Recently David Peterson has mentioned several upcoming Mouse Guard series.
- Black Axe (MG Volume 3)
- The Weasel War (MG Volume 4)
- Series following on from 1152 Winter - so would that be 1153 Spring? (MG Volume 5)
Of the Black Axe, David says -
"The basics of the new series are: It’s a prequel, It will have 2 familiar mice from the Fall/Winter stories as younger mice, They travel off the map, and the series will start early next year.
The two familiar mice will be Conrad and of course, Celanawe. See the San Diego Comic Con quote below for more on those two.
A teaser poster for “Mouse Guard: The Black Axe” can be found here.
More (from San Diego Comic Con) …
Details of the next series in the “Mouse Guard” saga (tentatively planned for an early 2010 release) leaked during the panel, with Petersen explaining. “The next series is going to be called ‘The Black Ax.’ It’s a prequel, and it’s going to take place long before the ‘Fall’ book. It is about Celanawe,” the artist said, unveiling the first piece of promotional art from the book. "Because this is a prequel, Conrad lives! And he’s got two feet! And by the end of the series, he should have one. Not only with every arc of ‘Mouse Guard’ but with every issue, I think, ‘How am I deepening the world? How am I deepening the characters? How am I tying up loose ends and opening up new story possibilities?’ And so ‘The Black Ax’ is totally written in response to the end of ‘Winter’ – specifically what happens in the very end of ‘Winter’ and in the epilogue of the hardcover. And we’re finding out about some characters people told me they really liked, like Conrad who was only in [the series] for one issue, and then he bit it.
“They’re going off the map. So that map that you see on the end papers of the hardcover? We’re going to need a new map because they’re going off it. And you’ll see another city of Mouse Guard. With each city I’ve tried to use a new design aesthetic and help inform you about the type of society these mice have. So when they get across the sea and encounter whatever they encounter, I’m going with a new design aesthetic. I said, ‘I’m not going to be doing British, Irish and East Coast American design and names. I’m going with Danish.’ I’m of Danish decent, and I thought that would be really fun. I’m using some of their history, some of their words and some of their iconography to help the culture across the sea.”
When a fan asked after developing relationships between the mice in the time frame of 1152, Petersen said, “The one after [The Black Ax] is going to be the Weasel War, and yes, I’m scared to death of drawing a war because that’s daunting. In the fifth book, we’re coming back to this time-line post-winter.”
And just the other day, on the Mouse Guard … tweet, David has mentioned something -
“Plans on typing up an official ‘pitch’/introduction letter for a new Mouse Guard project (and I’m not talking about The Black Axe)”
Not sure if this is the Weasel War (volume 4), post-Winter 1152 (volume 5) or something new altogether.
No matter, the future is looking very bright for Mouse Guard!
