Fiendship is Magic · 4:16pm Jan 21st, 2015
So, those villain comics that were rumored a couple of days ago have now all been officially announced, and I am stoked.
First thing that leaps out at me is oh frigging wow look at those covers - ponies done up in full Dia de Los Muertos makeup. That is gorgeous.
Second thing that leaps out at me is that I have dire concerns that you can't possibly tell a proper story about King Sombra without going waaaay darker than a comic aimed at kids would allow.
Third thing that leaps out at me is that there are five issues for five villains showing five of the mane six on those gorgeous covers. Notably missing from the lineup: Discord and Twilight Sparkle. Who wants to bet that they're planning something special just for those two that they're not telling us yet?
ETA: There's the Twilight Sparkle cover, apparently another variant cover for the first villains issue.
Agreed on Sombra. He's basically pony Saruman, if not Sauron. That is a stallion in desperate need of a legion of doom. Even just showing his oppressive regime in the Crystal Empire would probably be pushing it.
In any case, I'm hesitant on this one. As much as I'd love to know more about the villains, I also love what people have come up with here. Having quasicanonical information about them... Well, I'll wait and see.
2737891
Yup. They are both conundrums.
Conundra? :P
Truth is, I absolutely loved The Crystal Empire, and I thought Sombra was the single most effective villain in the show to date. One of the main reasons for me is that he wasn't funny, or interesting as a character. While every other villain was designed to be fun to watch, The Crystal Empire was written so that the most we saw of the villain was not in himself but in the psychological devastation he left in his wake. For me it worked beautifully, and I found him genuinely terrifying and far more intimidating than all the others.
So, I'm a bit worried that seeing any more of him would actually only make him less effective.