Category: Mice Templar
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It's one heck of a finish for the volume. Oeming's back for some of the dream sequences, with Glass finally getting around to explaining what's been going on with Karic. Sort of. The issue's Karic's battle with the evil druids on a psychic plane. Glass doesn't over explain and he doesn't have to–Templar's sort of…
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Glass sets another few pieces into place for, presumably, the next volume. There simply isn’t enough time for him to get any of these plot threads resolved in the final issue of Midwinter Night’s Dream. There’s more treachery from Pilot the traitorous Templar (though so many rodents in Templar are traitorous it’s hard to disparage…
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It's an all action issue. Glass does spend some time setting up the lengthy action sequence with a rat commander out to redeem his lost pride (during the previous volume), but not a lot. It's all distinct, because Glass is showing more of the rat culture than he's shown before–and hinting at one aspect of…
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Glass is even more expansive in terms of subplots this issue. There’s more with Pilot training his new protege, there’s the whole movement of Templars believing in Karic’s holy status (for lack of a better description), there’s how that movement is playing out in the capital and how the rats and weasels are getting on…
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Glass finds another unexpected direction for Midwinter–a much wider look at the world. He still checks in on familiar cast members, with Pilot’s return being simultaneously unwelcome and narratively strong. The reader knows the character to be villainous, yet one hopes for the sake of Pilot’s newest marks he’s changed. This issue marks the second…
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While the issue is dedicated to Brian Jacques (of the Redwall series), Santos spends more of his time in homage to M.C. Escher. Mice in mazes and Escher–it’s fabulous. But Santos’s art isn’t just great for that playful and intricate composition, it’s everything this issue. He’s been building up with Midwinter and here he just…
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Glass is having some real problems with cliffhangers in Midwinter, if this second issue is any indication. After not just going through the main plot, but also introducing the supporting cast back from the previous volume, Glass quarantines these first two issues (for protagonists Cassius and Karic, anyway). He’s moved the players from point A…
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Besides the cliffhanger, which is too manipulative, A Midwinter Night’s Dream is off to a great start. Glass has a lot of territory to cover just getting the story going–there’s lengthy expository narration at the beginning, along with some fantastic art by Santos. For the flashbacks, Santos only gets a few panels to make his…
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As a zero issue introducing the new Mice Templar volume, this issue isn’t effective. There are some really effective things about it–Bryan J.L. Glass and Victor Santos retell the finale of the previous volume from a different perspective and Santos gets in some wonderful pages–but the comic itself is too slight. Running about eight pages,…
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A couple quick observations. The first I should have made a long time ago–I wonder if having templar in the title and it being the name of famous knights affects people’s initial impression of Mice Templar. I see it as being a dismissive thing and, after reading Glass’s amazing success here… no one should be…
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Glass has a lot to deliver with the resolution to this series and he knows it. This issue is just he and Santos upping the ante over and over. They already have a difficult setup and they try for more. Cassius meets up with his men as he invades the palace. It gives him a…
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It’s hard to know where to start with this one because Glass comes up with a monster cliffhanger. Big twist and some interesting ramifications for what Glass has already revealed, not to mention whatever his explanation will be. It sort of overshadows everything else. The issue starts with Karic being difficult. It’s the closest Glass…
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Glass continues the series on its way, with some subtle observations from Karic about his lot in life. Having Karic the more mature, thoughtful one–especially as he finds himself amongst old Templars–is still a bit of a surprise. It’s a fine transition, it just changes the series more than I was expecting. With it, Mice…
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It’s a strange issue. There’s this romantic interlude between Karic and a girl mouse; they go swimming together. Glass writes the heck of the scene, showing Karic as a youth while simultaneously establishing his maturity. Not to mention Santos gets to draw a fight scene between the two mice and attacking crayfish. It’s an awesome…
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Just before the issue ended, I realized Glass had finally delivered what I’ve been waiting for on Destiny–the full forward motion. He’s done with the exposition–even his third person narration is sparse; it immediately informs the reader of the setting. The scenes and characters do the rest. And Glass is moving away from exposition in…
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There’s some awesome art from Santos this issue. He gets to do not just the regular action, but also the flashbacks detailing the origins of the world. Glass has been doing a lot with the supernatural angle of the series and, for the first time, it feels like Mice Templar might not even take place…
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There’s a lot of material this issue. Plot developments, character developments, but Glass still tries to deliver a somewhat action-packed narrative. The opening–the A plot–has the heroes held captive by moles; there’s humor from Cassius who mocks the moles, a fair amount of suspense (the moles are apparently under siege) and then some payoff on…
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As this issue begins, with some flashbacks to the big battle ending the Templar, Glass also establishes the relationship between Cassuis and Karic. It’s a dysfunctional mentor and student relationship. Karic thinks Cassius hates him and Cassius hates Karic. There are some more flashbacks, with Cassius remembering, and Glass vaguely hinting the arc’s direction. But…
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It’s a short but not sweet zero issue for the second Mice Templar series, which picks up almost immediately where the first series ended. Writer Bryan J.L. Glass has two stories going–one has the fallout from the actions of the good priest (not exactly priest, more like elder–but still called a priest) and then one…
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What an issue. In hindsight, it should have seemed unlikely Glass was going to be able to wrap anything up while setting up for the next Mice Templar series. He does not get much wrapped up. He does, however, introduce the new status quo for the series–Karic under the mentorship of Cassius, who does not…
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Once again, Glass gets a whole lot done in one issue. He opens with the captives, who have their own flashback–which relates to the story of Karic and Pilot (sort of). The captives get some closure, then it’s off to resolve the cliffhanger with Pilot under attack from a fellow Templar. Here’s where the issue…
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Trippy might be the best word for this issue. There’s a lengthy hallucination, mystical sequence as the finale, but Glass is constantly spinning the reader around before it. Actually, having a dream sequence is the most straightforward thing he does this issue. Everything before is much less so. First, there’s the resolution to the previous…
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This issue is a little busy. First, Glass showcases a rat battalion as they return home. They’re hunting. Nasty guys, these rats. It turns out some of the cast from the first issue has survived and are now prisoners of the rats, so Glass turns the focus to them for a while. Of course, he…
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There’s a lot of information in this issue. There’s a recap of the last issue and there’s a big history lesson of the Mice Templar world. That history lesson is rather confusing. Glass brings in a lot of names and ideas–the Oeming art is really good for these sequences. But it’s still a long history…
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The Mice Templar is a heavy book. This first issue is double-sized, which is both good and bad. It’s good because Michael Avon Oeming and Bryan J.L. Glass are able to get the whole story done, but it’s bad because it’s too much at once. Glass has time to introduce the cast–maybe not make them…
The Stop Button 