IDW Main Series #42 Review

2016 is a year that many of us are not likely to forget anytime soon, for better or for worse. But from a fandom perspective, if there was one thing that 2016 was especially unkind to, it was the IDW comics. They started off the year with a terrible Friends Forever issue that resulted in Fosgitt sinking even deeper, and wrapped up with the main series at its lowest point yet with an arc that was looking increasingly terrible.

While Friends Forever was bouncing from issue to issue with varying in quality, the main series actually did start 2016 showing some signs of promise. I already gave my thoughts on #38-40, but I feel like looking back on them there's one thing I can't help but wonder, where they all originally planned for the Friends Forever series but rejected? This is actually the case with Main Series #29, it was supposed to be a RarityxCheerilee issue, but it was rejected because the belief was that it didn't have enough focus between the two characters, and thus the story was rewritten and reworked to fit into the main series. Considering how the recent multiple issue arcs have been fairing, is it possible that the few that have bucked the trend have only turned out that way because they weren't originally intended for the main series? Because today, we're looking at a main series comic that focuses on Rarity and Pinkie Pie, that was a send off for Katie Cook who, while starting off good, had begun the comics decline with "The Good, The Bad, and The Ponies", and had dropped the ball on several other arcs after that. Was this comic able to be a good enough send off for Katie, or did it just prove the comics were right to be rid of her? Well, let's find out.

The basic premise behind this story is quite simple, Pinkie Pie comes to Rarity with a problem, she has a gift she wants to get a friend (Pinkie claims she is Equestria's third best gift giver, I suppose her sister Maud is either first or second but your guess is as good as mine as to who the other one is), but she can't remember what it was. As it turns out, Pinkie is remembering this book she read as a filly called "The Princess' New Clothes" (a parody of "The Emperor's New Clothes" an incredibly relevant story about how what a ruler says may not always match what is happening in reality). Rarity offers to help Pinkie make it, but the two soon clash over how to best tell the story.

Supposedly, some people say that this is just Katie and the IDW stuff using this issue as an excuse to justify some of their bad writing decisions, but to me I think that, much like this issue's predecessor, it's an excuse to experiment with different art styles. The reason why it gets a pass here compared to Main Series #41, is because none of the art styles feel cheap or lazy, and there's an actual reason for why they want to use those different art styles. Plus, they're directly paying homeage to those art styles, not just throwing them in there in a "Scarifice Substance for Style" kind of viewpoint (#41 tried to parody a children's book right down to the art style, but it often cut corners with a really lazy and crudly drawn style that the original book never used, not to mention the story told in the comic was rather weak and confusing).

Anyway, Pinkie Pie suggests that she insert herself and Rarity into the story, but then she and Rarity clash over how to depict the seamstress since Rarity doesn't want to have her good reputation ruined. However, Pinkie calls Rarity out for trying to glorify the seamstress and even insert a prince (as she puts it "If I can't add robots, you can't add a prince.", and she's right on that. Rarity is right to object to being potrayed so badly though, if you're going to use a person's likliness for a character, you can't make them into a completely different character). Rarity becomes increasingly fed up with Pinkie's suggestions to tweak the art style, though Pinkie finds some of Rarity's suggestions to be too demanding of a simple book.

Eventually, the story is completed, and Rarity is quite frustrated by how scatter brained Pinkie seems to be. She demands to know who the story is for, and Pinkie reveals that it's for Rarity as a celebration of the anniversary of them being friends. As it turns out, having already learned earlier in the comic that Sweetie Belle accidentally destroyed Rarity's copy during an attempt to get her cutie mark in thermodynamics (don't ask me who thought it was a good idea to give a filly like Sweetie Belle access to dangerous chemicals, it's like putting matches and gasoline in the same room, you just know something will go wrong). Rarity is actually quite touched at the thought of the gift and embraces it, Pinkie then offers to take Rarity out for smoothies as a celebration of their friendship.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, I'd say it's on the very borderline between good and decent, there's nothing really grand or even great about it, there's some questionable characterization (especially on Pinkie's part), and the big point of contention is the differing art styles, which are pretty much a "Like it or Hate it" type of thing. In the end, largely because of what we get at the end, I'm willing to say this is a good issue, and one that actually manages to be better than any of the RariPie episodes we got in Season 6 (it's a real shame that something we waited six whole seasons for just didn't work out when it was finally given its time in the spotlight, maybe in Season 7 that will change). While the different art styles can get distracting, the issue gives enough of a reason as to why they're using them to where I'm willing to give them a pass. As I said when I started this review, I can't help but wonder if this maybe started out as a Friends Forever story, but was rejected. As it stands, as of right now it's the last main series issue in terms of numbering that I'd recommend picking up, and even then only if you can get it cheaply (you don't want to go over $5 for this one, and if you find one selling for over $10 it's not worth it).

We've got one more comic to look at, so come back tomorrow when we take a look at one of the last issues of the Friends Forever series, Friends Forever #36.