The Mouse Guard - Small World - R.A. Wonsowski

Panel 1 - Amidst the towering trees of the Borderlands, a sunlit clearing.  Two squadrons face each other across the clearing:  one, the Mouse Guard, led at the front by SAXON and KENZIE; the other, armoured mice, more numerous, but a green-hooded churchmouse with a broadsword at his side has made his way in front of his forces.

CAPTION:  The War of the Owls would have finished us if not for this band of heretofore unknown brothers.

Panel 2 - Background: SAXON and KENZIE, their hands outstretched in happy welcome.  Foreground, from behind, we see the green-robed churchmouse remove his hood.

CAPTION:  He fought fiercely to defend lands not his own, yet he walked so calm and centered, pure in spirit and deed.

Panel 3 - 1/2 page:  Surrounded my cheering soldiers from both sides, the joyous SAXON and KENZIE are shaking hands with a humble and now revealed MATTHIAS, Warrior and Defender of the Abbey.

CAPTION  And that was how we struck our long-standing alliance with the mice of Redwall...


in case you're curious:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall ...apologies for the short script this week; busy week for me...raw(az)

Mouse Guard - Bumble Bombardment - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: Close up on Kerron, a bowmouse, as he aims his bow. We can barely see him for the shade.

Caption(Kerron): I CAN BARELY SEE PAST THEM.

Caption(Kerron): AND I'M ALMOST MAD FROM THE NOISE.

SFX: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Inset Panel: Kerron looks to his left. We can't see what he's looking at, but he's surprised. Same light conditions as above.

Panel 2: Kerron ducks under a massive blanket of black and yellow speeding overhead, where his head would have been if not for noticing. Same light conditions, but we can see some sunlight over the top of the blanket of bees.

SFX: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZWWWWWWWRR

Panel 3: Kerron has gotten back up, and is reloading his bow.

SFX:  BBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Caption(Kerron): BUT I CAN'T STOP. NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WANT TO.

Panel 4: Large panel, as much of the page as possible. We're looking up, as Kerron again aims his bow at the massive cloud of bees overhead. They've just about blotted out the sun. There's a bead of sweat going down Kerron's head.

Caption(Kerron): ALL I CAN DO IS KEEP FIRING, UNTIL I SEE SUNLIGHT.

SFX: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Mouse Guard - Build a Better Mousetrap - J.D. Coughlan

I haven't read Mouse Guard, so these are all original characters.

Panel 1: Close up of a blueprint of a mousetrap, drawn on an old parchment.

WILDEYE (O.P.): This, my lord, is what will keep our settlement safe from invaders from other lands.

Panel 2: Wildeye holding up the blueprint, pointing to it. Wildeye has scruffy fur and, as his name suggests, wild eyes.

WILDEYE: You put some food in here, as a lure, then, when someone steps on this mechanism, the trap is sprung!

Panel 3: Wildeye's audience. A group of mouse nobles, looking very unimpressed.

LORD: So... they just walk into the trap?

Panel 4: Wildeye, looking a little sheepish.

WILDEYE: Um, yes.

Panel 5: The mouse nobles falling about in laughter.

SFX: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Panel 6: Wildeye, humiliated, rolls up his blueprint.

SFX: (continued from previous panel) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

END OF PAGE

Mouse Guard – Mouse Guard 1299 – MK Stangeland Jr.

(All characters mentioned here are new characters with no previous reference. This page takes place inside a somewhat secluded mouse hovel – or whatever the Mouse Guard universe equivalent of a house/cottage is.)

(9 Panels)

PANEL 1: TESSER opens the bag on the table to reveal its contents. It is a fine black powder more commonly known as gunpowder.

TESSER (1): I call it ‘fire powder’.

TESSER (2): And it is going to revolutionize not just your Guard, but all of mouse society.

PANEL 2: Opposite side of the table where ROLAN and SUNBEAM – two members of the MOUSE GUARD – are located. ROLAN is peering down at the firepowder with his nose dangerously close to it with the implication that he’s sniffing at it. SUNBEAM has her focus on TESSER as she speaks to him.

SUNBEAM: But what does it do?

PANEL 3: TESSER pours some of the powder into a nearby metal bowl.

TESSER: Allow me to demonstrate.

PANEL 4: TESSER pokes a stick into the lit end of a nearby candle.

