Comic Review: Micro-Series Issue #1 (Twilight Sparkle) · 7:42am Feb 20th, 2013
The first issue of IDW's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic micro-series has come out, focusing on a solo adventure with Twilight Sparkle. (No wings yet; all the comics so far are set between Seasons 2 and 3.) So let's dig into this lovely little tale and examine what makes Twilight tick.
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Unlike the main series, there's no title here. It's just the first issue of the micro-series, starring Twilight Sparkle.
The story opens with...well, an unfortunate sign of what is to come. The story and art here are not covered by Katie Cook and Andy Price, but instead done almost entirely by Thom Zahler. And honestly, the art is pretty meh to bad in this one. Spike looks like he's stuffed with fluff more than once, Celestia is drawn incredibly awkwardly, and the colors look washed out like it was done in colored pencils. It's not absolutely wretched, but compared to the much stronger artwork from the main series, it's a serious downgrade, kind of like if you went from G4 to G3. (Although probably not that bad.)
Anyway, the story opens up with Twilight and Spike in Canterlot for yet another test. Twilight is naturally worried, Spike is his usual self, and Celestia...ends up postponing the test so that Twilight can help with something else. (Which is, of course, another test.) As it turns out, the Royal Archivist has broken her leg, and Twilight has been dispatched to assist her. Unfortunately, said Archivist is a crotchety old crone with a chip on her shoulder and a dismissal attitude towards Twilight even being there. And along the way, Twilight keeps bringing up Jade Singer, the author of one of her favorite books who vanished after the first one...
Okay, I am not going to waste words here, so if you want to avoid spoilers, then just buy the book now because it's great. If you don't mind spoilers, still buy the book afterward because it's great.
From the beginning, it's made clear that Jade Singer is the Royal Archivist. The name gets thrown up so many times you know it's important, and she keeps talking about things that only Jade Singer should probably know. As far as kids-level mysteries go, it's one the little ones will understand, but for anyone who's seen this plot before it's pretty obvious where it's going. The crotchety old pony and the hip young pony will form a bond while annoying each other with their eccentricities, there's a room the old one forbids the young one to go into but they do anyway, there's a big explosion of anger, and then everything is resolved.
So what makes this one so good to begin with? A lot of it has to do with the writing. For all his failings with the art, Zahler manages to capture the mood of the best of FiM perfectly. Twilight is her usual inquisitive self, while also wanting to impress Jade Singer and showing an incredible attention to detail. Jade Singer is cranky and listless, but doesn't mean any harm; she's kind of what Twilight would be without Celestia pushing her out the door to make friends. Most of the story is the two simply interacting over a period of several days, becoming better friends as they form a bond over their love of reading, and ultimately helping each other in their own ways. And to my amazement, it really, truly works here. The two work off each other perfectly, setting up for some really funny moments. (Jade Singer hauling out an old phonograph and blasting the Royal Archives with horrid swing music is the funniest part of the issue.)
But then there's the reveal about why Jade Singer vanished after one big hit. I won't spoil it for you here (I've already done enough damage), but suffice to say that it's something I've felt many, many times as a creative person. Twilight also connects it to her own life, shining a new light on why she gets so worked up over pleasing Celestia and fears she'll lose her student status at every moment. And the final page...okay, I admit. I let out a little liquid pride.
Peppered throughout the book are little jokes and amusing book titles. My favorite, though, has to be The Official Handbook of the Marble Universe. And yes, it's about actual marble, “Everyone's Favorite Metamorphic Rock!”
If you are reading this (not too many seem to go for the comic reviews; guess it's not my forte), then please pick this book up. Outside of the rather poor art this issue, it's a fantastic read. I can already tell that, if the books keep up this level of quality, this hiatus will go a whole lot smoother than the last one.
Blogger: http://blogofpony.blogspot.com/2013/02/comic-review-micro-series-issue-1.html
Micro-series? We have two MLP comics?
So, what are these micro-issues?
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The Micro-Series is a six-issue limited series, with each one focusing on a single pony and their struggles outside of the more epic main series. They're written and drawn by different people than the main series and don't have a connected storyline, but instead just allow us to examine one of our main characters. So far, they've announced four of the issues:
1. Twilight Sparkle (Already reviewed above)
2. Rainbow Dash (She's fighting off cloud gremlins that threaten to block the sun)
3. Rarity (Her attempt to take a trip to a new spa is ruined when she discovers the spa is rather rustic in nature)
4. Fluttershy (Her freaky knowledge of sewing lands her in the spotlight again)
That leaves Pinkie and Applejack unannounced. I'm pretty sure AJ will be dead last, as always.
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Are these only available online? Or are they just new enough I haven't seen them in stores yet?
And what kind of price are we looking at?
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Right now, they're only online. (They're supposed to ship today, but iTunes has it already and Comixology should have it up later today.) And they're #3.99, same price as the regular issues. They're also the same number of pages and, of course, come in a billion covers for the truly rich and insane to blow their money on.
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Ah yes. Those silly people wasting money on special covers.
Yessir. Silly. Heh heh.
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While I value your opinion, I'm gonna have to look up the general consensus before I buy this comic. I'll avoid spoilers though until I read it or decide otherwise.
Man, I really gotta get me those comics.
I found the art to be questionable at best, but loved the story.
My copy's probably waiting for me at my local comicbook store, one good thing to look forward to tomorrow.
I didn't expect this comic to be the character study it turned out to be; seeing Twilight and Jade getting to know each other over time was really enjoyable.
That, and I was kind of amused to see how the quadruped version of crutches worked.