Present Perfect vs. IDW, Round 15 · 5:57pm Feb 16th, 2017
Reading comics is hard. D: I had like eight issues sitting around long enough for them to release like six more. But last time, things went pretty well, and that continues this time around! So have some comics! It's not like I'm using this as an excuse to procrastinate on the things I should be doing
Issues
#43-45: Ponies of Dark Water
Despite the reference in the title, this arc sadly has no pirates. :( (At least I didn't have the double disappointment of it having nothing to do with a beloved cartoon show. Because I never watched that one.) Instead, this starts with the mane six coming back from saving Equestria from ursas in the litigious Kingdom of Abyssinia. (Why couldn't we have had that story?) On the way, they stop at a hot spring to relax, but because it's an evil hot spring, its waters transform them into dark versions of themselves.
The results of this are mixed. Applejack, for instance, becomes the epitome of every greedy movie businessman antagonist ever, proving she's boring even when she's evil. :V Rainbow Dash does very little other than show up as a Sonic Rainboom now and again. Twilight makes some grandiose announcements proclaiming herself Empress of Ponyville, which is cool, and she goes around stealing ponies' intellect, a la the Riddler in Batman Forever, but the plot tends to forget about her more often than not. Compare this to Fluttershy, who's dressed like Poison Ivy (squee) and leading an animal incursion from the Everfree Forest, or Rarity, who looks fantastic, but… also has nothing to do. I mean, when she's not fighting Luna or Twilight, she's breaking store fronts? She wasn't exactly the face of terror, is what I'm saying, no matter how fashionable that mask is.
And then there's Pinkie.
The last panel of the first issue has a big reveal of her, sitting in a chair, her face covered in white makeup, quoting Jack Nicholson from the first Tim Burton Batman movie. Number one, why all the Batman references? Why aren't there more? (I don't think Rarity's costume was a reference to anything...) Number two, really bad fucking idea. Admittedly, she isn't the Joker, dressing fully as a clown later on and just trying to spread chaos when her forced stand-up routine doesn't go over too well, but it gave me some bad feelings.
In all, this is a really neat idea that just goes nowhere. Like, Luna comes in, but gets turned into Nightmare Moon because why not I guess. The CMCs, Zecora and Spike have to save the day, but despite the mounting danger, it often feels like nothing's happening. Maybe it's just the constraints of what they're allowed to do with the characters in the comics. The writing is a definite letdown, though. I mean, points for "gol-durned ding-dang", but this fails the Zecora Test hard (joining its predecessors), and there are so many beats where it seems like the dialogue is meant to be a joke, but it just isn't. Take Scootaloo saying, "She's become an expansionist power." Is that a joke? No, it isn't, not in any context. Also, why would Scootaloo say something like that?
Thankfully, if anything here works, it's the ending. Twilight ends up being the last to be reverted back to good, on account of being the smartest, and thus the most dangerous. The gambit they come up with to beat her was pretty surprising, and that's going to squeak it up into the "good" ratings. (Also, Weird Al reference.) I kind of feel like it needed a fourth issue, but then again, would I have really wanted to read another issue of this?
3/5
#46-47: Election
Given the way things have gone in the United States recently, I was very much not looking forward to this arc, but it ended up surprising me. After a new playground collapses, the ever-reactionary citizens of Ponyville respond enthusiastcally to Filthy Rich's call for a mayoral election. As it turns out, there hasn't been an election in Ponyville for years because Mayor Mare does such a good job, no one ever runs against her. I like this. Time Turner, Cheerilee and Lyra also run (Lyra is described as "friendship enthusiast", which I have to assume is horse words for "super lesbian"), but two guesses who won. Hint: It's not Mayor Mare.
And while this gets off to a bad start, with AJ taking a fairly typical conservative stance and Twilight being surprised that her friends don't all agree with her politically, it ends up being about politicians, our expectations of them, and how that differs from the reality of what they can deliver. That, more than anything, is worth writing about. I was also impressed by how Mayor Mare is characterized. She's realistic at a time when realism isn't appreciated by the electorate, suffering for it, and her blithe optimism about the election paints her as looking for an excuse to retire.
That said, the ending is a bit of a letdown, because it just kind of stops, and one could say the plot is overall fairly predictable, which it is. (Though I wasn't expecting the thing that destroyed the playground.) I was also pretty miffed that they cast Filthy Rich as a villain, shades of Legend of Everfree. Only the show seems to recognize that he's not a bad guy, it's his family who sucks. :/ Of course, the real letdown is the answer to the question posed by Starlight Glimmer (in what I think is her first comic appearance): what's the Mayor's real name? We're never given a response. D:
3/5
#48-50: Accord
It's always a pleasure getting back into a Price comic. From the cover homaging The Muppet Show to the visual callbacks to previous comics and even episodes, this is another arc that's really, really fun to look at. And kudos to Jay Fosgitt: I didn't even notice the art style change!
