IDW Legends of Magic #1 Review

Well, things didn't go quite how the IDW staff had hoped. Another rough winter on the East Coast of the United States caused a shipping delay, which prevented Friends Forever #38 from shipping out to close out the series, and so when this new series debuted the Friends Forever series had yet to wrap up for good. But a lot of people were understandably anxious and uncertain about this new series coming in to take the place of Friends Forever. So, was this first issue of Legends of Magic able to start its franchise off on a stronger note than either the Micro Series or Friends Forever? Well, let's find out.

We begin with Celestia in the present, taking Sunburst to Starswirl the Bearded's private study. We get a bit of a comics continuity issue here, as Celestia mentions that Starswirl disappeared and never came back while she and Luna were very young, and that she banished Luna while Starswirl was still absent. This means "Reflections" couldn't take place, but I have a theory that can hopefully clear this up. Celestia is talking to Sunburst, who of course has no idea about the mirror portal or of the different worlds it could access. And considering what Celestia's actions in that other world caused, not to mention the fact that she is no longer able to visit it, she may want to pretend that they never happened, and that Starswirl disappeared far sooner than he actually did. Anyway, Sunburst comes across a book entitled "Legends of Magic".

Said book is a collection of stories that Starswirl either experienced for himself, or heard about from others. Sunburst decides to keep it and is impressed by what he discovers. The story he reads involves Starswirl when he was tutoring young Celestia and Luna in magic and even how to lead. Now we come to the big problem people have with this issue, Celestia is noticeably younger (though she does have her cutie mark), kind of like a moody teenager. And she is incredibly bossy and rude, both to Starswirl and Luna her younger sister. Some this is OOC for Celestia, but keep in mind that as I said before she is younger, and appears to be more impatient. Suffice it to say, she's going to get better as this issue progresses. And to Starswirl's credit, while he tells Celestia off for picking on Luna, he does not coddle Luna for being behind on her studies, reminding her that there may come a day when he will no longer be able to teach her or Celestia, and they will need to take charge. Starswirl even explains that he is called away to deal with crisis' a lot, and someday he may not come back from one.

That night, Luna sneaks out with a spell book to practice the magic bubble technique Celestia was learning and using on her. But Luna ends up setting a bush on fire, which Celestia laughs at. She taunts Luna, who decides to get back at her sister by doing a high end spell that even Celestia can't do. Luna opts for a dimensional doorway spell and appears to be successful, but then she starts to hear a voice calling out for her to join a mysterious entity. Luna refuses, but ends up dragged into the portal, even as Celestia tries valiantly to save her. Horrified, Celestia runs to get Starswirl, informing him of what has happened. Starswirl explains to Celestia that Luna is physically lost, not emotionally lost, but warns her that her lack of compassion is what caused the problem. He then explains that since Luna may not have been able to open the doorway herself, something else did for her. Creatures from another world that have destroyed all the light where they come from, and long for another world.

This leads to another criticism that even the likes of Silverquill have levied against this issue, the expansion of outside forces into the creation of Nightmare Moon, arguing that doing so takes away the consequences of Luna giving into her own demons and insecurities, and turning to the dark side. That Luna was ultimately forced to become Nightmare Moon against her will. I will say that the complaints are not without merit, but I believe an acceptable compromise is that despite these outside forces, Luna was the one who chose to accept their offerings, she gave into the temptation out of a selfish desire to force her subjects to appreciate her, and thus she still harbors most of the blame for becoming Nightmare Moon.

Anyway, Starswirl opens the door, and he and Celestia travel to a dark forest. Celestia runs ahead to rescue Luna, who is dressed up to look like a miniature Nightmare Moon of sorts. Furious, Celestia defeats the troll like creatures holding her sister captive and rescues her, apologizing for being so blind. Then she admits she left Starswirl behind, as the two sisters try to flee only to run into a rock golem. Fortunately, Starswirl comes to their aid, instructing the girls to run while he fights off the golem. Back in their own world, the two sisters make up their quarrel and apologize, Celestia even offering to help train Luna to do better with her magic. The two embrace each other in a hug, which is ruined by Starswirl hastily exiting the doorway and shutting it.

Sunburst reads the closing narration, learning that Starswirl wrote down this story in the book rather than his own journal, in the hopes that it would someday find its way back to Celestia and Luna, or two other sisters in need. Sunburst gives it to Celestia, and she and Luna share a good laugh at this past experience that brought them closer together. Sunburst, meanwhile, puts the book back on the shelf where he found it, thus setting up what seems to be the narrative process for this series.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, it's a bit rough around the edges, there's some continuity issues and Celestia's behavior in the past may throw some of you off, especially considering what we got in "Celestial Advice". But there isn't anything outright bad about it, the artwork is pretty good, though there is one panel at the start that shows Celestia with an entirely pink mane, but for the entire past she is seen with her multi colored mane, though again you will notice that she already has her cutie mark, as does Luna (who is for some reason drawn in her Season 1 design, not exactly what I'd imagine teenage Luna to look like but I guess she hit a growth spurt later than Celestia, especially since even in her Season 2+ design she is still shorter than her sister, it's just not as noticeable). Starswirl is potrayed as more of a stern but fair teacher here, compared to "Reflections" where he could be stern when need be but was mostly potrayed as an eccentric wizard (though to be fair many of the greatest people in history were known for being a bit odd), which definitely fits the image projected of him in the show. While I'm still not convinced this series was worth scrapping Friends Forever but keeping the main series, for a first issue it's pretty good. I'd say pick it up if you're curious and see for yourself, but avoid paying above ten dollars for it, it's good but it's not THAT good.

I'll post another comic review when I next obtain comics, but for now tune in tomorrow for my review of "A Flurry of Emotions". Here's to hoping it won't just be "Baby Cakes 2.0 but with Twilight".