IDW Main Series #26 Review · 11:58pm Aug 19th, 2015
So, with 2014 about to wrap up, the Friends Forever series decided to do a drug aesop issue using the most obvious pairing of all time, Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Needless to say, it was unexpected, and probably didn't fare all that well. But despite that little bump, it seemed like the IDW comics were still on relatively solid ground. So, with the decision to continue the plot in which Twilight and Rarity were nerfed, did things improve or get worse?
Well, let's find out.
We start off with a relatively brief recap that isn't all that funny. Then, Applejack takes charge and insists that they do something to stop Longhorn and the cattle rustlers. Of course, they can't do the obvious solution because of Twilight's moral compass, and once again I have to ask, why do you cling to something that prevents you from helping those in need? The town is suffering because of the cattle rustlers, and you could very well possess the means of stopping them. And as was mentioned before, you don't even need to use your magic on the bulls.
It soon turns out that Longhorn is going to legally move onto the ranch in a matter of days, and is filing the paper work to have it be done. Applejack suggests they rip up the paperwork, but Twilight claims it is illegal. I personally think that arguement holds little water when the creature filing the claim is a known outlaw and likely intimdated the town into signing the document.
But then, thanks to a con artist, Applejack comes up with the idea to misdirect Longhorn with Twilight using the power of burecracy and red tape, while everyone else gets the cattle rustlers to leave, so they can move the settlement off the ranch and nullify the claim. And I have to ask, how is that anymore legal than destroying documents that were probably signed under forceful terms? Honestly, the moral bankruptcy and hypocrisy here isn't funny, and once again it could all be avoided if Twilight and Rarity were written out, instead of being put into a story they couldn't work with.
Over the course of two days, little progress is made, and Longhorn loses patience. At last, fed up with having to constantly sign something, he returns to the ranch and attempts to move onto it prematurely. When the sheriff takes a stand and fights Longhorn, Longhorn holds Rarity prisoner. And I will admit, Rarity could've very easily gotten out of the situation without affecting the flow of the narrative.
Finally, Twilight actually decides to do something, when she reveals that she got Princess Celestia to sign a document making the ranch a historical building and giving control of it to the town. Longhorn tries to destroy the ranch, and Twilight and Rarity use their magic to create a jail cell to hold Longhorn and his crew. Rarity then throws a bucket at Longhorn in retaliation for messing up her hair.
The sheriff is reinstated, despite Chili Pepper having yet to return, and there being no proof that he can do the job (though I think his stand against Longhorn is a step in the right direction).
It then ends with the girls getting ready to head back home, and Pinkie Pie makes a joke about how they should be riding off into the sunset.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Contrary to popular belief among the fandom, I think that this issue and its predecessor is fairly good. It promised to give Applejack some love, and it did. It just needed to write out the characters that didn't have a purpose without breaking the story (sometimes less is more). That being said, the moral hypocrisy isn't funny, and not many of the jokes hit home. I'd say, if you can find this for really cheap, you should pick it up. But I can understand if you want to skip over it. That being said, this issue as well as its predecessor is still leagues above pretty much everything IDW has pushed out so far this year, as the next arc would attest.
But before that could happen, IDW would churn out something so horrible, so infamously bad, that the very name of it still sparks anger in the hearts of even the most tolerant of bronies. I am talking about the Batman and Robin of the IDW comics, the infamous 2014 Equestria Girls Holiday Special! And no, I'm not reviewing that. Plenty of other reviewers have rightfully ripped that story a new one.
I don't really like how they portray Rarity in the comics: shallow, self-centered, and only caring about romance. They basically just made her into a parody of herself.
3332695 Yeah, I don't like it either. And it's a shame, because she wasn't always like this in the comics. Friends Forever #13 and Main Series #29 were good breaths of fresh air and should be the rule, not the exception, to her character. Alas, IDW doesn't seem interested in learning from its mistakes, if Friends Forever #19 is anything to go by.
If I felt like they would listen (but they've shown that they don't) I would write an angry letter to them, demanding that they get their act together and stop producing such bad stories. At this point, they have no excuse for bad writing.
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Worse: they actually imply she's either slutty or bimbo-level stupid (maybe both) in that story. What exactly was she doing with that stallion and how did she expect this to work out well?
The basic problem with the story is that the villains (Longhorn and his gang) have previously been established as not that tough. Remember, Applejack and Rarity (by themselves) beat them up in an earlier story. Against even the other five members of the Mane Six (absent Twilight) it would have been no contest. Thus the only way any dramatic tension was maintained was to have Twilight artificially hold the rest of the Mane Six back for most of two issues. Which makes Twilight look less than useless.
3333385 Which is why they should've written out both Twilight and Rarity. If their abilites could break the flow of the story, then they shouldn't have been included. Sometimes, if a character's presence could solve a story's problem, you either have to scrap the story or write out the character.
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Yeah, the only one who seems to get her character is Whitley.
Oh, can you send me a link to the Holiday Special? I'd like to see what we're dealing with.
3334447 I would love to, but I think you're better off checking the offical IDW Comics group on this site.
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They wanted to do the classic Western "Good guys help townsfolk against bandits" tale. The thing is, the Mane Six as a whole are overpowered for that story, unless something is added to either make the good guys weaker or the bandits tougher.
The way the story should have run is "Bandits attack town, Mane Six beat them all in one page, other stuff happens." But the writer didn't want to do it this way. So the story read "Bandits (repeatedly) attack town, Twilight Sparkle finds technicality to avoid using her or anyone else's abilities effectively, Twilight eventually beats bandits with convoluted trick."
Yes, I see why Twilight felt it immoral to blow them into smoking grease spots on the plains. They were, after all, just common criminals, and hadn't even killed anypony as far as we know. But I don't see what prevented her from turning the other five members of the Mane Six on them with orders "Don't kill anycattle," while she either neutralized Longhorn himself or hung back to interfere if it looked as if anyone on either side was in really lethal danger. Their purely canon abilities would have been sufficient to easily defeat the gang. Any two of them could probably have done it, and even any one of them would have had a decent chance.
Author seemed to have been so mesmerized with "big scary mean bulls" and "cute little girly Ponies" that he forgot what in canon and even more in comics canon, those cute little girly Ponies have faced and DEFEATED. Including the Longhorn Gang themselves!
It was an Idiot Plot in that it only happened because both sides were idiots. The Longhorns should have gone, "Oh crap, it's THEM!" and high-tailed it when they realized who they were up against. Twilight should have gone "Oh good, it's only them," and non-lethally captured them all when she first met them. Instead, the Longhorns kept attacking again and again until Twilight completed her Ritual of Okayness which let her go "Okay, now I shut you down" and do it.