the narration, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter are simply magnificently portrayed. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the characters and this world it’s easy to fall into these tales so completely and fully. For a rare occurrence I don’t mind the limited page count either because each story is both complete and open ended and it’s simply lovely in its purest form.

I am very much enjoying the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story are utilised perfectly. The layers contain the story within a story, the characterisation and so much more and that they add so much rich depth, dimension and complexity to the story always amazes me. The way that everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.

The interiors are breathtakingly gorgeous. So simply and so good, the first page of the Listener, bottom left hand panel for some reason is perfection to me I can’t get over seeing the ivy and stone and how the linework, it’s varying weights and techniques can bring out this kind of detail work is mindbogglingly brilliant to see. The way we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance the moments and work within the composition of the panels to show the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book is beautifully rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a brilliant, masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is equally as brilliant here. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is rendered to perfection. For me it almost has this block carving feel and that adds to the mystique of the interiors and enhances how I see the imagery.

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This is one of the most brilliant all-ages title that I think we’ve ever seen. That it contains messages and lessons that we’re never too old or too young to learn is just an added bonus. I adore the fact that each person will take away different aspects of the same story making it unique to them and that’s no easy feat to do. David is a master storyteller he truly is, the writing and illustrations that he brings to life for us move the reader and the capability to change your life.