legends of the guard

Earlier this week we ran an exclusive preview of Legends of the Guard #4, the final installment of the latest collection of short stories told by amazing creators in the world of David Petersen's Mouse Guard. One of the standouts among the many stories told through the three volumes of the anthology is Ryan Lang's "The Watcher's Stone," a moving and inventive ten-page story. Lang is completely new to comics, but he's an accomplished freelance illustrator and animator whose credits include work on last year's Disney animated movie Big Hero 6. ComicsAlliance spoke briefly to Lang about his artistic process and how he came to Legends of the Guard.

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!

MOUSE GUARD: LEGENDS OF THE GUARD 2 For much of human history the most useful role filled by mice has been that of a crunchy bite-sized snack. The problems they caused, on the other hand, included devouring some of our food supply, defecating on what they couldn't eat, and then leaving behind disease carrying parasites...