IDW My Little Pony Comics Review: Main Series #50 & Friends Forever #36 · 1:24am Feb 17th, 2017
So here we go again...
Gonna flip the script and do Friends Forever first this time.
Friends Forever #36
It's the first snow of winter and the Mane Six are all bundled up in their winter gear, ready to enjoy the season. But five of the Mane Six keep getting buried under snow by the comings and goings of Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, who can't seem to land or take off without spraying snow everywhere. It's a cute running gag for a couple of pages as the plot of the comic kicks off: Spitfire sends Rainbow to Mt. Everhoot in the Yaket Range to get Soarin, who's gone off on some fool quest to redeem himself after screwing up the last show. There's an outpost on Mt. Everhoot where ponies harvest the Everplant, an important medicinal herb that only grows in this one completely untamed and hazardous region. Pegasi sign up to run deliveries of supplies and things up to Mt. Everhoot--for many pegasi, the delivery run is about the thrill, or about proving themselves, or just about running away.
After making the treacherous flight, Rainbow arrives at a wretched hive of...vaguely surly-looking pegasi and griffons. Just after she arrives, Soarin shows up, having just completed a delivery--and crashes into a line of trees, making a fool of himself. Rainbow wants to talk to him and bring him back, but is distracted by cider.
When Rainbow finally gets a chance to talk to Soarin, he tells her that lately he doesn't feel like he's been proving himself as a Wonderbolt, which is why he's made this trek up to Mt. Everhoot. (Gee, that sounds a lot like SS&E's Soarin...) While Rainbow is trying to talk sense into him, Derpy shows up with an urgent message from Yakyakistan. There's an outbreak of yak flu and the yaks need a medicine shipment immediately! But a storm has just kicked up that's worse than even the usually horrible weather in the Yaket Mountains. Soarin volunteers to make the run, and Rainbow Dash can't talk him out of it, so she decides to join him on the delivery.
Together, they fly right into the heart of Hell, and look like a totally awesome couple doing it. Soarin finally admits what he's running away from: he feels like a fraud because he's always had to work really hard to make the grade, while pegasi like Rainbow Dash have natural ability and make everything look effortless. He feels like he doesn't deserve to be a Wonderbolt and Spitfire doesn't really respect him. Rainbow tells him that's crazy talk and that he's the heart of the team.
When they get back to the outpost, they find Spitfire waiting for them, and Spitfire apologizes to Soarin for her gaffe at Rainbow Falls--something she's never apologized for, and the root cause of all Soarin's insecurities.
This was a fun little issue. This is exactly the kind of slice-of-life thing MLP is great for, and I'd rather have seen this as an episode of the show than as a comic. It'd be a perfect fit for S7.
Friendship is Magic #50
The final installment of the Accord arc.
Twilight and Luna are hypnotized by Accord and about to assimilate Celestia, Starlight, and the rest of the Mane Six into the collective. Starlight distracts them with a sign that says "Hey look, a monkey!" and herds everypony onto the train including Celestia, who doesn't really want to leave.
I guess my main takeaway from this issue is that vulnerable Celestia is just too fucking adorable and I want to cuddle the fun out of her.
Half the issue is Starlight reminding us all of things that have happened both in the comics and in the show, first to give Celestia a pep-talk, then later to convince Accord that he's wrong.
Anyway, the initial plan for dealing with Accord boils down to Celestia going back to the Tree of Harmony to get the Elements of Harmony so they can blast Accord. Celestia hopes the Element of Magic will still work for her after all this time. Accord shows up and invites them to attempt to blast him.
They do.
It backfires.
The Elements of Harmony immediately turn the six of them into Accord's slaves. Not only that, but the blast allowed Accord to speed up his takeover of Equestria, and now Starlight Glimmer is the only sane pony left. So naturally, she defeats Accord through logic--by convincing him that mind-controlling everypony to think exactly like him is not friendship, and that the one thing he wants the most--friends--is the thing he can never have by doing things this way.
The comic writers are getting into the fanfics again.
Starlight talks Accord into reverting to Discord and all is right with Equestria again. Yay.
So yeah, that little story arc is over and done with.
Oh, and there's a postscript story drawn by Jay Fosgitt (fuckhim) about Discord getting Celestia a birthday present, titled "For The Pony Who Has Everything" (fuckinripoff) -- I didn't even bother to read it because Fosgitt's art makes me want to throw up.
