Dawn of the Black Axe #2 Kevin Eastman cover

For Issue 2 of Dawn of the Black Axe (mini series written and colored by me and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key) about the first wielder of the Black Axe!), I asked Kevin Eastman to collaborate with me on a variant cover (Cover C: FEB250075)

TMNT is a HUGE part of my comics DNA, and the first comic I saw that made me understand 'people make this stuff up and draw it––I want that job!' I knew Kevin and Peter had swapped pages of the early issues back and forth and that Kevin had recently done some of that with Freddie Williams on some of the IDW TMNT series. 11 year old me wouldn't believe me if I told him I was going to collaborate with Kevin on a cover for Mouse Guard.

Already knowing Gabe's cover for issue 2 was emotional and featured the elk, and mine was all about anticipation with snakes in a cave, I penciled another scene from the series for the collaboration with Kevin. I drew the snake, Bardrick, and the ground on separate sheets of copy paper and scanned them and assembled them in Photoshop (tinting them different colors just to help see the elements).

These pencils were probably a bit unfair to Kevin since there's a lot going on with the sliced blades of grass, all those snake scales, and the textured ground cover.

I sent it off to Kevin and he lightboxed and inked the cover. At this point I also realized I hadn't made design accommodations for the logo, and called my editors were we made the dcecision to have the C covers be logo-free.

I couldn't tell you what pens Kevin used to ink this piece, but it sure 'feels' like Kevin, all that texture and grit. Seeing the file show up in my inbox made me feel like looking over the old balck and white TMNT work in the comics and RPG--except it was Mouse Guard this time.

I started the coloring process by adding flat color to every area––basically a professional version of coloring-in-the-lines to establish the shape and base color of things like Bardrick's fur, the soil, the snake scales, the grass, Bardrick's cloak, etc.

This step is also where I established color holds (areas where I want the lineart to be a color other than black) on the snake's eyes, the texture in the sky, and a faded one on the snake to help add some depth.

The last step was to render all the color with the dodge and burn tools and shift colors and values around until the piece worked as a whole.

I've found that I need to be more subtle with my choices when coloring Gabe's work than with my own and with Kevins I needed to be more bold.

Lastly, I moved Kevin's signature (that was outside the live area of the art) into the piece as a color hold. He said the only way he was comfortable with that was if I added my signature in with his. A boyhood dream come true.

Below is the solicitation info for the second issue that will be in shops April 23rd, 2025

CODE: FEB250075 (Eastman Cover)
(W) David Petersen (A) Gabriel Rodriguez

The origin story of the Black Axe continues!
Bardrick, the first wielder of the Axe, continues his campaign against the serpents surrounding the mouse territories, but even he can't be everywhere at once...The legendary weapon-bearer must serve his duty, but can he truly manage it all on his lonesome?!

Dawn of the Black Axe #2 Petersen Cover

Dawn of the Black Axe is a 3 issue mini series written and colored by me and illustrated by the amazingly talented Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key) about Bardrick, the first wielder of the Black Axe! 

Issue 2 is up for preorder now in local and online comic shops (FEB250074 for my cover) And I wanted to use this post to share a deeper dive into the cover art for cover A (I also have a variant cover and there will be at least one other guest artist for each issue)

To the right you can see the finished cover with logo etc, below I go through the art process to create it.

I gave Gabe the emotional cover and I opted to focus on one of the action scenes...or the anticipation of one of the action scenes.

There is a cave scene, where I was very much inspired by some of the shadow-on-the-wall cinematography of Stephen Spielberg from Raiders of the Lost Ark. So here I drew our hero Bardrick reacting to what we can't see––yet, though he can. The lighting doesn't make logical sense, but oh well, I liked how it communicated so graphically the point. The shadows were actually gleaned from the flats of the scene in the issue of Gabe's snakes and I altered them here and there to get my shadow shapes where I wanted them while avoiding tangents. 

With the above layout in a state that I liked, I printed it out on copy paper (two sheets of legal paper trimmed and taped together after printing to fit the whole image) and taped to the back of a sheet of 13" x 13" Strathmore bristol (art size is 12" x 12").

I inked the piece on my Huion lightpad where I can see through the surface of the bristol down to the printout to use as a guide while I inked. I used Copic Multiliner SP pens (the 0.7 & 0.3 nibs).

The inking work on this piece was in the shadows making those gradients and avoiding the wall crack-lines.

The inks were then scanned in and I started the coloring process. The first step is called flatting, basically a color-in-the-lines for professionals with flat base colors (no shading or textures.)

