Mouse Guard: Dawn of the Black Axe #[nn]

History

The collaboration between Petersen and Chilean artist Gabriel Rodríguez (Locke & Key, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland) had been in the planning stages for nearly a decade before it materialized; Rodríguez has stated that the two began dreaming of telling the first wielder's story 'almost a decade ago' and that Petersen deliberately held the project until Rodríguez's schedule opened up, unwilling to proceed with anyone else. Petersen handled the writing, coloring, and lettering — his established roles on the main series — while adapting his process significantly, producing far more detailed scripts than he had ever written for himself, in order to give Rodríguez sufficient guidance without stifling his artistic voice. BOOM! Studios accommodated Petersen's insistence that the single-issue design and the eventual collected hardcover share the same visual branding aesthetics as the earlier Mouse Guard volumes, keeping the series visually continuous with its predecessors. The three-issue miniseries ran in comic shops from March 19 through June 11, 2025, and was collected into a 96-page hardcover (ISBN 979-8892157247) released on January 20, 2026.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Bardrick, identified in the story as the first of eleven Black Axe wielders in Mouse Guard history, debuting in issue #1 (March 19, 2025).
• First appearance of Farrer, the grieving blacksmith who forged the Black Axe out of vengeance after the serpent Langtspyd killed his family, and who bestows the weapon and its title upon Bardrick.
• First appearance of Matriarch Siobhan, the ruling Matriarch of Lockhaven in 915 AD, who initially refuses Farrer's plea for a champion and later exiles Bardrick from the Guard's rolls after he defies her orders.
• The series is set in 915 AD, further back in the Mouse Guard timeline than any previously published story, making it the earliest canonical chapter in the franchise.
• Written and colored by Mouse Guard creator David Petersen; illustrated by Eisner-nominated Gabriel Rodríguez (Locke & Key), marking the first time a full-length canonical Mouse Guard story was drawn by a guest artist rather than Petersen himself.
• Published by BOOM! Studios as a 3-issue miniseries (issues #1–3, March–June 2025) in celebration of the dual 20th anniversaries of Mouse Guard and BOOM! Studios; collected in a 96-page hardcover in January 2026.
• Each issue carried three variant covers — one by Rodríguez, one by Petersen, and one by a rotating guest artist (Goñi Montes for #1, Kevin Eastman for #2, Matt Smith for #3).
• Petersen has indicated he envisions future similar miniseries exploring other past Black Axe wielders, with different guest artists, positioning Dawn of the Black Axe as the first installment of an ongoing spin-off framework.

Cast · 3 characters

Full credits