IDW MLP Generations #2

Having picked up the next two comics in this series, I can get a better view of where it's gonna go in its five issue run. The first one was a decent start up, though I wasn't the biggest fan of using the School of Friendship as a center piece for the plot because it feels too restrictive and again seems to make the whole thing look like a bad idea. I know the comics can do better, they were able to give Ocellus her day in the limelight she never got in the show, so they can work with the school if they really want to. Putting that aside, we only just got introduced to the main antagonists that will set things into motion at the end of the first issue. So, was this second issue able to do a good job of getting things going? Or did it only prove that nostalgia for G1 was all that this series could hope to offer? Well, let's find out.

We begin with an official introduction to the three ponies created by the witch granddaughters Grackle and Dyre: They're all unicorns and their names are Violet Shiver, Shadow Storm and Black Belle respectively. And they're somehow still less edgy of names than Tempest Shadow (not helped by the fact that her real name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist). Despite stating Twilight would be around to welcome these new teachers in the previous issue, she's nowhere to be seen here even though this is supposed to be a crossover with the G1 ponies. And, spoiler alert, they don't appear at all in this issue either. So that means we have to wait until at least the midpoint to get the actual crossover everyone expected. This is kind of like how modern Power Rangers will bring over old villains, but only occasionally bring over a veteran ranger to coincide with it. With teamups and crossovers, if you're gonna be using old villains you kind of need to bring at least some of the heroes along before long.

Putting that aside, Pinkie Pie volunteers to be tour guide for the new professors and reveals that each of the classes taught by the mane five have different names and take place in different parts of the building. So it seems like there is something akin to an official curriculum. The professors even get their own sleeping quarters within the school, which I guess is something boarding schools do (the faculty and students all live within the confines of the school). But the trio of villains face a problem, they don't know what classes they should teach. Meanwhile, Grackle and Dyre receive a letter from their grandmother berating them for having accomplished nothing, while also letting it slip that the two girls don't have any magical powers yet. This makes Grackle and Dyre furious, and in turn they get mad at their own creations that they dub S'monies.

Fortunately for the villains, they are able to find the classes they want to take over and all initially appears to be well. The mane five have more free time to devote to their own professions, or at least Applejack has time to tend to her family's harvest which is to coincide with this never before mentioned festival. But Rarity is a little bit concerned when she sees the student/young six mentioning curses and brings it to Starlight's attention. Starlight decides to sit it on one of the classes to see what's being taught, not sure why she didn't do it sooner but I guess it's standard procedure to give new teachers a chance without feeling like they're being watched (I can understand why, it's not easy to do your job if you feel like someone's waiting for you to mess up or is looking for any excuse to get you into trouble or get you fired).

Starlight sees Black Belle teach her class about how to do a summoning spell or a conjuring spell as she puts it. When confronted on this, Black Belle claims this is standard procedure for Hayvard and that it might be too "sophisticated" for the Ponyville ponies and students. Not wanting to question the new teachers' standards, Starlight backs down. However, the S'monies receive a letter from their creators telling them that they're not pleased by the lack of results. So naturally, the trio decide it's time to start actually being bad. To that end, each use their magic to stir up conflict since Grackle and Dyre have learned that the ponies' magic is powered by their sense of community (I guess this is a belated handwave of the concept of "Hopeless Magic" from "Rainbow Roadtrip"). Violet Shiver brings an unscheduled frost to Sweet Apple Acres to ruin the harvest, Shadow Storm brainwashes the other Wonderbolts to embarrass Spitfire (but Rainbow Dash is not present for this even though I'm pretty sure she's supposed to at least be a candidate to be Spitfire's successor since "The Last Problem", even in flashbacks, showed her ordering even Spitfire around with no indication that it was just a one time thing), and Black Belle destroys the Hayburger and makes it look like the pony running the bowling alley did it.

But Starlight only senses something's wrong when she sees Ocellus and Smolder giggling after having conjured up a demon to scare a pony. She calls them both to her office and learns that Professor Black Belle told them to do it. Applejack, meanwhile, blames her family for not harvesting quickly enough but for some reason she's not yelling at Rainbow Dash about the unscheduled frost. And Pinkie Pie brings it to Starlight's attention that other ponies have been suffering from Professor Black Belle's teachings. Yet while all this is going on, the S'monies learn from their creators that this still isn't good enough. So they decide they need to kick it up a notch.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, although it does get the plot going and shines a bit of light on how the School of Friendship is run, it's still not feeling like much of a crossover or team up. You could easily swap out the granddaughters for the Dazzlings or even the Legion of Doom and it would accomplish the same. And it's not like this series is pacing itself because it needs to meet a certain quota, it's only running for five issues so why is it waiting until at least the midway point to show off the G1 ponies and potentially bring them to Equestria? "Shadow Play" gave us the entire second part to let the pillars shine after they'd been rescued, and we'd already gotten to learn about their exploits throughout the back half of Season 7. Heck, the comics were responsible for helping to fill in the gaps for some of the pillars, and by this point the Nightmare Knights had already being recruited and established. The trio of S'monies are pretty cool, I already sense a possible redemption as they have to live with their creators' insanely high standards and demands, and like any creation if they're pushed too far they're going to snap. It's great that the mane five aren't completely oblivious to what's going on, and like Starlight they're trying to take some action. But I feel like it's only towards the end of this issue that anything really happens, and by that point it's already starting to feel rushed. We could've probably gotten this in the first issue, or at least much sooner in the second issue and we wouldn't lose anything of substance. This series still could potentially turn it all around, but if by the third issue we still have yet to officially have the G1 ponies come to Equestria or see Twilight at all then I'm gonna have to write this series off as a misfire. It would be a shame if that's the case since this could be the last thing G4 ever does in comic form. I'd hate to see it go out with a whimper and not a bang after the "Season 10" comics ended up being a step in the wrong direction.

And there you have it, come back tomorrow to see if the third issue of this comic can live up to what's expected of it or if it only proves that this series is an intended ratings trap and marketing ploy.