Bardrick's colors were already established in the series, but I had to alter them to fit the lighting of this scene. The background is basically 2 values of the same brown and a lot of the heavy lifting of this cover (as well as the work in flatting it) is in those snake silhouettes as color holds (areas where I want the lineart to be a color other than black). I also added color holds to the glow of the lantern and the flame of the candle.

To render the color I used Photoshop's dodge and burn tools with a textured brush to get the highlights, shadows and textures. The warm lighting highlights were achieved by using the freehand lasso tool with a feather to select areas and color shift them warmer I also decided to alter the shadows all a bit cooler because with the warm glow of the lantern, everything was too color matchy-matchy.

Below is the solicitation info for the second issue that will be in shops April 23rd, 2025

CODE: FEB250074 (Petersen cover)
(W) David Petersen (A) Gabriel Rodriguez

The origin story of the Black Axe continues!
Bardrick, the first wielder of the Axe, continues his campaign against the serpents surrounding the mouse territories, but even he can't be everywhere at once...The legendary weapon-bearer must serve his duty, but can he truly manage it all on his lonesome?!

Dawn of the Black Axe #2 Rodriguez Cover

Dawn of the Black Axe is a 3 issue mini series written and colored by me and illustrated by the amazingly talented Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key) about Bardrick, the first wielder of the Black Axe! 

Issue 2 is up for preorder now in local and online comic shops (FEB250073 for the Gabe cover) And I wanted to use this post to share a deeper dive into the cover art for cover A (I also have a variant cover and there will be at least one other guest artist for each issue)

Gabe agreed to do the project, but really wanted me to be the colorist. It's been the hardest coloring work I've ever done...

Since we are both doing covers for the series, I tried to avoid us drawing the same scene or have the same emotional tone for the same issue.

For his Issue 2 cover I asked Gabe to have Bardrick alone and in despair as the spectral elk looms behind him (it will make more sense after you get to read issue 1 next month!).

Gabe sent over pencils (which I quickly approved), and then later this amazingly clean and detailed inked art.

When coloring these Dawn of the Black Axe pieces of Gabe's I start with establishing the color holds (areas I want the inkwork to be a color other than black) like the elk, and then start laying in flat colors to establish all the shapes. Anywhere Gabe didn't close off his linework I needed to smudge out my hard line of color in the gaps.

I wanted this scene (which isn't a direct scene from the issue––but sums up an emotional tone for part of it) to be very blue and set at night. That meant toning down and adjusting the hue of Bardrick and his cloak.

While the flats were easy to establish (only one color hold and a few areas of different color), the rendering is where the work was for my part.

I started by quickly gradating the sky with a paintbrush and then by rendering the elk, all with the dodge tool adding in highlights as through the elk was lit from within and below. to help the ghostly feel I also added an outer glow to the layer and painted in stars (where the stars we see through the elk are at a lighter opacity). I then used Dodge and Burn tools to light the branch and Bardrick from below. To give that warm light I used the freehand lasso with a light feather to select areas to color shift warmer.

Below is the solicitation info for the second issue that will be in shops April 23rd, 2025

CODE: FEB250073

(W) David Petersen (A/CA) Gabriel Rodriguez

The origin story of the Black Axe continues!

Bardrick, the first wielder of the Axe, continues his campaign against the serpents surrounding the mouse territories, but even he can't be everywhere at once...The legendary weapon-bearer must serve his duty, but can he truly manage it all on his lonesome?!

Emerald City 2025

 Emerald City Comic Con is this weekend, and Julia and I will be back in Seattle for the convention! 

I'm in BOOTH 20505 (not in Artist Alley) and you can find me in the exhibitor listing on their webpage. Below is a map showing my location.

I'll have a few new items debuting at the convention: a new silk screened tee shirt, a new 11x11 print, and a 2025 Bookplate. (see below)

I'll also have Mouse Guard books, prints, the RPG, as well as Magic the Gathering Bloomburrow playmats. Original Art will be available for sale and I'll be taking Toned Commissions at my booth.

Map to 20505
I'm on the 2nd level of the convention center near Penguin Random House's booth

New Tee Shirt (sizes S-3X) to debut at ECCC
(in my online store shortly after we return home)

2025 Bookplate
(in my online store shortly after we return home)

11x11 Belladonna Print
(in my online store shortly after we return home)

ECCC Booth from 2024

2025 Convention Plans:

Emerald City Comic Con (Seattle, WA): March 6-9
Motor City Comic Con (Novi, MI): May 16-18

Heroes Comic Con (Charlotte, NC): June 20-22

San Diego Comic Con: July 24-27
New York Comic Con: October 9-12
Baltimore Comic Con: October 17-19