IDW Comics Review: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #47 & Friends Forever #33 · 6:01pm Nov 7th, 2016
So here we go again with the comics.
Friendship is Magic #47
Continuing the Mayor Filthy Rich story arc...
Right off the bat, Starlight Glimmer wins the issue by lampshading the fact that Mayor Mare doesn't have a name. (My headcanon is her name is Polly Mare. This has nothing to do with anything.)
Diamond Tiara makes some of the best faces in this issue.
Anyway, the unexplained events that started this all--sudden cave-ins of hills swallowing buildings that were inexplicably built at the top of steep hills in the first place--continue, with another home or structure collapsing every time Mayor Rich makes a grand promise of new construction and improvement.
Right off the bat, Filthy Rich makes waves by ordering the construction of a hoofball stadium right next door to Fluttershy's cottage. The construction foreman is proud to boast of all the, quote, "loud and disruptive events" the new stadium will host, including hoofball, boffyball, concerts, demolition derbies, and all-night dance parties. Fluttershy protests the construction since, well...it's kind of her property and kind of a massive noise pollution concern, but the workers are adamant that they're under orders to build it right there and she'll have to take it up with Filthy Rich, who apparently has decided that things like permits, zoning, property rights, and such don't apply to him.
Later in the week, Rarity is checking her mail when she discovers her business taxes have tripled, and she storms into Mayor Rich's office in full-on rage mode (actually kicking the door in) to demand an explanation. Of course, Filthy raised the business taxes to pay for his "improvements", such as the aforementioned disruptive and illegal hoofball stadium. Rarity is not happy, and storms out angrily, furious at her chosen candidate's inability to keep even one campaign promise satisfactorily.
Some time later, Applejack and Apple Bloom head for the opening of the new new playground. Apple Bloom talks to Diamond Tiara while they play on the new swings; DT isn't very happy, because her daddy doesn't have time for her anymore and broke his promise to spend more time with her after the election. While Apple Bloom is trying to console her, the chains on her swing break, dropping her to the ground. All around the playground, the other equipment starts breaking, dumping colts and fillies all over the place. Applejack examines the broken equipment and discovers it to have been of shoddy quality, and takes Mayor Rich to task for it. He explains--nervously--that he hired the cheapest company he could find to build the new playground.
Classy.
When the scandal breaks in the Ponyville News the next day, the Mane Six (and that other one) have tea, where AJ, Rarity, and a frazzled-looking Fluttershy air their grievances about their new mayor. Twilight says that she doesn't know anything about city management (I kinda find that hard to believe), but knows who does, so they all go to visit Retired Mare. They vent their frustrations about how Filthy Rich has screwed up the town to her and beg her to come back. She tells them that no one pony, elected official or no, can magically make everything run smoothly in a city. Ms. Mare rejects their request for her to come back and be an advisor to help get things back on course, although secretly she seems to really want to go back to her old job.
Some time later, back at Ponyville, Filthy Rich calls a town meeting. The ponies of Ponyville are massively disgruntled and grumpy, and Mayor Rich knows he's got a near-zero approval rating. He seems to want to try to spin things back around to how he's going to Make Ponyville Great Again, but his constituents let their voices be heard...with thrown vegetables, boos, and angry shouts of anger. The townsponies bury Filthy Rich under a ton of demands and complaints (some of which are nonsensical and at least one of which breaks the fourth wall). Panicking, Filthy Rich yells that he'll promise them all anything they want, because that's what a mayor does...right?
"No, it is NOT!"
Mayor Mare barges into the meeting to explain to Filthy Rich that a mayor's job isn't about making empty promises. It's about hard work, planning, compromise, and fixing things that break. Filthy Rich begs her to take her job back, but she tells him they'd have to hold a special election.
Then she's interrupted by the cause of all the quakes and collapses: a Tatzlwurm.
You know, that thing Twilight and Cadance fought in that one ep.
As the town descends into a panicked, unruly mob, Mayor Mare takes charge and concocts a plan to deal with the tatzlwurm. (You know, because she's SUCH a good planner...) After getting info on a tatzlwurm from Fluttershy, she directs the earth ponies to lead it out to Fluttershy's cottage and the construction site, where she and Twilight detonate a bunch of dynamite to scare it out of town.
So the day is saved once again, thanks to...Citizen Mare, who is on her way to becoming Mayor Mare again...just as soon as she and Filthy Rich take care of a buttload of red tape.
So yeah...that's over. I hope the next main series comic is better. 
