On this week’s edition of Saturday Showdown, we have Matt and David once again (evidently they are argumentative) pitching their case as to which prominent mice warrior title is superior – David Petersen’s Mouse Guard or Bryan Glass and Michael Avon Oeming’s Mice Templar. We recently took a look at Mouse Guard in our Small Press Spotlight, which fueled the debate. Take a look at our arguments and let us know in our comments what you think.
Matt’s Take: Mice Templar
When I was a wee lad and learning about books and the magic of reading, I didn’t have phenomenon like Twilight or Harry Potter to get behind (although I can hope that I wouldn’t be dumb enough to try out Twilight…). When it came time to read something other than Goosebumps and Animorphs and read a novel of actual size, I read a series called Redwall. Redwall was a series of books of anthropomorphic animals who lived in an abbey (mostly mice, with some badgers, rabbits, etc.) who were in conflict with groups of anthropomorphic animals who did mean things (mostly rats, with some ferrets, weasels, etc.). It was obviously no Watership Down (which I had attempted to read and didn’t “get”), but it was still a very well written and meaningful series.
One day, I went to a comic store looking for something new to read. They were having a sale on trades and I, being the lover of deals that I am, of course went to get some new ones. I stumbled upon a little book called The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy, and when perusing it I thought that this looked strikingly like Redwall, minus them living in an abbey. Chalk up the fact that it’s drawn by Michael Avon Oeming, whose work I JUST raved about from Powers, and I decided that this was very much worth the price, especially on sale. Something with a recommendation by Bill Willingham (Fables) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy), two creators whose works I am big fans of, can’t be too bad right? As I rode home on the train, I began reading through it slowly and immediately knew why Mignola and Willingham loved the book, and I 100% agree with them.
The Mice Templar is a book about a young mouse named Karic, growing up in a time where there are no more heroes and all mice live quiet lives in villages free from scrutiny and war. They pay little to no attention to the actions of the corrupt mouse king, and so begins the downfall of their civilization. The king, in all his infinite jerkitude (not a real word) has begun rounding up mice villages for slaves, using rats and ferrets for his army, and it is now Karic’s village’s turn for an attack. However, there is a small light of hope inside the village — residing somewhere in it is a retired Templar Mouse. The Templars were an ancient order of protectors who helped lead the mice into a golden age of prosperity, until one fateful event turned Templar against Templar and the order was disbanded. Karic, who is a firm believer in mythology, manages to escape his town under siege, and upon leaving embarks on an epic quest in which he, the tiniest mouse that ever was, is prophesized to become the world’s greatest hero.
So begins the journey that comprises Mice Templar, but it is of course never as simple as that. What Bryan J.L. Glass has done is create a very classic story with many standard tropes for a mythological epic presented in a beautiful and wondrous new format. Many characters are very clearly homages to classic mythological figures like Merlin and King Arthur (of Knights of the Round Table fame), but it’s not done in a way that feels like this is just a new re-telling of old stories. The Mice Templar is very much a brand new mythological story that pays great tribute to the stories that came before. It has done a staggeringly great job of creating it’s own mythos that help expand the story to such a grandiose scale. I’ll give an example: When you open the book you are greeted by a rather large map showing you the universe of the world. I LOVE books that start with maps. All great epic adventure stories star with maps. Redwall opened with maps. Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit opened with maps. Now Mice Templar opens with a map! A book opening with a map helps not only to illustrate the scope of the universe the story takes place in, but it also shows you how in control of the story the writer(s) is (or are). I love that they took the time to plot everything out beforehand so you can actually visually follow along with where your heroes are going. Mice Templar has that.
Continued belowIt’s of course not just the map, though. The entire personal mythology of Mice Templar is very engaging. I love a story that has such a rich history before you even enter it with characters of legend and stories you get to learn in addition to the main tale of adventure. Mice Templar has a very rich set of mythos and even an inner-story language and dialect that the characters are well versed in. You’ll learn about the great god Wotan and his ever watchful eye, as well as the evil that challenged it. You’ll learn how the Templars started and, piece by piece, why they fell. You’ll also learn a lot about the evil that still roams the land. There is so much to dive into with Mice Templar, and Glass has even gone so far as to add in the pack of the first volume a comprehensive explanation, presented in the form of an ancient legend being told, which chronicles all of the inner story mythology. It’s a very epic tale and helps enhance the basic storyline, which is great in and of itself.