PANEL 5: TESSER pokes the stick into the bowl, resulting in an immediate reaction as the ‘fire powder’ there lights up.

SFX: kkwOOOHf!

PANEL 6: SUNBEAM picks up a touch of the powder and rubs it between her fingers as she investigates it further. ROLAN looks at TESSER, but he doesn’t look terribly impressed.

ROLAN: That’s it?

PANEL 7: TESSER puts a contraption on the table.

The contraption looks like a short, primitive gun barrel suspended from a mount that allows it’s angle to be rotated at anywhere from straight up to straight forwards, and the amount of space it takes up on the table should be relatively small, preferably with legs that give it sort of a bare-bones or wire-like appearance.

TESSER: Not quite.

PANEL 8: TESSER pours some of the ‘fire powder’ into the barrel and holds a small metal ball in his other hand, ready to put it in after he’s done putting the powder in.

TESSER: Let me show you it’s true potential.

PANEL 9: TESSER tips the gun barrel down so that it’s pointed past where ROLAN and SUNBEAM are, but it shouldn’t be aimed at them. He has a lit stick in his other hand, much like he did in Panels 4 and 5.

TESSER: I would step aside if I were you.

(END PAGE)

Mouse Guard- A Certain Point Of View -Dan Hill

The caveat this time around is that I've only ever read the first issue of the first series. It's something I've been meaning to read for a while now though.

1111
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PAGE 22

22.1
Wide panel: We’re looking out over the area from treetop level. Spread out before us is a beautiful green landscape. We can see rolling green hills, lush fields and the tops of various forests as the sun rises on the horizon.

YOUNG MOUSE (CAPTION)

“It’s beautiful.”

OLDFUR (CAPTION)

“But it’s also a lie.”

22.2
CUT TO two MICE facing us as they stand on a thick branch, somewhere in the upper reaches of a  tree. On the left is a younger mouse with light brown fur. His eyes are full of life and zest.

The mouse on the right has dark brown fur with dashes of grey around his whiskers and mouth. He has patches on his body where fur doesn’t grow, where thin white scar tissue resides instead. We’ll simply call him OLDFUR.

Both of the mice sport dark capes and wooden swords. They're members of the guard.

YOUNG MOUSE

I don’t understand.

OLDFUR

I know, and that’s why I brought you up here.

22.3
CUT TO a TIGHT SHOT on OLDFUR.

OLDFUR

Up here we are giants, masters of all we survey.

(link)

But all we see is beauty, the landscape, the sun and the sky.

22.4
Small panel: CUT TO a CLOSE UP on a pair of snake’s eyes peering from the shadows beneath a pile of brown, gnarled leaves.

OLDFUR(CAPTION)

“We don’t see danger lurking in the shadows.”

22.5
CUT TO a TIGHT SHOT on a group of three BANDIT MICE standing around an upturned grain cart. Blood on the floor in the foreground of the panel hints at the slaughter.

OLDFUR(CAPTION)

“We don’t see greed waiting to stab us in the back.”

22.6
Small panel: CUT TO a CLOSE UP on a clump of WATER HEMLOCK (CICUTA) plants at the side of a small stream.

OLDFUR(CAPTION)

“We don’t see death disguised as hope.”

22.7
Wide panel: CUT TO a TWO SHOT on the two mice as they look towards us, looking out at the view.

OLDFUR

Down there we are always looking to the sky, humbled by nature towering over us.

(link)

Down there we are invisible to the gaze of any Gods. Down there we make our own fate.

(link)

You professed frustration at being small. Don't.

Mouse Guard - Sky Tamer - Grant McLaughlin

Three rows of panels.  Row one and two take up about half the page.  Row three is a single panel.  Row one is made up of panels 1 and 2; panel 1 is about two-thirds of the row and panel 2 is the remaining third.  Row two is made up of panels 3 and 4; they can be more or less the same size.  Row three is made up of panel 5, acting as a half-page splash.

1 - Darius, a young guardmouse stands in a field looking up at the sky.  It is a windy day, as seen by Darius' waving cape and the trees that bend in the distance.  There are a few clouds in the sky.  Cyril, an older, more cynical guardmouse, talks to him from off-panel, but Darius does not look in his direction.

