david petersen

David Petersen found great acclaim in comics as the creator of Mouse Guard, a series about intelligent mice living in a medieval society. His latest project is neither a comic nor his own creation, but it's obviously a labor of love directed toward one of Mouse Guard's obvious influences. Petersen has spent three years creating beautiful illustrations for The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel about anthropomorphic animals living in the English countryside, and now IDW is publishing a hardback edition of the novel with Petersen's illustrations.

I know we've all been waiting very patiently, but the day is finally upon us. Comics based on James Cameron's Avatar are finally coming next year on Free Comic Book Day! The comic book adaptation of the smash-hit blockbuster that everyone loves and remembers is just one of twelve Gold Titles as part of FCBD's 2017 celebration, which also includes Rick & Morty, Doctor Who and X-O Manowar. Announced today, Free Comic Book Day 2017 will be celebrated across the world on May 6th, and as usual the big name publishers, including Image, IDW, Boom, Oni and Titan, all have offerings as part of next year's crop of Gold Sponsor titles.

Adult coloring books are all the rage, and appropriately comics publishers have taken notice and are capitalizing on the trend. Recently DC Comics had a month long coloring book-themed variant cover initiative, and now Archaia is going one step further, publishing the Mouse Guard Coloring Book --- and we’ve got an exclusive preview of some of the illustrations by series creator David Petersen.

Zootopia is currently rocking theaters around the world with its mix of charming animal comedy, classic buddy movie tropes, and a level of rich social allegory not usually seen in a big-budget Disney Animation feature. If you loved Zootopia and want to read comics with similar smart humor and all-ages appeal, the medium has a rich history of funny animal comics going right the way back to the genesis of the newspaper comic strip; Jimmy Swinnerton's Mr. Jack, about a caddish young tiger, debuted all the way back in 1890. We're currently enjoying a new golden age for all-ages comics, so we've compiled a list of some of the best books available today for you to check out if Zootopia left you hungry for more.

Last year at Emerald City Comic Con, toy brick artisan Alice Finch and her incredibly detail-oriented team put together an awe-inspiring display of David Petersen’s Mouse Guard dioramas built entirely out of toy bricks. At the time, we referred to it as one of the standouts of ECCC, and now Archaia is releasing a full-color hardcover packed with photos of the team’s incredible work.

David Petersen's Mouse Guard has long been a favorite fantasy adventure book of mine. On top of having some really tremendous art, the world, characters and mythology he's created and developed over the years have kept me engaged and interested, and eager to learn more. Part of what makes Mouse Guard such a fascinating universe is the lore tied to the weapons and armaments the Guard use to defend their home. As Mouse Guard is a bit of a niche title, I never expected anyone to license the series for collectibles. A few years ago however, Skelton Crew, who you may know as the company behind all those Locke and Key replica keys or those BPRD artifacts, released the first in a continually expanding line of Mouse Guard weapon replicas. To make things even more impressive, the goods were to scale for the actual mice in the Guard. This year, Skelton Crew is again returning to the world of Mouse Guard with two new recreations, both of which should be welcome additions for fans' armories.

Sad news; the third volume of Boom Studios/Archaia's Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard comes to an end next week with the fourth of its collections of short stories by some of the most talented artists in the industry, spinning their own mousey tails tales within the world of David Petersen's Mouse Guard. But good news! The series is going out just as strong as it came in, with new stories illustrated by True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys' Becky Cloonan, Big Hero 6 animator Ryan Lang, and Sabertooth Swordsman's Aaron Conley in stories of ghosts, monsters, and a drunken journey into the belly of the beast. And best news, we have a two-page preview of each story for you to enjoy.

One of the highlights of last weekend's Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle for me was a secluded spot in the basement of the convention center that was absolutely packed with Lego. Not just people selling Lego, but some extraordinary structural works built entirely out of Lego, including giant superhero heads and an entire city overrun with heroes and villains. But the standout, spread across several tables, was a Lego tribute to David Petersen's Mouse Guard, with little custom mouse minifigs going on quests, setting off to sea, and sneaking around a terrifying giant owl. It's easy to see how David Petersen's wonderful world of tiny epic adventures could inspire such a vast undertaking. Petersen's work is gorgeous, and the wonder that infuses it carries through into the work being done by other authors in Archaia's Legends of the Guard stories. We have a preview of the second issue, featuring contributions from Kyla Vanderklugt, Dustin Nguyen, C.M. Galdre, and Nicole Gustafsson. These are stories that can delight young minds just as easily as a room full of Lego!

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of David Petersen's beloved series Mouse Guard, a new collection of short stories set in the Mouse Guard world is about to debut. With stories from creators as varied as Mark Buckingham, Becky Cloonan, and Dustin Nguyen, the four part Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vol. 3 begins in March.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, awnd some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.