IDW Main Series #11 Review · 5:17am Dec 28th, 2015
After 10 exciting issues filled with stories that seemed larger in scale or depth than what the show had to offer at the time, IDW decided they wanted to address those critics of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence who felt they had no character. And they told a two parter story centered from two different narations. But was it as good as everything that came before it, or was it just the first disappointment from the main series of comics?
Well, let's find out.
We begin with the mane six (but not Spike for some reason) talking with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence at a tea shop. But Shining Armor and Cadence can't stay for the Summer Wrap Up Festival and Hoedown, because they are celebrating their anniversary, and the Crystal Ponies are throwing them quite the celebration.
This causes Rarity to realize nopony's ever asked how Shining Armor and Princess Cadence met, and Shining Armor offers to narrate the story from when he and Cadence knew each other in Canterlot High School. From there, we learn that Shining Armor was part of a group of nerds alongside Point Dexter from "Putting Your Hoof Down" and two other ponies. You know all those high school love story cliches that "Equestria Girls" actually never used (Flash isn't a nerd, and Twilight certainly isn't a hot chick that's popular and well loved), well get ready to see them all pop up here.
Yeah, I'm not kidding, this is basically what happens when you blend Friendship is Magic with what teenage comedies and dramas depict high school life as. Nothing but proms, sports, romance, and popular kids v.s unpopular kids. They even include the typical jerk jock in the form of Buck Winters.
The only productive things to emerge from this are the existence of a FiM version of the classic table top RPG "Dungeons and Dragons" (it's called "Obulets and Ogres" and we actually learn in a scene after the to be continued part that Twilight plays with Shining Armor and his nerd friends). Also, during Shining Armor's performance, we see Vinyl Scratch get her cutie mark. Otherwise, everything is predictable as ever, including the jerk jock asking the popular hot chick to the dance before the unpopular nerd can, thus seemingly ruining everything. We get a joke that Shining Armor may be an unreliable narrator, but it never goes anywhere.
Not even learning that Shining Armor played the flugel horn can save this story from being predictable and cliche to a fault. One of the covers even seems to disregard show continuity by having ponies such as Cheerilee and Soarin be in the same high school as Shining Armor and Cadence, making them within the age group of the couple. Even though Cheerilee was shown to have attended elementary school with Ponyville, and some of the other ponies we later learn were Twilight's friends as fillies in Magic Kindegarten. Granted, that last bit was unknown at the time, but my point still stands.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, it's alright, but while it does give Shining Armor a little bit more character than he had before, it doesn't really rectify what the critics said about him. Never mind the fact that he actually did have some character, alongside Cadence, but it was hard to spot since he and Cadence were dropped into the show without build up. Everything else is your typical high school love story that you've seen a million times already, without any degree of originality. I'd still say you should pick this up for the few bits that really stand out, but this is probably the first main series issue I would actually understand if you wanted to skip it. Between this and the next issue, you don't mess much of anything.
I actually loved both this and the following issue. Issue #12 is stronger, but something about this one really got my funny bone.
3647415 I'd probably like this better, if it weren't so predictable and cliche. Ever since "High School Musical" teenage movies have been obessed with capturing the glamor of high school, and potraying an image that high school was never intended to have. High school can be a very difficult period of time for a variety of reasons, and it's definitely not all about relationships and sports. Even "Equestria Girls" isn't that obessed with the high school image.
Honestly, I love this story arc in the comics.
I found it to be funny (which is honestly one of the biggest strengths in the comics overall, at least for me), and what we learned about Shining and Cadance was honestly interesting to learn.
3647424 I really don't feel that's what the arc's going for at all. It's pretty clearly a riff on 80s high school movies like Say Anything and Sixteen Candles.