IDW Comics Revisited - Main Series #12

So, with the show's fourth season and the end of the micro series looming large over the fandom, "Neigh Anything" really didn't have much of a chance to hope to change the subject or stand out. But how did its second half go? Did it wrap up the arc decently, or did it just indicate that this was an arc done solely because no one had any ideas and needed to fill space? Well, let's find out.

Cadence decides to tell her side of the story, beginning with the night she foalsat Twilight during Shining Armor's fluglehorn recital. She basically demanded that Twilight tell her everything there was to know about Shining, and the two spent a long time making scientific measurements to determine that the two were perfect for each other. And then Cadence made Twilight swear to silence about the night. But I have to ask, if Cadence really believes so strongly about Shining Armor why didn't she think to ask him out? Why does it seem like both partners were waiting for the other to make the first move? If you really feel so strongly about someone then you need to ask them out, it's the only way you're ever going to know for sure. Yes, it's always a risk because they may say no, but as that one motivational poster says "You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take". The only reason why neither actually asks the other out is because of course they want to follow the cliches, even if as we'll soon see they're not going to follow them all the way through.

Cadence inexplicably went to the polo game with Buck Whitters (and two of her classmates) and was soon appalled when Buck heckled Shining just to sabotage his chances. Rather than dump him, however, she just stayed there with him and after the polo match she was going to ask Shining out, before hearing from one of her friends that Shining was already planning to ask someone else. So now we have the cliche of "Misunderstandings due to out of context or partially overheard conversations", something that was tiring even by the time of the original Shrek, so you know it's aged poorly. And when the show would try to use the same thing many years down the line it was no better. Then we find out that Cadence decides to just dump Buck because she doesn't like him, and we get a really stupid line from one of her friends initially about being able to modify personality traits you don't like, which is destructive and very harmful if applied in real life (don't assume you can magically change someone. If you don't like who they are, don't be with them and if necessary seek help).

After a bit of back and forth between Shining and Cadence about their plans and seeing how both prepare for the big dance, Princess Celestia is there to see Cadence off, and upon seeing Buck basically tells Cadence to dump him at the first chance she gets, to which she agrees. At the dance we have cameos from Cheerilee and Mayor Mare that were just confusing back in the day that are basically jokes about them not believing what it says they should be even though we know that's what they ended up as. Cadence soon friendzones Buck to be with Shining, and then Buck is bombarded by pranks from Shining's friends intended to make Buck look bad (but somehow the ones poking Buck with a stick or pouring itching powder on him are totally in the right). Cadence gets crowned home coming queen and Buck rubs his apparent victory in Shining's face when he's crowned home coming king, but then the crowd inexplicably turns on him by saying how he bad is, yet at no point do they indicate he forced or bribed them into voting for him, so why did they vote for someone they literally couldn't stand in the least? Was Buck running uncontested until Shining Armor issued his challenge?

Buck is then strung up to a harness as he threatens retaliation, and Shining and Cadence opt to just get through their first dance before they start talking about other things. Yet the story then wants to end on a "Happy Ever After" for everyone by redeeming Buck Whitters by claiming he got better when he got older, but offering no further hints. While it is possible for individuals to change their ways after high school or even in high school, they seldom change so completely you don't recognize them. And those who are like Buck Whitters unfortunately seldom change at all, particularly because Buck isn't just a bully but his dialogue seems to suggest he's one of those rich kids who gets spoiled rotten, so individuals like that will be even less motivated to change unless they get cut off from their parents' money and have to start making a living on their own.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, this one is just flat out bad. When it's not following the cliches to such a stupid degree (it makes even less sense to do it from Cadence's perspective when most stories never tell the girl's side) it's making claims that could be dangerous if implemented in real life and just seems intent on making Buck Whitters as iredeemable as possible to justify Shining and his friends doing what they do (Buck Whitters is the kind of character who more often does the pranks Shining and his friends do). Then it suddenly decides to subvert the cliches by having Buck win home coming king after Cadence friend zones him, only for Buck to be revealed as a terrible pony. And the ending feels like it was just made up out of the blue. The arc as a whole isn't very good. The first part was tolerable at times, but the second part's change of perspective destroyed the entire argument for following the cliches the way they did and decided to throw in more cliches and poorly thought out choices before flat out subverting the cliches only at the very end in a way that doesn't naturally flow with the story. It's only slightly better than the Nightmare Forces arc because that one was just a mess of continuity, character and story. But unless you're really interested in collecting every comic you should skip this one, and give "Neigh Anything" a pass, you really won't miss much.

Whew, and there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll take a look at alicorn Twilight's big comics debut with Main Series #13.

Comments

[superfun]

Honestly, of the comic arcs I've actually read (which, admittedly, consist of just the first four, the arc with the books coming real, and Reflections), this is probably one of my favorites.

I thought it was entertaining when I read it, though it has been a while.