CRYIL (off-panel): Get your head out of the clouds, Darius.  It can't be done.

2 - Darius turns to look in Cyril's direction, a determined look on his face.

DARIUS: Can't be done is just another way to say you've given up.

3 - Darius and Cyril speak to each other.  Cyril looks worn and beaten by the sands of time.  Darius is animated, moving his body and arms to emphasize his points.

CYRIL: What's the point in trying to achieve a fantasy?

DARIUS: Cyril, did our ancestors imagine mice would live in settlements?  Establish a guard to protect those lands?  Or learn to smith weapons to arm the guard in their duties?

4 - Darius puts a hand on Cyril's shoulder.  He remains serious and determined, but repeated doubting from those like Cyril has made Darius realize that few will believe in his goal until he accomplishes it.  He doesn't begrudge them this, but this knowledge saddens him sometimes.

DARIUS: These were all fantasies once.  But brave mice made these dreams reality

5 - A shot of the sky.  A bird flies through the air.  There are some clouds in the sky, but there's far more open sky.

CAPTION (DARIUS): Why should this be any different?

Mouse Gaurd - The Greater World - Ben Rosenthal

1. Saxon, Kenzie, Sadie, Leiam, and Celanawe are standing in a vast Forrest. This is the furthest out they have come on their adventures.  They are looking at the reader, mouths open in awe.

SAXON

What is it?

SADIE

Some kind of house.

2. We are looking from behind the Mouse Gaurd now so we can see what they are looking at.  In the background stands a huge human farm house.  There are pigs locked up in a pen, and other farm yard animals.  It should look almost like a prison, but mostly resemble a farmhouse.

SAXON

What kind of giant would live there?

Mouse Guard – Summer 1152: Caravan – Shaun Richens

PAGE ONE.

5 PANELS.

1. A page wide panel. From a birds eye view we can see a snake sliding its body through tall thick grass towards a dirt trail at the edge of the panel.

         NO COPY.

2. A half page splash. The snake has uncoiled from its grassy hiding place; it towers up in front of a caravan of mice. The caravan is an ageing TURTLE, parcels and goods tied to its huge shell. A few mice ride on top of it. At the front and sides of the Turtle caravan are a few Mouse Guard, scabbards tied to their waists and long flowing capes about their necks. At the front of the Turtle is the leader of this group of Guard. His name is MARTIN; he has grey fur and wears a dark red cloak.

         NO COPY

3. A close up on MARTINS hand around the hilt of his sword.

         NO COPY

4. Full shot of MARTIN sword raised high in the air.

         NO COPY

5. A close up on the leader of the Guard MARTIN. 

         MARTIN

         Mouse Guard! To arms!

Why Mouse Guard?

Lets start with some background, Mouse Guard is set in a world of sentient mice. Set during a medieval time period, paralleling the same age in human history, though in the Mouse Guard universe there are no humans. The main focus of the tales in the series centre on a brotherhood of mice known as the "Mouse Guard”. They have sworn an oath to serve their fellow civilian mice in times of need; their deeds include making safe passage through the wilderness, protecting mice from predators and safe guarding all Micekind.

Now you know what Mouse Guard us lets talk about why I picked it. I’ll give you four great reasons why…

Firstly and possibly most importantly, because of my best friend, without him, this fantastic book would have slipped be by and we wouldn’t be about to explore it here on Thoughtballoons.

The second reason, Mouse Guard, although filled with sentient beasts and creatures has some of the most emotionally real and raw characters I have ever found in comics. The characters are always rich and detailed and you can’t help but love the heroes, and feel every inch of their journey with them. The characters feel like they came form a fable you got told as a child, you feel an instant attachment to them. This is the kind of powerful characterisation that all writers want to achieve.

Thirdly the David versus Goliath nature of the book. The heroes are always fighting against insurmountable odds, whether its vast armies that out number them, creatures ten times bigger then them or the savage wilderness they inhabit, the Mouse Guard are always the under dog and who doesn’t love an under dog story.

Last but by no means least because Mouse Guard shows how diverse and varied comics as a medium can be. It’s not all Superheroes and Spandex. Comics let you create the worlds and characters you want and that means we, as comic lovers get to discover beautiful creations like Mouse Guard.

If you have a tale of the Guard that you want to tell please share your scripts with us in the comments section below.