That’s another thing — the storyline, without all of the extra added background, is amazing. You’ve got an amazingly likable main character (Karic) who is a very selfless and noble character. When the rat’s attack at the beginning, he literally swings into a burning “building” to save his family, just because of all the stories he’s heard of the ancient Templars. No wonder he is picked for the prophecy! And the other main characters are great additions to boot. The last main character you meet in volume 1 (whose identity I will not discuss) is 100% awesome and is easily my favorite character in the series. He’s one of those mysterious characters with a tragic history you only know bits and pieces of and who you learn about as the series goes along, and he’s definitely a compelling character. But in addition to him, we have the leader of the rats, the rest of Karic’s family, and the King, all tied heavily to the story and all of whom we get to learn more about as the story goes on through bits of clever dialogue and panel. You also have compelling background characters, such as a witch who briefly appears but who is shown to have a greater importance we will learn about in later volumes as well as one character who I’d love to discuss in this review, but I really think you need to read the book yourself to see what happens. I don’t want to spoil too much! My point being that Glass has done an excellent job with the characters, because ultimately what carries a story is it’s moving protagonists and antagonists, and Mice Templar has more than enough to go around.
One last element I really enjoy about the story alone is it’s real world applications. That might be an odd choice of wording, but what I mean is — when you have a fantasy story like this one, there is always a question of “when” it takes place, or even “where.” Is it an alternate universe? Is it thousands of years ago? Well, while we don’t necessarily know WHEN it takes place, the story very much takes place in our world. See, Mice Templar conforms around what we know about mice and our universe, and this is portrayed through little bits and pieces of dialogue and setting. The mice only come out at night (which makes perfect sense) and they refer to the day time in a negative connotation because this is the time when the mice’s natural predators are awake. Sure, there are still owls at night, but we see the importance of owls throughout the story. Meanwhile, you’ve got Karic and his guide hiding out in caves during the day and foxes pass by the holes. You’ve also got the occasional spider dropping by, and even a cat in one scene. It makes the story that much more interesting because we can theorize that all of this mice activity and mice magic is happening as we sleep at night. Who knows — maybe Mice Templar isn’t so much a fiction novel as it is a historical tale?
Continued belowOf course, none of this would matter if not for Michael Avon Oeming. You can make the best story with the richest background in the history of the world, but if your art is bad then no one will care and it will be impossible to enjoy (assuming your story is a comic — if you’re writing a novel, you’re probably fine). I made note in my essay on Powers that Oeming has really grown as an artist since I first started viewing his art, and Mice Templar is very clearly some of his best artwork. It’s much more elaborate than Powers and definitely a million times more elaborate (give or take a couple of the really crazy issues of Powers). His landscapes are incredibly rich and full of magnificent details and his personal style of art fit the story wonderfully. In fact, I like his artwork on this book even more than I like it on Powers, and I flat out stated that Powers could never ever be drawn by an artist. That should definitely tell you something. Mice Templar is by far his crowning achievement in the sprawling epic art form, and I’m incredibly happy I took the time to check out this book. Even if the story was not even remotely as compelling as I find it to be, the art alone would make it up for me.
All in all, Mice Templar was a prime find. The execution of the story, written/published in set volumes, is a great measure in story telling. Image is usually known for great comics, and Mice Templar is a perfect example why. Bill Willingham and Mike Mignola wouldn’t lie to you, and neither would I. Do yourself a favor and track down a copy of the first volume. It’s a poignant tale that very much calls back to those great fantasy stories and mythological tales you read as a kid, presented in an incredibly enticing and wonderful flavor.
David’s Take: Mouse Guard
A couple weeks back, I took a look at David Petersen’s critically acclaimed Mouse Guard in my Small Press Spotlight series. Given that I was highlighting the Eisner Award winning series, I obviously enjoy it, but I really went into detail as to how it is such a superbly written and drawn series. In my mind, when tackling the subject matter Petersen was looking at (medieval warrior mice, if you will), you really have a few opportunities for divergences, all of which I believe Petersen ably picked the correct direction to take.
