IDW Friends Forever #36 Review

As 2017 dawned with both Season 7 and the movie on the horizon (and as we would go on to find out, Season 8), the comic series was looking weaker and weaker by the day. With the announcement that the main series would start blending into the show's continuity starting with #51, there was also the announcement that the Friends Forever series would wrap up in March with issue #38, to make room for a new series also tied into Season 7, Legends of Magic. And with the Friends Forever series now officially in its twilight hours, there was one question everyone had on their minds "Could the last three issues give the series a good send off, or only prove that the series needed to end?". With this issue being billed under the idea of Rainbow Dash having to get over her ego, not many people were looking forward to this one, in spite of its shipping potential. Were they right to be worried, or did this issue manage to defy the odds and do well for itself?

Well, let's find out.

The beginning of the comic is a bit rocky, we begin with it being winter and the mane six (but not Starlight) are looking forward to enjoying their day off with the first snow of the season, but Rainbow Dash comes swooping in and showers them with snow. Rainbow is looking forward to having the whole season off, before Spitfire comes along and showers the rest of the group with snow again. Calling Rainbow Dash by her nickname (we still don't get to see what Spitfire's embarrassing nickname is), she explains that Soarin has flown up to the Yaket Mountain Range, more specifically an outpost on Mt. Everhoot. After a flub at the last show (it's mentioned but never shown), Soarin has become determined to prove himself and Spitfire won't go up to see him because she thinks he's still harboring a grudge against her for what happened at the Equestria Games qualifier (not that I blame him, that was a pretty bad move on Spitfire's part even if you believe it was mostly Fleetfoot's idea and that Spitfire was trying to test Rainbow Dash, which I believe was the intent).

After one more joke about the rest of the group being buried in snow, Twilight talks with Rainbow Dash at her house about the dangers of going off on the mission by herself. One thing that's worth mentioning here, in his review of the issue Silver Quill pointed out that this is kind of a bad decision on Spitfire's part, as Rainbow Dash has a problem with understanding empathy. And even excluding her bad Season 6 potrayals, that is true, Rainbow Dash doesn't exactly comprehend what she can't see for herself. She has a tendency to act without thinking, so if she doesn't visibly see someone is upset or sees signs of something she herself has issues with, she's not going to notice it. And indeed, even if Spitfire doesn't want to go herself, it would be wrong to send Rainbow Dash alone to talk some sense into Soarin, sending another Wonderbolt (preferably one that Soarin at least is impartial to) would be good just in case Rainbow were to forget her priorities or become sidetracked as can happen. Plus, we learn through an exposition exchange that the outpost Soarin is staying at, is the only place where a plant called the everplant grows, and it's needed for a lot of the medicine used throughout Equestria. But the weather up there is extreme and dangerous, so only the strongest flyers can manage, with some pegasi going up there just to prove themselves or run away. If that is indeed the case, it's all the more of a bad idea for Spitfire to send Rainbow without back-up.

Twilight expresses this concern but decides not to tag along or even maybe try to find Spitfire and tell her about these concerns. Rainbow Dash then flies off, and obeys Spitfire's instructions for the most part. When she arrives at the outpost, she is instructed to talk to Jett Glider, who believes Rainbow is interested in volunteering for the delivery flights, but Rainbow insists she's here for Soarin. Just then, another pegasus comes in to inform Jett that a delivery pony is coming in too fast! It turns out to be Soarin, who overshoots the runway and crashes, though he's thankfully unharmed. Soarin is quite dismissive of Rainbow being up at the outpost, asking if Spitfire sent her. When she tells him yes, Soarin believes it's only because Spitfire didn't care to come himself, and when Rainbow offers him a chance to talk, he declines in favor of making sure the delivery is okay, so Rainbow turns to cider while she waits for a chance to speak to Soarin.

Some time passes before she's finally able to get Soarin to talk, expressing her concern that he might seriously injure himself. But before she has a chance to make a breakthrough, the extreme weather alarm sounds, and soon afterward Derpy arrives with an urgent message from YakYakistan requesting a triple order of everplant to deal with a flu outbreak (the Yak Strain of the Equine Flu to be precise). Knowing that Soarin is determined to go through with the delivery and that he won't take no for an answer, Rainbow Dash sings up with him and the two set off. We get a nice two page spread of them working together (leading to some good ship fuel moments in the process), and then while taking shelter in a cave while they wait for the weather to clear up, Rainbow gets Soarin to explain why he came up the outpost. Soarin believes that he's always had to work just to prove he's a Wonderbolt, whereas Rainbow Dash has been a naturally good flyer, and as a result he sometimes feels like a fraud. Rainbow Dash snaps him out of his funk by reminding him they're both part of a team and Spitfire cares about him even if she didn't show up herself.

With the weather having cleared up and Soarin now more confident in himself, he and Rainbow Dash complete the delivery and return to the outpost, where Spitfire is waiting for them. As it turns out, Rainbow Dash took advantage of the mail service on the mountain, and now we get a chance for SpitfirexSoarin shipping fuel as opposed to some Rainbow DashxSoarin shipping fuel. Spitfire gives a long overdue apology for her behavior in "Rainbow Falls" and offers Soarin a chance to come back and help her plan routines for the Spring, along with Rainbow Dash. Soarin agrees and thanks Jett for everything, then the trio of Wonderbolts flies off while Spitfire comments about to her it seems like the extreme weather reports are an exaggeration.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Despite a bit of a slow start and a questionable decision from Spitfire, this issue is really good! It not only offers some great shipping fuel, but everyone is very much in character, especially Rainbow Dash. She doesn't once think about her ego and much like in Season 5 she's okay with not being in the spotlight if that means doing the right thing. She always shows a willingness to tag along and offer support to someone, even if she disagrees with their decision, knowing full well that sometimes if you can't talk someone out of doing something the best thing you can do is be there to support them and hopefully keep them under control. The Wonderbolts are given a chance to shine, which they have been overdue for since Season 4 and "Rainbow Falls" dragged their good name through the mud (some have arguably said the letdowns started as early as "Wonderbolt Academy"). The artwork is perfect, no animation errors or cheapness, there's a very good attention to detail. It's definitely top ten material, perhaps even top five material (though not quite for me), so definitely pick this issue up if you can, but again don't spend a lot of money on it, it's good but it's not THAT good. In this day and age, if you're paying more than $10-$15 even for new comics, you're paying too much. Maybe in a couple of years they'll be worth more from a collector's stand point.

Sadly, this ends the comic reviews for now. But you can be assured that more will come as soon as I have them.