Comic Review: Issue #11 (Neigh Anything, Part 1) · 3:56pm Sep 25th, 2013
Ladies and gentlemen, a terror has plagued our tables for far too long. For generations, we have been forced to sip tea while dining on tiny cakes. Much like how the “Fun Size” candy bar seeks to undermine our consumption of chocolate by forcing us to devour and spend more, so too do these little cakes threaten to circumvent our desire for large slices of eggs, milk and wheat covered in frosting. The time has come to rise up! We shall overthrow this tea cake conspiracy and expose its masterminds for their crimes against humanity's stomachs!
Oh, and we'll also review the first half of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's origin story. And really, it's about time. I mean, who doesn't love these two? Well, except for that one guy...and the entirety of Ponychan and 4chan...and most of that one guy's followers...and many people on YouTube...and that guy down the street whose dogs tried to kill my cat...
Okay, a lot of people don't like the two, but we're going ahead with the story anyway.
Our tale begins with the Mane 6 meeting with Cadance and Shining Armor at Tea Love's tea shop in Canterlot a week before their anniversary. After Pinkie and Shining help the CFBCWT (Citizens For Bigger Cakes With Tea) spout its message, we begin our story all about how their lives got flip-turned upside down. Cadance was the most popular young mare at Canterlot Academy, and Shining...was the leader of the school nerds. He fell in love with her at first sight, but how can a pony that popular possibly love someone who plays Oubliettes and Ogres? It's time to his nerdy buddies to make sure the two get together!
I was mostly joking up there (except about tea cakes), but there are issues with Cadance and Shining Armor, especially when it comes to the backstory department. The two have relatively small personalities compared to the rest of the cast, and yet have numerous appearances throughout the third season and an entire finale dedicated to their existence. In addition, Shining being Twilight's big brother and Cadance being her foalsitter opened the door to a lot questions. And this comic...doesn't really answer all that many of those. In fact, Twilight only shows up for two pages (but is adorable nonetheless). Instead, it focuses on building up Shining Armor's character.
The comic's setting might also be its greatest weakness. It tells the story of how the two meet, but frames it within the context of a 1980s high school coming-of-age movie. These things were all the rage back in the day, and while there are a dedicated few that are truly awesome and stand the test of time, many more make Equestria Girls seem like a work of high art. In any case, the basic setup and tropes are all in place, with the plot focusing on a madcap plan to get Shining and Cadance together by getting him elected as King of the Fall Formal...
Wait. Fall Formal. King. Crown. Elected. This is sounding strangely familiar. I must now go inhale paint fumes until I can forget why.
…
Okay, I'm back. We have a float parade, Shining singing a ponified version of a dangerously cheesy song, and the zany scheme at the end to humiliate the jock. Even the cover features dangerous levels of the 80s, including Cheerilee in her embarrassing “victim of fashion” days, Cadance wearing leg warmers, and Lyra showing off a mane style so hideous that it can make your eyes melt out of their sockets if you look at it too long.
Shining actually get some much-needed development here, although it's in a rather surprising direction. A lot of fans (myself included) pegged the guy as very athletic growing up, and yet here he's a very, very nerdy guy. He plays tabletop role-playing games in his friend's basement (which, in a nice touch, has a crank-powered washing machine), plays with his dolls (“action figures”), and has a pair of parents who will not hesitate to publicly humiliate him by smooshing his cheeks and calling him baby names. And yet, we see hints of the stallion he will become as he matures. One of the books he drops early on is for the Canterlot Guard, and he role-plays as a paladin, which isn't far off from how his shield spells are designed to defend others. He also has a moment near the end where he pony's up and tries to talk to Cadance, only for the cliffhanger to strike.
Oh, and apparently Twilight Velvet wrote the Daring-Do series. Huh.
And please don't make me pull out the Mr. Torgue quote again. I'm as sick of shouting it as you are of hearing it.
Cadance...doesn't get that. She does look visibly upset when everyone's openly mocking Shining Armor and his friends (all of whom are pretty well-characterized for such background roles), but other than that she's almost entirely in the background, serving as a prize to be won by the others. Hopefully the next issue rectifies this a bit.
There were quite a few good moments. I liked the design for the nerd's float and how it proudly states that Shining Armor has his cart license, and I loved how his rock performance ended up getting Vinyl Scratch her Cutie Mark. The other nerds are fun and don't overshadow Shining Armor. The leading colt himself is adorable in his dorky behavior and demeanor. And while the cliffhanger is pretty stock, I do like how the end of the issue not only implies that the whole story is a pretty rampant embellishment of events, but also does something interesting with the running gag of Spike closing off issues dressed as a carnival barker.
But overall, the trappings of the genre its emulating do some harm to the story. The jock villain is not just one-dimensional, he's anti-dimensional. The school is one of those institutions where everyone and everything actively and openly mocks the nerdier students simply because they can, and while that is possible in real life, it's taken to cartoonish extremes here. A lot of the plot runs on lunacy and zaniness, and if you've seen any films of this type, then the only thing new here is that it's about ponies and not high school kids. It also inherits a few problems that Equestria Girls had, although it handles the Fall Formal plot a tad bit better than the movie did.
There's also a two-page spread at the end that shows Shining Armor and friends playing Oubliettes and Ogres. It's nothing special, although I'm sure someone who's more of a D&D player than me would get a little kick out of it. (I do like that Twilight also plays and has more charisma than Shining.)