The divergences were:
-How to draw the mice: like mice with swords or like human mice
-At what point in history to present the story: from the beginning or the middle
-How to present the story: Lord of the Rings style or Fairy Tale style
Petersen made superb selections throughout, yet the same cannot be said for Bryan Glass and Michael Avon Oeming’s Mice Templar in my mind. While I fully admit I only picked up the first five issues before dropping the title like a bad habit, I can say in my mind, every piece of Petersen’s formula was reversed in the making of that title — including the quality.
For example, Petersen choosing to illustrate his beloved characters like Kenzie or Saxon in such a way that they actually looked like warrior mice. To intensely anthropomorphize the characters would have been to rob them of many of the physical limitations that make their quests and travels so difficult. For a tall mannish mouse with armor and a sword, an Owl may not be a big deal, yet when Celanawe went toe-to-toe with a snow owl in Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 the danger and intensity of the situation is never lost on you. Yet in Mice Templar the characters look and behave like people, not just doing their little mousey best to ward off villains but running and diving at them or slashing with the vigor of the Knights of the Round Table. Not only that, but Oeming’s decision to illustrate the mice as these freakishly outsized eared creatures filled with hard lines and covered with items from World of Warcraft makes the suspension of disbelief an impossible task.
Continued belowThat is without saying that, simply put, Petersen as an artist (at least in their comparative styles on these two titles) completely outshines Oeming, imbuing his title with a painterly style that makes the story come to life, while Oeming’s jagged and overtly violent style makes the title feel like a poor version of Lord of the Rings with mice standing in for the Fellowship. Petersen’s art in my mind is some of the more breathtaking work in recent memory, and it really helps with establishing my next point.
In terms of story, the divergence between the two is apparent very early on. Glass and Oeming clearly from the beginning are going for a medieval epic but with mice, filled with the dialogue, character names and locations that go with it. Take this nugget for example: “It was upon the once-sacred field of Avalon where Templar fought against Templar–beneath Kros Cur Onnor Da, that now-desolate tree of grace where the noble dream of Kuhl-En finally came to its end.” To me, I read that and find it hard not to snicker, re-read, and then put down the book. It sounds completely absurd. As you can tell with that, Glass and Oeming are not short winded with their writing style, as they make sure each and every incident is described and no emotion goes unexpressed. This type of storytelling is an inorganic to me as you can get, and it was arguably the primary reason for dropping the title.
On the other hand, you have Petersen and his economy of words. He is a strong storyteller, knowing when he can convey something with a stark, limited in text scene that features most of its power coming from the art. One of my favorites was the grand showdown against the snow owl in Winter 1152 (obviously I liked that scene), which with a few short bursts of dialogue, Petersen establishes the owl as not just a temporary enemy but a true nemesis of the Mouse Guard. To me, part of the gift of the medium is the ability to use art to express what you mean as a creator, and this is something that is done incredibly well in Guard. If someone bet me whether or not one issue of Templar had more words in it than both series of Guard combined, I’m fairly certain I would take that in a heartbeat.
Another thing that I enjoyed about Guard over Templar was the decision to trust readers to understand everything without being weighed down by exposition, starting the story in the middle but slowly leaking tidbits of information as we move along within the story. Glass and Oeming’s decision to bog Templar down with mythology frequently made their title verge on unreadable in my mind, as the first issues are so much about the protagonists dreams and aspirations of being one of the mythical Templar that it negates the ability to establish the present and the characters we will be dealing with.
While I do admit that Templar does have advantages (and large ones in that) in terms of release schedule (meaning it comes out ever) and in terms of value (similar cost, but Mouse Guard is a short, short read while Templar is full sized), I find the Guard to just be an extremely high quality story while I find Templar to be derivative, inorganic dreck. At the time I was reading Templar, I would save it for my last read nearly always, sometimes making it into the following weeks pile. I could make the argument that I actually dread reading it. Guard on the other hand is a refreshing read filled with creativity and sumptuous visuals. Go Guard or go home.
