Welcoming Artists into the Guard

In the weeks since we announced the new Mouse Guard mini-series Dawn of the Black Axe, which while written & colored by me, will be drawn by master inkslinger Gabriel Rodriguez, I've seen comments online about me not drawing it or wondering what it must have taken for me to give over so much creative control to another artist.

I wanted to do a post to assure everyone that I will still be writing AND drawing my own Mouse Guard books (Weasel War––with a still unknown completion date), but also that the Mouse Territories are a place I've welcomed in over 50 artists or writers to contribute stories, pinups, or covers even before I asked Gabriel to draw this story.

To celebrate the artists who have already donned a Guard cloak and entered Lockhaven, Here's a past blogpost that features them all https://davidpetersen.blogspot.com/2019/11/thankful-for-mouse-guard-contributors.html

Though, I do want to acknowledge a difference; Legends of the Guard was meant to be an anthology where the guest stories are tall tales and folklore, and this Dawn of the Black Axe series (hopefully the first in a long line of artists exploring past wielders of the Black Axe) is cannon. It's also why I handpicked Gabriel. He is an unparalleled draftsman, an auteur storyteller, and a wonderful friend...we've wanted to work on a project together for years, and this was one worth waiting for.

As a note, I have a limited number of the Legends of the Guard boxed set in my online store for sale (all the books are signed by me) mouseguard.bigcartel.com

And there have been many past blogposts about Legends of the Guard to go back to or discover as we get closer to Dawn of the Black Axe's release (and therefore subsequent Blogposts with behind the scenes, process, interviews, etc.)

davidpetersen.blogspot.com/search/label/Legends