Present Perfect vs. IDW, Round 19! · 1:11pm Jul 3rd, 2019
It has been a dog's age (whatever that means) since I last checked out the official comics. And this, my friends, is just the first slate; all regular comics up through, well, whenever my source last stopped getting them. I don't know why they aren't reliable. <.< But there's still annuals, specials, Legends of Magic, Ponyville Mysteries and Nightmare Knights to consider, and I'll be rolling those out hopefully in the near future. For now, I had a good time getting back into these. :) Here's what I thought of them.
#60: Getting Your Trendsetting Cutie Mark
So Fancy Pants is bringing his niece, Gilded Lily, to Ponyville, and Rarity expects the CMCs to help her get her cutie mark. A conversation on the train suggests that Fancy Pants expects a mark in "being important and influential", to uphold the family name and so forth. The CMCs, not knowing what that means, just include Gilded Lily in their pre(?)-Marks and Recreation cutie mark campout. She, in a fit of pique, ends up getting a mark in stargazing and running off because she's not living up to the expectations her family has of her.
This was a good way to get back into the comics. It's similar to an episode, but presents the CMCs with a new challenge. On top of the whole "mark not meeting expectations" thing, Scootaloo keeps getting overlooked by her friends, since she wants to do more extreme sports in their outings. This leads to some bonding time with Gilded Lily and a nice lesson. No real insights into the world, or easter eggs, or really much of anything beyond a decent Cutie Mark Crusaders story. And I'm very fucking pleased that everything ends well, because I was a little worried about how Fancy Pants was being used. Onward!
4/5
#61-62: Convocation of the Creatures
Okay, this was really great. :D Twilight accompanies Celestia and Cadance to the titular Convocation, a meeting of all the leaders of all the races. So, you have, for instance, buffalo and yaks, on-screen (as it were) together for the first time. There's breezies, deer, reformed changelings, griffins, Abyssinians, Queen Novo all by herself and…
Bat ponies. <.< They're just called bats. And they're apparently an entirely different thing from Equestrian ponies. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Anyway, there's plenty of background scenarios (and tons of Star Trek references because the comic writers are huge nerds), but the real excitement for Twilight is, of course, the library and paperwork. She meets a bunch of archivists from other species, including standouts Urtica the changeling and Glenda the griffin. And let me tell you something, Glenda is the best goddamn griffin ever she is so fucking cute and apparently half snow leopard because the artists decided griffins can just be half whatever and it's great.
If anything about this is worth praise, it's the way the various races are just… there. I mean, back when the School of Friendship was first revealed, one of my big complaints was there were a few non-pony races present, but not all of them. It would have been a great chance to look into more than just five cultures. Instead, the comics had to pick up the slack for the show, as usual.
If there's another reason this is worth praise, it's the focus on Raven. She's so great in general, and they gave her an excellent inferiority complex that she got to overcome just a bit. :D It's a really good turn for her, and it just kind of sneaks up on you that she's the main non-Twilight character.
Drama happens because of an old treaty that turns up out of the blue, and the "we shared our cultures to win" moral is a little hamfisted, but I really liked this two-parter. I wish the show were more like it.
4/5
#63: The Sugar Ban
We're in the part where I have to make up comic names. So the Anti-Sugar League comes to Ponyville. They're a quartet of very sour looking ponies led by a literal sword-wielding nun. With them come a whole host of issues. <.< Look, it's nice to see Pinkie Pie get back to her Puritan roots and all, but I just… There are some allegories that simply don't work when you have to dial everything back in the name of family friendliness. I get the speakeasy in the barn, sure, but this could have been about anything (and do kids really care about Prohibition?) This was entertaining, I'll give it that, but it was little besides.
2.5/5
#64: Everything Old
Yaknow, I usually get more excited about fashion-focused episodes/comics than I did with this one. In a plot that could have been left over from the Friends Forever series, or even right out of the show, Rarity and Fluttershy go to Manehattan. The former is looking to scope out the current fashions trends first-hoof while the latter is attending a convention for "animal shelter directors" because apparently building an animal sanctuary makes her an animal shelter director now. Things don't go well for either: there's a bunch of official paperwork and stuff that comes with running a shelter, which Fluttershy never knew about or used, and Rarity is aghast to find everypony wearing 80's fashion again.
And that's about it. The two problems bump together in an unusual way, but there was little to no pizzazz to the proceedings. This issue really bounced off me in a way comics issues haven't in a while.
2/5
#65: Queen for One Less Day
So, I just read a fic about Celestia going out into the world in disguise on a regular schedule. This was kind of a head trip because of it. I love the pegasus design they came up with for her disguise; we usually just go with pink on white, and there is so much more to this. All she needed was a name.
Anyway, she goes around the country (Seaddle is now canon, to say nothing of "Foaledo") and finally ends up in Ponyville, where she runs afoul of… a ring of thieves? <.< What? Well, I can't argue with the results. Okay, well, I can. The amulet Celestia uses to change form is stolen, and allows one of the thieves to go out in disguise instead, where she sees the effect her actions have on the townsponies. Meanwhile, Celestia has some hi-larious difficulty convincing Twilight to help her. Unfortunately, after this is where the narrative becomes really heavy-handed, characters just spouting off the meaning of the proceedings. I liked the parallel narratives; the moral was definitely mishandled. Still a decent issue.
3.5/5
#66: The Applewood Follies
The mane six, minus Twilight for some dumb reason, go to Applewood, where the Friendship Diary is being turned into a movie. I was all set to get up in arms about real-world things being plopped over top of ponies, but it turns out this is actually something much different than we'd expect. Like, it's all still frames and there's a live narrator in the theater as it plays, so at least they're doing the era right.