So we have the ponies going to watch a celestial conjunction, after which Discord arises from some kind of weird egg as Accord, Spirit of Order and Harmony. Accord is very dapper and gentlemanly, and sets about helping ponies right their confusions and mishaps. Things quickly take a dark turn, however, as Accord decides "true harmony" is Equestria's future, and mind-controls everypony he can to follow his lead. And let me just say: this is fucking terrifying. Accord is a really good villain, just super-creepy. (I was slightly miffed that he still looked like Discord, like he wasn't more symmetrical or anything, but there's a reason for that!)
Interestingly, this leads to a period of bonding for Celestia and Starlight Glimmer, as they try to do everything they can to get ponies out of Accord's reach. I do long for the day when Starlight can appear in something without someone reminding us of her entire backstory, but this time, it's the reason why she becomes the one to ultimately face him alone: she knows where he's coming from, and why what he's doing is wrong. So actually a good use of her.
But not everything here is super-great, and that even includes the art. Take, for instance, Celestia's epic meme face in the middle of an otherwise tense moment; it's not the only spot of tension undercut by comedy, though this might have come about from a desire to make sure things don't get too dark. Worse, though, is the rising action, which will get every pedant in a nerd-rage uproar: they use the Elements of Harmony.
Like, whoa, shit, we haven't seen those for three solid seasons now. c.c What were they thinking? And you can't just wave it off as "comic and show canon are different". This arc ending on the 50th issue gave them reason to do a lot of shout-outs, not just to other comics (loved seeing Mirror World Celestia again!), but also to the show itself. I don't think I've ever seen show scenes recreated in the comics before, and when you're looking at callbacks to Inspiration and Manifestation and Three's a Crowd, not to mention the fact that, over the course of the comics' run, Twilight's gotten a castle and also a Starlight, you can't say the canons are separate and keep a straight face. (Also, that is some Bats!-level un-logic that turns the Elements against their users.)
And yet? I don't like being a ragey nerd. It actually took me a moment to realize anything was wrong, and I spent that moment being excited that Celestia was going to use the Element of Magic. There's nothing wrong with this "oversight", and if you're willing to roll with it, this arc turns out to be pretty darn solid, and maybe the best since the Mirror World itself.
4.5/5
Friends Forever
#30: Twilight/Cadence
Okay, so just a moment to talk about the cover first. It shows Twilight and Cadence holding a package containing toy likenesses of themselves. On Twilight's side, it says things like "Princess of Friendship!", "Best Pony!" and "Librarian Skills!" (lol) Cadence, meanwhile, is identified as "The Other Princess". Actual Cadence is sad, and this brings me no end of joy. :D
Oddly, that's all but literally what this issue is about: Twilight and Cadence go incognito into the Crystal Empire market and she gets upset because of the way she's represented in their princess-branded merchandising. Yes, this is a comic about Cadence being worst pony and everything that's wrong with her. :V Sure, there's some life-affirmation or something near the end, but hey, Shining Armor gets a funny scene! Fiveouddafive, tenouddaten, hunnerdouddahunnerd, best comic. V: (Joking aside, it's kind of light on content and mostly just okay, with a few panels where Cadence seems to be overwhelmed with situationally inappropriate dismay.)
3/5
#31: Rainbow Dash/Little Strongheart
WTF? Who came up with this ship? c.c
Anyway, Rainbow Dash gets called via smoke-signal out to somewhere near Appleloosa, where things aren't going so well for the buffalo. They tell her a legend and ask her to seek the crow who originally brought them fire, to help dispel the sudden cold freezing their crops. Said legend is the centerpiece of this issue, and yes, I did notice the artist change this time. :V The art is absolutely gorgeous, and the legend itself feels like something that could have come from actual Native American lore. The rest is actually pretty funny, almost jarringly so, with Rainbow and Strongheart "racing" to the crow, and bantering about respect for traditions along the way. In that sense, this may fall a little flat, treating the subject shallowly, likely because of the short length. But damn, just those five-and-a-bit pages of legend are worth the price of admission.
