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?!