Anyway, said mane five get roped into directing it instead, and this turns into another Castle Sweet Castle or any number of other episodes where more than one pony has an idea and they can't decide whose to use. The end result is five different movies spliced together, but it's actually kind of amusing to see? Still a pretty tired conflict.
2.5/5
#67-68: Tempest's Tale
I wanna know where these titles come from that they're sometimes different than what's on the cover. Same thing happened with the Celestia one, I went for the title inside. Anyway.
So Tempest Shadow sets out from Ponyville, feeling like she doesn't really belong there, knowing she has friends if she needs them, and trying to find her place in the world. Holy shit, let me just say this is the best start to a comic since the movie. This is what I need!
And then she goes to the Crystal Empire and complains about how awful Cadence is.
I love this horse. I love her so much. (An opinion I apparently share with Jeremy Whitley, who wrote the issues!)
The rest of the story is her grappling with her past in an emotionally intense manner I never thought I would read in anything remotely show-related. This backstory, the struggle of her coming to grips with an old friend and what really happened to her, what she turned herself into, and the thought that maybe it was all for nothing… My god, I don't need to write fanfic now, this is perfect.
Flurry Heart for Princess of Explosions.
6/5
#69: The Magic Apple
Oh hey, this is one that Pencils worked on! :D I thought that Pinkie looked familiar.
So Pinkie Pie eats a legendary golden apple, like ya do, ending up with infinite wishing powers, and we all know how that goes. The downside to this is that it ends up kind of similar to the Nightmare Pinkie comic, but honestly, that's the only thing wrong with it. (Plus, it's been long enough, I don't exactly remember what happened in that one…) This was fun, and I was impressed at the running gags featuring Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Really, I was impressed that the similarity to a previous issue didn't dampen my enjoyment!
4/5
#70: Extreme Bingo
You guys remember Grannies Gone Wild? This is a direct followup, and I think even if you didn't enjoy that episode very much, you might like this issue even more. Me, I thought that episode was a riot, and this is even better. I mean, you haven't lived until you've seen Spike's single-panel joke. Auntie Applesauce being thirsty as fuck (and inadvertently bonding with Rarity) was fantastic, too. Admittedly, Dash and Applejack's roles are exactly the same, but Applejack gets a tiny bit of validation. I don't care, this was a great blend of action and comedy.
5/5
#71: Happy Haunts
It's the Student Six's first Nightmare Night and hoo boy, you can't get me to clock out of a comic faster than that. What makes this issue is Andy Price's constant slew of visual puns and references, not just in the background of panels, but around the edges of the page as well. I was constantly surprised by what was going on in the margins. Which of course means I was less invested in the mani goings-on, a slew of mishaps due to a miscommunication involving a haunted house in Everfree Castle. Gotta love Silverstream's approach to making a costume, at least.
3/5
#72: Buttercup's Family Apple Pie
So like the grannies comic before, this is a followup on The Perfect Pear, giving us a heaping helping of Bright Mac and Buttercup stories as AJ and Apple Bloom try to recreate their mother's special pie recipe, with the exact ingredients she used to use. I don't know if older readers will connect to this more, but I think everyone's got some relative who has an old family recipe that's just impossible to recreate because they left some key ingredient or measurement or direction out of the recipe. Or, y'know, just never wrote it down at all. I can sure think of a few in my family!
Anyway, this was pretty low-energy, but it was still really good. And I especially liked what the secret ingredient was. That bit ups my final score.
5/5
I read "Yaknow" as "yak now" at first, and was very confused.
But yeah, generally agree with your reactions to the comics I've actually read. (I'm only up through Tempest's Tale due to how my review schedule has panned out.)
5083627
It's literally been two years since I last posted one of these, so don't feel bad. :B
Well, this was great. Thanks!
I don't always necessarily agree with your episode reviews, but I think I'm in pretty much complete agreement here on all of these! I wish more good reviewers would look at the comics like this, it's almost like having half a season of new episodes that nopony wants to talk about!
Can't wait to see what you make of Legends of Magic (and especially the role and characterisation of a certain pseudo-Egyptian pegasus)...
5083635
In case you missed it, Round 17 featured LOM 1-6. :B
5083665
Oh, excellent! I misread your comment, sorry. I only joined Fimfiction in February this year, so I hadn't seen that before. And hurrah, I'm glad you liked them!
Some of these sound really good, actually. Glad to see the various character's stories being expanded on in this canon fashion.
A dog's age means "It feels like a long time" because dogs age faster than the race of Man.
Also:
Hah! Suck it!
5084179
That seems backwards to me. >.> Wouldn't it be a shorter amount of time since they don't live as long?
5084293
Haha no you doof. It's the common perception that dogs age about 7 years for every one of ours.
5084359
This is why I don't understand daylight savings time. :B
Glad to see one of these again! Though the downside of it being so long is that I've forgotten a lot of them. Still, sounds like this was a good run.
60
Completely forgot this, though it would be interesting to look back on it again in relationship to the camp episode.
61-2
I forgot the bat ponies bit. Do recall being frustrated with the treaty plot (mainly how they all just take as given that a forgotten and defunt treaty must be honored now rather than renegotiated). Otherwise good feelings, though of course it's been a long time.
63
I'd forgotten this one more than the others so far. On prompting, remember not liking it much. Oh well.
67-8
There was a lot to like here, but I felt that the message was a little heavily done and didn't care for her old friend. May have been splash damage from feelings relating to the movie, though. Did love her beef with Cadence.
70
Yeah, these old gals as the most sex-obsessed characters in the franchise was pretty great.