4/5
#32: Fluttershy/Daring Do
Now there's a teamup I never knew I needed until it happened. :D This is pretty fun, if extremely straightforward. Daring wrangles Fluttershy into coming with her on an adventure, on account of she needs the help of a certain spider and spiders do not agree with her. What follows is a lot of Fluttershy being adorable (the spiders are cute), some good comedic timing, and a fairly pat lesson about bravery. I mean really, that's it. If you like Daring Do stuff, it's worth reading.
3.5/5
#33: Applejack/Cherry Jubilee
It's funny: my parents were recently watching an old musical about Calamity Jane, which got me thinking about her pony counterpart, and son of a gun, wouldn't ya know it, here she is! Calamity Mane is instant waifu material, no joke. :V There's a lot more going on in this issue than I ever expected, though. The main conflict involves Buffalo Bull's (he's a pony) traveling show stopping at Cherry Jubilee's ranch to rest while AJ just so happens to be there, and Cherry Jubilee taking a strangely huge amount of offense at this. What follows is some excellent backstory for Cherry, what I'm pretty sure is a reference to the old FlimFlam Brothers issue, and, if we're being honest, an entirely superfluous Applejack. But that's okay! She gets to be on the sidelines of something really neat. :D
4/5
#34: CheesePie
I don't like the ship, but the cover of this issue is an homage to the cover Weird Al's second album, In 3-D, so I was pretty much immediately sold. :D So, one day, Pinkie Pie gets eaten by a walking house, like ya do, and Cheese Sandwich just so happens to be inside, also like ya do. Follow them as they attempt to party their way out of the house, with a bunch of great referential jokes! But that's not all! Interspersed with these scenes are pictures from the life of a happy family. Believe it or not, this ended up being one of the most moving MLP comics I've ever seen, and from such a bizarre setup, at that! Eminently worth the read.
5/5
#35: Twilight and Starlight
I've been commenting on the covers so far, and I just want to say, Starlight looks fucking evil on this one. Those are not bedroom eyes! D: Anyway, this features the two of them, along with Spike and Owlowicious, going to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters for reasons, where they're beset by vines that poot dust which makes everyone fight. If that sounds kind of dull, well, it is, and it mostly just centers on Twilight/Starlight stuff that we've already seen in the show. That said, there is a really unique and eye-catching action sequence in the middle, so it's not a total waste of time.
3/5
#36: SoarinDash
Ugh, the plebbiest of pleb-tier ships. D: Anyway, this is a heaping helping of season 6 Wonderbolts canon, and honestly, it's not bad. Dash gets called by Spitfire to go find Soarin, who's run off to some forbidding mountain in the middle of harsh winter because he's feeling unworthy. Those who look to the comics for extra canon will get a nice dose of it in regards to Soarin. Otherwise, I can't say much about this. I mean, it's nice getting to see more post-Newbie Dash Rainbow interacting with her new teammates, but nothing about this is gonna stick with me, I don't think. Still, not bad.
3/5
I'll reserve my nerd rage for when I finally get to my review of Accord.
I will note that I'm pretty sure that evil Rarity was emulating Dr. Doom, and that the rainbow crow legend actually is based on Native American folklore.
yes you can, that has been the official declaration from the start, the show is canon to the comics, but the comics are not canon to the show. Everything in the show exists for the comics and is part of their continuity... if delayed by a few months... but nothing in the comics is part of show continuity unless the show specifically and directly brings it into itself, like with Ogres and Oubliettes.
That might be changing after this issue given they've said that going forward, the comics would be more closely tied to the show and serve mostly as a means of expanding on things the show brings up during season 7.
Rarity was Dr. Doom. His thing is that he's so vain he wears the iron mask to cover his scarred face, even though in some continuities the scar is minor or even non-existent.
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4425029
Worded poorly, I meant that show canon is separate from comic canon. The reverse is true.
4425036
sweet
But not a Batman villain. :| Not even the right comics company!
4425408 Yeah, no idea where that came from. If anything Rarity should have been the Penguin.
4425036 Well in a lot of continuities, while the initial scar was some minor little scratch on one cheek type thing that yeah, barely noticeable and easy to cover with some makeup if you wanted.
He was so eager to hide it, he puts the mask on while it's still hot and ends up horribly burning his entire face.
4425408 Ah yeah, the show is very much supposed to be canon to the comics... as bad as they screw that up at times. Here's hoping the retool with the upcoming stuff helps change that.
4424944
Yea, the 6 are:
Twilight Sparkle: Basically Lex Luthor
Rarity: Dr. Doom
Fluttershy: Poison Ivy
Applejack : Donald Trump (Straight from the writer's mouth, as memory serves)
Pinkie Pie: The Joker
Rainbow Dash: For some reason I want to say I've read she is The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight. I can't seem to corroborate it though.