MOUSE GUARD #1
Written and Drawn by David Petersen
Published by Archaia Studios Press

Set in a renaissance-era world, MOUSE GUARD presents the story of an elite group of the rodents whose charge is serve, protect, and guide their fellows through the dangers of the world. As the book opens, a grain merchant is making his way unescorted through the forest, a delivery to make. But after he mysteriously disappears, three of the Guard are put on his trail. What they will discover is deadly; a large snake who sees the elite soldiers as his dinner, and a deadly secret surrounding the merchant that will change their mission considerably.

Petersen manages to create a fascinating world in a brief amount of space. His premise and set-up are clever but not overwhelming, which allows the reader to buy in to the presentation without hesitation. The art is simply wonderful; his panels are large and expansive, and he uses color to give an astounding depth to the imagery. The script is wisely spare, allowing the action to pace the tale. He doesn’t quite infuse the individual Guardsmen with as much personality as you’d like, but there’s time for him to get there in a six-issue miniseries.

MOUSE GUARD is one of those really genuine surprises that come from nowhere. Archaia is a small publisher just learning how to make some noise on the stands. Petersen isn’t exactly a household name. Yet, they’ve produced one of the more interesting efforts of the year to date. That’s part of what makes comics great, and why I embrace the medium they way I do. You never know where the next real winner is going to come from.

SIBAM?

It’s rare that a potential animated film hits the review pile, but this is surely a candidate. MOUSE GUARD feels very much in the vein of classics like WATERSHIP DOWN and RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI. While 2-D animation has fallen off over the past decade, I think the biggest reason for that has been the quality of the stories, not the animation. In the right hands, MOUSE GUARD would have as good a chance for success as any Pixar effort. I hope someone takes a long look at it.

PACIFY
Written and Drawn by Steven Perkins
Published by Image Comics

PACIFY is… weird. Sarcophaga is a famous underwear model and actor… with a fly’s head. His father is a woman-hating, super-wealthy geneticist/lunatic. Alongside a supermodel that wears a bag over her head, he heads off to end his father’s life and make the final changes to his autobiography. PACIFY is a satire with a multiple number of targets: Hollywood life, modern marketing techniques, gender roles… Perkins trains his pen and opens fire. And plenty of his bullets find the target. But PACIFY falls down along the way because Perkins doesn’t fully commit to his edgy material. At various times he breaks the fourth wall or winks at the audience, and it bumps you right out of the book. Had Perkins played those moments straight and allowed his twisted world to exist as it was, PACIFY would be a huge success. Instead, even with a terrific ending, it feels disappointing, and that’s a shame. With the talent displayed here, the book deserves better.

NORTHWEST PASSAGE VOL.2
Written and Drawn by Scott Chantler
Published by Oni Press

The second volume of Chantler’s historical action-adventure epic is a nicely paced, solidly executed effort. I haven’t seen volume one, but Chantler does a good job of providing enough in the way of catch-up and exposition that it was easy to follow. Guerin Montglave and his mercenaries have captures Fort Newcastle and driven out the British settlers. That leaves a solid chunk if eighteenth century Canada in the control of some very bad Frenchmen. Weaving together actual historical figures with a broad cast of characters and a brutal narrative, NORTHWEST PASSAGE has the unusual effect of being both entertaining and somewhat educational. Chantler’s art is clean and simple to follow, as he eschews fancy tricks for keeping the storytelling basic. I can’t stress just how important this is when working with a large cast, in particular. Solid stuff.

CATCHING LUCIFER’S LUNCH
Written by T.J. May and Drawn by Jason May
Published by Summ Publications

Higgins Lark is regular schmoe who finds himself in a horrific situation in LUCIFER’S LUNCH. In the May brothers’ world, a number of graveyards across the world house gates to Hell, and are guarded by a group known (un-cleverly) as the Graveyard Men. However, after Higgins is tricked by a satanic cult into doing something awful, he’s going to need the Graveyard Man’s help. Why? Because he’s going to have to journey to Hell itself to right the wrong done to him and his family. LUNCH is an attractive book; Jason May shows some chops, though he needs to adjust his paints to the reality of how they’ll print. Too many panels look a little murkier than they should. T.J. May’s script is solid, if unspectacular on the dialogue end, and the story finds footing and delivers. Nothing too surprising throughout the proceedings, but it’s a worthy effort from a young creative team that shows some promise.

ANGEL FIRE
Written by Chris Blythe and Drawn by Steve Parkhouse
Published by NBM

An amoral corporate raider and a designer drug containing strange hallucinatory powers make for a deadly combination in this fascinating graphic novel. Originally self-published in the UK, NBM has brought it to North America, alongside a large dose of the creeps. As John Dury’s life spirals out of control and the drug and his corporate activities catch up to him, it becomes very clear that something evil has been awakened, and that it is stalking the high-powered junkie. Most graphic horror stories are heavy on graphic and low on horror. ANGEL FIRE is one of the only comics to ever truly give me the willies. As the demonic presences closed in on Dury in the last third of the book, I was mystified as to what exactly was happening, and I was on the edge of my seat as to how it would play out. The ending, and resolution to the mystery of what was happening, wasn’t on par with the rest of the book, but that’s easily forgivable, because the rest of the book was simply that good. Another lightning bolt out of nowhere that turns out to be a real winning result.

See you in seven.

Review materials may be sent to: Marc Mason, P.O. Box 26732, Tempe, AZ 85285. You can also find me at Happy Nonsense and The Comics Waiting Room

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