Friends Forever #33
Applejack and Cherry Jubilee are the stars of this issue.
Equine flu has taken down most of Cherry's work crew, so she called Applejack up to lend a hoof cherrybucking. Big Mac can pick up the slack for her at the Acres while she's out of town, and the flu already hit Ponyville earlier in the season.
While Applejack is working, a mare from a traveling wild west show comes up to her to ask if her troupe, who have also come down with the equine flu, can set up camp on the ranch to rest until they're better. Applejack says she reckons Cherry Jubilee will say yes, but the mare from the troupe is skeptical, because their troupe never performs in Dodge Junction, and their leader Buffalo Bull won't say why. Hearing the name Buffalo Bull, Applejack realizes she's talking to none other than Calamity Mane. She remembers seeing Buffalo Bull's show in Ponyville when she was just a filly, and remarks that Calamity hasn't aged a day. Calamity is strangely nervous about this comment...
Anyway, Applejack is sure Cherry will be fine with them setting up camp, so she tells them to go ahead while she squares it away.
CJ is fine with the troupe camping on her ranch...until she hears it's Buffalo Bull, then she gets upset. She wants them off the ranch immediately, but when Calamity Jane appeals to her reason and compassion, she relents and says they can stay one night. AJ and Calamity Mane decide to find out, in that time, exactly what the deal is with CJ and Buffalo Bull.
When Applejack tries to talk to CJ and ask her what's wrong, CJ gets mad at her and tells her she needs to be gone in the morning too. AJ realizes the only way she's ever getting to the bottom of this is to talk to Buffalo Bull. It turns out Bull had no idea Calamity Mane parked them at Cherry Jubilee's ranch, and when he finds out they're in Dodge Junction, he demands they pack up and leave at once.
Since everypony's so sick, Calamity Mane decided not to have them pack up and leave overnight, but let them rest until morning. AJ drops by to check on them, and Calamity tells her Bull got much worse overnight. She's worried because Buffalo Bull is like a father to her. She asks AJ to go into town for them to get some medicine from the apothecary.
In town, AJ is trying to figure out what to do; she tells herself that she needs to figure out what Twilight would do. Right then, she passes the library, which is just opening for business. AJ decides that's a sign and heads inside.
Cute panel gag: There's a poster inside the library with Twilight's face on it that says "READ!" AJ goes through the town's news archives to find out what happened the last time Buffalo Bull was in town.
It turns out that the Calamity Mane currently traveling with the troupe isn't the original Calamity Mane--Cherry Jubilee is. Or rather, was. When CJ was a younger mare, she knew her destiny was cherry farming, but she wanted to get out, see Equestria, sow her oats. She met Buffalo Bull, they hit it off right away, he took her on as his co-star, gave her the stage name Calamity Mane. They roamed Equestria together for a long time, and eventually Bull proposed to her when they were performing in Dodge Junction. CJ loved him, but was tired and wanted to settle down, so she panicked and ran off. She got a job on the Cherry Hill Ranch and eventually bought the place. She'd put it all behind her...but the fact that Buffalo Bull went and replaced her with a new "Calamity Mane" made her furious.
Applejack gets Cherry Jubilee to look at the whole thing from another perspective: that if Bull hadn't left her in Dodge Junction when she ran off, she wouldn't be where she is today, and that her turning down his proposal in front of all those ponies must have hurt and embarrassed him something fierce.
CJ isn't ready to let things go that easily--her stubborn pride gets the better of her, and she decides she's going to tell Bull off for everything. AJ appeals to her reason, reminding her of the first time she herself was in Dodge Junction, and what she learned about letting pride get the better of her. Applejack pleads with her to mend fences with Bull after all this time, but CJ isn't having it...
...until she actually sees Bull, who's old, tired, and bad sick with the flu. All her anger and fury and pride leave her, and she does the right thing: finally gets the right kind of closure with her old flame, who has his own regrets to air about how they parted.
A week later, Buffalo Bull's troupe puts on their first show in Dodge Junction in years...starring the original Calamity Mane for one night only!
I liked this issue. A lot. It was a really good issue. Hell, it'd have made a great episode of the show.
Pretty much agree with you on these comic review. Main series issue sucked (but then the expectations were pretty low for a "Trump v.s, Hillary" parody that was absolutely not needed) and the Friends Forever issue was great, not anything particularly stand outish but a good slice of life tale.
eh, doesn't sound as terrible as i was expecting. But boy do these comics set a low bar.