I suppose this was inevitable. · 6:53pm Oct 2nd, 2016
I always knew Ted Anderson would be my undoing. This is because of all those mean things I said about you, isn't it, Ted?
When I saw this synopsis, I was all like "Haha, oh wow, this will really fuck with my plans." But no matter how much of my headcanon it debunks, it's actually a good premise for a story. And for like thirty seconds there, I was hyped. So I went to EqD to see if it was Jeremy Whitley writing it, as I hoped it would be, only to find that it was actually Ted, and then I was more like "GOD FUCKING DAMN IT." This is my fault for acknowledging the comics as canon in the first place. I should've been like the rest of the fandom and just started pretending they don't exist. It would cause me far less headaches.
But whatever. I'll deal with this when it comes. I'll probably review it too if it's bad enough.
No worries. Pretty much every story that features the griffins ignores the griffinstone episode.
It's man's thirst for revenge that drives the times.
What if it's good?
"The best revenge is massive success." –Frank S.
4237816
If it's good I'll be surprised and won't review it, but it'll still fuck with my plans, and Anderson will still be my archenemy.
4237830 On a scale of 1-10, how high are your expectations? With 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest.
4237929
4 or 5, I guess? Anderson fucking up isn't a given. He's written stories that I've liked before, and my favourites of his tend to be the most creative ones; this premise is definitely that. It's just that he also happens to have written two of the absolute worst comics in the series, so I know how low he can go.
And on top of that, you also have to consider the difficulty factor. Multi-part adventure arcs like these are not easy to do right. Katie Cook did a good multi-part adventure arc once, with Return of Chrysalis, and was never able to recapture the magic. Her comedy arcs and oneshots were still often good, but Reflections, the western arc, and Revenge of Everfree all had serious issues. Heather Nuhfer's Nightmare Rarity was decent enough in my opinion, but rubbed a lot of people the wrong way for a lot of reasons. Night of the Living Apples by Thom Zhaler had all of Ponyville defeated by a legion of evil talking apples, and they couldn't defeat them until the main six all turned into fruit bat vampires and killed them all. Need I say any more? And then there's Whitley's Siege of the Crystal Empire, and don't even get me started on that.
These people are not bad writers; they're just writers with weaknesses. Whitley and Cook have both produced some of my absolute favourites of the IDW comics, and as of the recent Ponies of Dark Water, I can also say the same of Zhaler, and that was an adventure arc itself! But the overwhelming trend is that writing a good multi-part adventure arc is hard, even for writers who seem to know what they're doing. And Anderson has been known to fuck up even slice-of-life oneshots.
Ambitious, multi-part adventure arcs always set me slightly on edge, because there's always a risk that they'll be bad. But if it were a writer who has already proven themselves capable of writing good adventure arcs, like Cook or Zhaler, that would've put me a little more at ease. Whitley, though he hasn't produced a good multi-part adventure arc, would've made me even more reassured, because I at least know that he can write Discord well. Ted Anderson has neither of those qualifications, and a mediocre record in general, and is attempting a task that better writers than him have tended to fail at.
...You know, actually, I'm gonna call it a hard 4. The more I dwell on it, the more my hopes sink.
4237968 Well, shit, he might just redeem himself. There's always that. I've personally never been that invested in the comics, but I'd like to start one or two. Could you recommend one for me to start with? I'd like to get into them, especially ever since I got a signed poster of all the villains at NYCC 2015. Oh Andy Price, how I love your style. He really brings out a wide range of facial expressions that I enjoy.
4238025
I'm fully prepared to eat my words if it's good. I just doubt it will be.
Of the main series, you can't go wrong with Katie Cook's first three arcs - Return of Chrysalis (issues #1-4), Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair (#9-10), and Neigh Anything (#11-12). Discord's Magical History Tour (#24), the Spike origin story (#40) and Ponies of Dark Water (#43-45) are also solid, at least in my opinion. The rest of the main series vary between okay, flawed, and occasionally awful. The big ones to skip are all the stories from #25-29.
Of the micro-series, I'd recommend Rarity's, Pinkie Pie's, Celestia's, and Luna's issues.
From Fiendship, get Sombra's issue, Tirek's, and Chrysalis's. Don't bother with the others; they're molten garbage.
For oneshots, avoid the Equestria Girls Holiday Special like the plague, but definitely check out the 2013 annual for its first story, The Fall of Sunset Shimmer.
Finally, for Friends Forever... generally, I'd just advise you to read the ones with team-ups that look interesting, highly subjective as that may be. I can tell you that the most notably bad issues I've read are Pinkie/Applejack and Luna/Spike. Fosgitt is also a frequent artist in this series, and I can never enjoy the comics where he's the artist, but some people like his style, so I'll leave it up to you whether to avoid him. The rest are mostly okay. My personal favourites are Discord/CMC, DT/Silver Spoon, Luna/Discord, Blueblood/Shining Armor, and Dash/Little Strongheart, but you may prefer other stories.
Okay, so for anyone who cares, here's the final verdict however many months later:
I expected to dislike this arc, and I did. The first two issues were okay. Starlight of all ponies being the only one who objects to the use of mind control was frankly weird, I didn't like how quick the ponies were to accept that Discord was just gone now and replaced by this new guy, and Accord's design in general was underwhelming. Honestly, it was mostly Andy Price's art that saved it for me, and the mindscape adventure was also pretty cool I guess.
The final issue I just thought was bad. I liked the continuity call-backs, but any goodwill I might've had by then was ruined by Starlight Glimmer once again being the one to save the day by herself while every other character is useless and ineffectual. Celestia gives up almost immediately, Twilight and Luna's whole subplot in the second issue was rendered pointless, and no other characters have any agency or real role to play. Not even Fluttershy. Or hell, not even Discord himself. I also really didn't like what they did with the Elements of Harmony, and I especially don't like the idea of equating order with harmony in the first place. Alara J. Rogers is right, they're not the same thing, and it irritates me now when they're treated as such.
The back-up story is... meh. The writing's okay, but Sunny Skies All Day Long did this concept better over five years ago. And it was illustrated by Fosgitt, so that's another strike against it.
So, I thought it was shit. But it's the average level of shit for IDW by now. I can't muster anywhere near the level of rage for it that I had for the Dazzlings issue of FIENDship or the Equestria Girls Holiday Special. I'd put it more on the level of Siege of the Crystal Empire or Night of the Living Apples. Anderson is still a hack, and this did fuck with my plans as I feared it would, but it's just the bog-standard Anderson mediocrity, not another major disaster.
Still, pretty bad comic. Give this one a pass, kids.