From what I've seen, the Fosgitt story is basically Sunny Skies All Day Long if Discord tagged along and made Celestia have a frumpier disguise.
Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how Derpy handled the perilous flight that even Wonderbolts struggle with and did it with a smile on her face?
4425445 I chalked that up to Rule of Derpy.
I had to go read the issue because of that Sunset cameo.
On that note, why is it there? Are they saying Starlight and Sunset could never be friends? Because that's entirely against the idea that anyone could be friends, which I hold to be true. Are they poking fun at the similarities between Starlight and Sunset? Because the similarities are only skin-deep, they've hit similar notes in their character arc but Starlight is her own character from Sunset. I don't get it.
Perhaps my brain is just fried from the entire Elements idea. Wasn't the whole reason they gave them up was because the Tree of Harmony's magic was too weak without them now? They can just go and get them again? Do they have to return them now to keep the Tree safe? And if the Elements of Harmony work in agreement with Accord, then, yeah, he's right, the ultimate magical items and force for good in this world, that the heroines have regularly relied on to save the day, turn on them and help the villain. I agree with Starlight's speech, but the Elements and whatever semi-sapient will dictates how they operate, does not.
My head hurts.
Let us also make note of the fact that not even Accord could fix her eyes.......
While I haven't read the comics in a while, what I have seen of Fosgitt's art style just makes the ponies look even more adorable to me.
By the way, I believe it's time for me to flip a table.
They actually made Applejack apologise to Discord. For making him feel "unwelcome". As if the fact that he's painfully, stupidly, and most importantly, deliberately obnoxious didn't play into this.
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The whole business with the Elements was pointless. The comic broke so much of the show's messages in order to create suspense, when a short "I grow more powerful by the hour!" would've sufficed. Have Accord say that brainwashing Celestia plus the five Bearers winded him for a moment and you even have an excuse why Starlight was spared: He didn't consider her a true threat. Plus, he needs an audience to gloat.
Now, Harmony has become Death-Of-Mind Order, Luna was probably brainwashed by them in the pilot, Celestia's whole talk about how she can't use them anymore is bunk, and the ponies will forever more look stupid for not whipping them out for every greater threat in the future.
I was expecting a LOT more anger and frustration on Main Series #50, seriously of all the possible decisions to celebrate a milestone why would they do it in the absolute WORST possible way? I'm not opposed to Starlight having the spotlight, but even "To Where And Back Again" handled a similar situation better. It's really saying something when the story with Fosgitt's terrible artwork is actually the better product, and I suspect that's because it's a rejected Friends Forever story.
4425495 That's not to mention the fact that among the many other things this comic did wrong, they said Discord willingly changed himself into Accord, yet he couldn't change back. If Discord was able to just change who he was at will, how he could not change back at will? The entire Accord arc is riddled with plot holes, I dare say it may be even worse than "Siege of The Crystal Empire", as bad as that was, at least it told a coherent story from one issue to the next, whereas this one might as well have been two different stories hastily mashed together with no effort.
4425592 Yeah, I think Accord was honestly just Discord trolling again, like in "Three's A Crowd". I don't think there WAS an Accord to begin with. But yeah, this arc was...not done well.
4425630 It wouldn't surprise me if Accord really was a prank on Discord's part, given how poorly he was written. He even seemed to lampshade how terrible it was.
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"Wouldn't it be totally awesome if the ponies tried to use the Elements of Harmony on my radical villain and it totally didn't work? That would be so cool!"
—Every inexperienced MLP fan writer trying to make an OP villain ever
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If you get down to is, the message of the comic is: If someone is an *sshole to you, don't tell them to stop, because they will then treat you even worse and you will totally deserve it.
Huh. You mean the Elements didn't fix everything this time? I guess they really are MLP's Triforce!
Oh yeah and whoever did the writing for that, deciding to randomly pitch Sunset against Starlight can
fuck piss off eat shitkiss my ass.#sunsetstillbestunicorn
4425592 So there's a reason Sunset in that photo looks....well, honestly, like something i'd draw?
Yeah, Celestia vulnerable is really adorable. Makes me sort of wish we could see that a bit in the show.
4425462 I think you're right about the EoH betraying the Mane 6 and Celestia. It really clarifies that the Elements aren't a force for good per se, they're a force for order. Every threat they've ever been deployed against before was always more chaotic than their bearers.