When you are alone you are the cat, you are the phone
Is it Saturday already? I hate it when the week passes me by like that -- without so much as a "hello," I might add.
Anyway, I finished my first DVD jacket and got started on the next two. They're a nice change of pace from doing poster series, and they provide a fun opportunity to play with type and color palettes. I enjoy designing educational posters, but they were beginning to feel a bit formulaic: eye-catching image, catchy headline, concise text. Repeat.
The next/current set promises to be a little different, though. It's a text-heavy informational series on drug abuse that I'm writing and designing.
This week also saw the arrival of my monthly comics shipment, which included, among other things, the source of the above panel: Mouse Guard #1, by David Petersen. I'd ordered it based on the strength of a preview at one of the comics news sites., and I'm so glad I did. It's shaping up to be my favorite of the 22 or so books in the shipment.
The premise is pretty simple: Three members of the Mouse Guard -- the regiment sworn to protect the mice territories -- are assigned to discover what happened to a grain merchant who disappeared between towns. They quickly learn his fate, but uncover a greater mystery that appears to set up the rest of the story arc.
Mouse Guard is beautifully illustrated, and manages to be charming without being precious. That's saying a lot for a book about anthropomorphic mice. (My only quibble -- and it's a minor one -- is with the lettering. I appreciate, and envy, that Petersen is a one-man creative team, but he could do with a good letterer.)
You can see previews of the first two issues at the link.
And, um, just so you know I haven't gone all soft and gushy over talking rodents, I also loved 100 Bullets: The Hard Way, which shows people getting maimed and killed by bear traps. So, there!
I'm hardcore like that.
Hey, Kevin, it was just announced that ASP has sold out of Mouse Guard! They sold all of their 8000 copy run! They are going back to press for a second printing.
Posted by Jason Copland | 1:28 PM
That's great. Good for Petersen and ASP.
I have a feeling this is one of those rare books that I'll pick up as single issues and buy the trade.
Posted by Kevin Melrose | 1:32 PM
Good news on the second printing of Mouse Guard -- it'll give me a chance to pick it up. I'm always just a little bit behind on these things...
...but Don't don't don't let's start....
Posted by Robert Burke Richardson | 3:50 PM
...but Don't don't don't let's start....
I couldn't think of a mouse lyric, so I went with one about a cat. Sort of.
Posted by Kevin Melrose | 6:47 PM
I kind of liked the lettering. What about it didn't work for you?
Posted by David Welsh | 9:09 AM
Well, I appreciate what he was trying to accomplish with the font -- giving it a medieval flavor -- but it seems so lifeless, particularly when paired with the wonderful art.
The balloons are clunky and occasionally misshapen, too. The tails look like they could poke an eye out, too.
I'm being picky, I know. The lettering doesn't make me enjoy the book any less. I just think better lettering would make Mouse Guard near-perfect.
Posted by Kevin Melrose | 10:42 AM
No, those are all good points. And I'm usually really picky about lettering, too, so I'm always interested when someone specifically mentions it.
Posted by David Welsh | 2:06 PM
Hmm..this smacks slightly of Microcosm...the early 90s great rodent strip that went underground.
That was some good stuff right there. When I want rodents, (and often I do) I want Microcosm.
Posted by Anonymous | 9:04 PM
Hmm ... "Microcosm." That sounds vaguely familar.
Posted by Kevin Melrose | 3:03 PM