Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Mice Templar #5
Image Comics
Glass & Oeming

This comic pretty much only comes out every other month. Each time it shows up on the schedule I think to myself that I shouldn’t pick it up. I remembered liking the previous issues, but too much time passed and I’m just not enthusiastic about the newest issue. Each time, I grapple with these thoughts, and then I purchase the comic and love it. This issue I may feel the strongest yet about my level of enjoyment.

Inside the cover you get a full recap of what has happened to the Templar and what has happened in the previous issues to date. This particular issue has two plot threads that pretty much run in parallel. At the end of this issue neither one is very clear about which party is “right” in their respective disagreements.

One plot deals with the captive mice. Many of mice captives are female or children. One mouse, Leito, is a strong believer in the Templar. He lost his arm in the rat raid and is pretty much out of it. He begins to tell the other mice a tale about the Templar. It’s dark and it really puts a bad spin on the Templar, which seems to have not only put into focus the Templar’s doom, but also the doom of the mouse race. Most of the other mice don’t believe him and by the end of this comic, they are in the rat city and it seems to be a very bad reveal as to who runs the rats.

The second plot is more confusing, but also more enjoyable. Karic and his mentor, Pilot, are in a real situation with the Templar priests at the special tree. Siding with the priests is another ragged Templar warrior named Cassius. Cassius throws a wrench in the whole mentor-Templar training by basically calling out Pilot as a fraud. The accusations are strong and by the end, as a reader you don’t really know whom to believe. The only one who seems to be have any innocence in all of this is Karic. Actually, you kind of have to wonder why Karic is putting up with this Templar crap. At this point you can kind of see why they are on the verge of extinction.

That’s pretty much the whole comic. You, as the reader, must decide who do you trust. Or do you trust no one? Surely there must be a good guy in here, right? That’s the beauty of this comic, you don’t know. This story is very layered and keeps going deeper.

The artwork is strong, but it really takes some getting used to. I have a difficult time telling apart mouse from rat and mouse from mouse at times. It’s not the kind of comic you can rip through in five minutes. It’s a very detailed set of art with a lot going on in each scene. This issue seems to be more colorful than previous ones, which tends to lighten the mode a bit.

This comic gives you lots of extras as well. First of all, there is a two page write up about various Templar tree myths. There is also a letters page and some extra art tucked in the back. Add in that there are over 22 pages of story and you have a winner.

Jump on if you are looking for a point. This issue is all that you need to know. If you are reading this title then I hope you find it as interesting as I do. This definitely touches on the Star Wars mythos with the trainer and the trainee but this thing is darker.

5 out of 5 geek goggles


Mice Templar #5