In the end, if you're a serious fan of the comics, or just like this genre of film and want to see something that does a good job capturing its essence, give this a read. If you like Shining Armor and/or Cadance, also give this a go. But otherwise, this issue is just a fairly standard story told in a fairly standard way, and unless the second issue blows everyone away, this could be a pretty good one to skip.
Until the Equestria Girls annual, be safe and dream of a world where we can enjoy true cakes with our tea.
I loved this issue!
Spend more I guess, but it seems to me that fun sized candy gives us the option to devour less (while not preventing our ability to have as many as we want). Plus, fun sized cholcate can make a great dipping stick with a jar of peanut butter. That said though, tiny cakes are just sill... or rather at least anything smaller than a cup cake.
Not surprising really, considering the rampant fan speculation that has suggested as much.
Glad to see you're feeling better. Also I'll have to see about getting a copy of that ish whilst I'm at my Friendly Local Comic Con this weekend...
Are the comics accepted as canon?
Well, there goes my headca... wait, what!?
It coincides with my headcannon...
Creepy.
...I want bigger cakes.
Shining and Twilight play DND? CALLED IT
Velvet wrote the Daring Doo series? Called it!
Now lets see, if Pinkie is AJ's actual sister, I can then buy a shirt and put a pic of my fanfic on it with the words "BUCKING CALLED IT THREE TIMES!" in glowing letters on it.
Do they actually call her Twilight Velvet?
And that's a lot of happy fanfic authors there, what with the Daring-Do and the books and the ... yeah.
Twilight has more charisma than Shining and he plays a Paladin? What is she a Sorcerer? I'd have thought a Wizard.
Unless you were talking about pseudo real life
In which case I'll be quiet now
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How many people can truly eat just one fun size bar? And what of the candies you can only find in fun size form these days? Mr. Goodbar is one of the least-sold candies Hershey makes in its original size, and Krackel is now only available as a bite-sized bar.
And who the hell is Mr. Goodbar?
I would say that this killed Parent's Day (because it ends up screwing over a sizable part of the Twilight Velvet plot) if that story was ever going to go anywhere anymore to begin with. Oh, for the days when I could write...
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Technically, no. They're a supplemental canon at most; they can be fit into the rest of the series, but the actual episodes take precedence.
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Not in the comic, but that's what she's called in the toy line.
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Twilight isn't actually playing at the end, but Shining mentions her character. He doesn't say what the class is, just that she has more charisma than his Paladin.
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The comics are really only side canon anyway.
...oh and don't be so hard on youself. Just write what you can when you can. Even just a few words per day will add up eventually.
1375396 Every drop makes an ocean, as they say.
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Even still, though, at least there are far worse things that could have been said about this than just "it's nothing you haven't seen before, so you're not missing anything."
Man, I need to get back up-to-date with the comics...
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I find it as interesting. I personally tend to try and play characters who are, to some greater or lesser extent, the opposite of me, such as a nimble elf rogue. And Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files plays a barbarian specifically because he is himself a wizard in life.
Then again, I suppose Twilight is more of a wizard than a sorcerer, so to an extent she is still playing against type...
Twilight's mom writes the Daring Do series.
"The Ship-Off" confirmed as canon.
I like Shining Armor and Cadance. I can understand the reasons they aren't liked, but that doesn't stop me from liking them (although it does leave me wanting more of them, ironically).
Unlike the Big Mac arc, this one looks very promising. I love the two and I think the fact they've been wasted so completely is almost a crime. Sure they're the Knight in Shining Armor and the Pink Pony Princess, but that's just it! Faust designed the series to break stereotypes and this is exactly what happens in the comic. Shiny is a nerdy gamer. I'm pretty sure before the second issue is over, Cady will be joining them around the gaming table after admitting she's been a total fantasy/horror geek and they turn out to have loads of favourite writers in common, including Daring Do which Shiny's mom writes...
I also love how they're clearly playing D&D, which is also owned by Cashbro.
Err... What Mr. Torgue comment? BECAUSE...REASONS?
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"WHAT, I CAN'T LIKE GEEK STUFF JUST BECAUSE I TAKE CARE OF MY BODY? DISCRIMINATIOOOOOOOON!"
It's for all those who think that being a Captain of the Royal Guard and a total nerd are incompatible.
I liked this issue. I will readily admit it's lackluster compared to the last issue (and the last micro issue) but it's still good. That, and this is just the wind up. The pitch is a month away.
And if you wish to write, do what I did: Let out all your frustration in a gory bloody mess of a story. It worked for me.
So far, so good. It's already washed out the bad aftertaste Celestia's mini left in my mouth. Simply put, I don't mind it being a generic 80's movie knockoff; I haven't watched many anyways, so it's relatively fresh for me. The plentiful gags keep things interesting while still leaving room for the story. The subversion with polo hearkens back to the first season's sly and subtle jokes that poked at the inherent difference between a world of humans and ponies (as well as Fluttershy lapping her tea/coffee). Like Big Mac's arc, this reads like an episode put onto paper, and does so better than many of the more (relatively) recent offerings.
According to that yearbook, Wheatgrass, Caramel and Soarin were all in the same year as the others you mentioned. Can't say I expected to see Wheatgrass in Canterlot Academy.