An odd couple of anthologies.

In one corner we have “Mouse Guard:  Legends of the Guard vol. 2.”  Part of the excellent “Mouse Guard” series with a host of great creators both known and unknown to me.  The first volume also won an Eisner for being the best anthology in the year that it was released.  In the other we have “A+X vol. 2:  =Amazing.”  It’s the follow-up to the uneven first volume of Avengers/X-Men team-ups whose ongoing series will be cancelled with issue #18.  I might be making it sound like there’s a clear victor here, but both volumes are actually pretty solid and full of appeal to their established fans.

Though “Legends of the Guard” is the arty-er of the two, its stories are still grounded in all-ages fun and lessons.  Highlights from this volume include Stan Saki’s opening salvo of a mouse trying to cross a field and facing threats from both above and below which is another good example of the man’s impeccable storytelling skills.  Alex Eckman-Lawn and Nick Tapalansky give us an untold story of legendary mouse Tiernan the Brave that crams in enough quality character development and adventure that it makes me want to know his full story.  Epic battles, intricately drawn make Eric Canete’s episode worthy of attention, while Bill Willingham shows us another warrior whose physical skills have long since left him though his mind is as sharp as ever.  Best of all, however, is Crhistian Slade’s “Love of the Sea” which features a sea monster, a mer-mouse, and a daring sailor along with a story that goes from “thrilling adventure” to “heartbreaking missive about the passage of time” in the space of a panel without giving you whiplash.

All of the stories here are worth reading, with series creator David Petersen providing great bridging sequences between tales.  You can bet that this series will be bound for Eisner glory again next year.  Yet there’s still a reason to be disgruntled about this volume.  It’s a very unreasonable one, I’ll acknowledge that, though I’m dismayed at seeing us get another volume in the series so soon after “The Black Axe.”  We waited YEARS without new volumes and now we get two in the same year!?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for both, but this just means that the wait for the next volume is going to be that much harder.  At least Petersen has said that they’re already recruiting for the next volume of “Legends of the Guard.”

“A+X” on the other hand will be lucky to have anyone remember it existed by this time next year.  I will give it credit for being a better overall package than the previous volume.  Yeah, there are a few obvious clunkers like Nathan Edmonson and Humberto Ramos’ Captain America/Wolverine team-up and the Thor/Magik thing from Mike Benson and Mark Texeria, both of which feel especially pointless.  Aside from them, the contributions range from either good to excellent.  Adam Warren leads the way with his Scarlet Witch/Domino probability nightmare that finds a clever solution to an impossible situation.  Chris Hastings and Reilly Brown give us a Hawkeye/Deadpool joint effort which is more fun than the archer’s appearance last time while David Lapham gives us a good time the title’s only ensemble story as Quentin Quire, Pixie and Eye Boy break into Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum.  Also contributing greatly to the increase in quality here is Jim Kreuger and Ron Lim’s Superior Spider-Man/Cyclops fight-and-chase sequence which represents a great use of dramatic irony by playing the entire sequence from the X-Man’s perspective, and Christos Gage and David Williams’ story of Beast and Wonder Man having a night on the town and actually making me care about the latter character.

In the end, there isn’t anything in “A+X” that qualifies as essential reading, but it’s good fun overall even with the clunkers.  “Legends of the Guard,” however, is the rare anthology where everything is worth reading and actually has appeal beyond its core audience.  That is, assuming you don’t dislike stories about anthropomorphic mice.  So even it has its own barriers to entry, though both have their own unique rewards for investing in them.