My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Comics

Also, is there going to be an annual issue this year?

There is going to be a Christmas (Hearth's Warming) special, which will take place in the pony world, unlike the previous one.

Finally tracked down a copy.

I guess the idea is that marble is a blend of light and dark as the sisters are?

Just read the latest issue. Definitely an improvement over the last one. There are missteps here and there the "villains" once again feel like an afterthought and they're really pushing the Deus ex Machina nature of Friendship Magic, but I was really drawn in this time.

Honestly? The "villain" team-up is probably the weakest part of this arc. A shame because the Sinister Six style setup was a real draw for me. That said though this issue showed that when the focus isn't on that then things really start to get good.

Still disappointed that Chrysalis seems to be bugging off (no pun intended). It was smart of her to sort of free Twilight so the Mane 6 can fight off the umbrum, but I was kinda hoping she'd stick around for a 3 way brawl.

'Iron Will did not sign up to overthrow the kingdom'

Well what the buck did you think you were sneaking an evil army into Canterlot?!

In the end, Celestia and Luna appearing was just to give an excuse for why Sombra didn't finish off Twilight. And Chrysalis didn't finish her off just because. At least the story is finally acknowledging that the other "villains" aren't evil enough to want what is happening.

I did like that Cadance got a lot to do this issue, bonding with Hope and revealing the true form of the Umbrum, who have neat designs. Their part of the issue was pretty good.

Still, I can't say I'm a fan of the direction this story arc went in. Perhaps it would have been better if it was focused on Hope and Sombra, and the other villains weren't involved.

Oh good, one down, one to go.◊

Well, the previews for the Holiday Special and Friends Forever are out.

Honestly, they look pretty promising in terms of not being dumb.

Finally got to read the issue. My comic ship had a delivery error that caused it to come in 8 days late. :/

I found the issue more intriguing than the last two, but I'm still just a bit past lukewarm on the arc as a whole. I did like seeing Sombra and Chrysalis in conflict, though. Too bad they didn't actually fight, though, since she had a chance to strike while he was over-exerted.

Just read Friends Forever #23. Is it just me, or was this issue blatantly about Applejack and Fluttershy going out on a date? Especially with those early panels of Applejack looking at Fluttershy as her hair blew in the wind and that last panel of Applejack resting her head against Fluttershy's leg.

This was a cute chapter, especially in terms of the art, though I would have preferred for it to turn out that Nosy News was being honest with her photo (which didn't look fake, despite AJ's claims), and for the lesson to be more about respecting the solitude of some creatures than about how lies can be damaging. Especially since they did end up solving the problem by lying, in the sense that they knowingly misled everyone as to whether or not they found a real pigasus and implied that Nosy was using Fluttershy to fake things.

Yeah, those panels were pretty suspect.

At least they didn't tease Rarijack or Flutterdash for once.

Only real complaint I got was the moment where Nosy confessed to faking the photograph. It felt a bit cheap. But the final page being her chased through the forest while Applejack and Fluttershy watched was funny. Overall this was a pretty solid issue.

Well, that was a weird bit of world building. Don't have a ton to say on this other than that those hunters clearly have no idea how to not scare an animal off, never mind search for one and that Nosy News would have been better off not pressing Applejack. Applejack'd already been shamed off the stage, so pursuing her risked giving her credit. Oh, and that was fanfic-extreme level of holding Applejack to her Element, which put me off a bit.

Christmas Special 2015 has officially been released. The direct download version on Comixology only has the first six pages, so I had to use their online reader to get the rest, which was annoying. Anyway, this was a pretty cute special.

It was odd that they tried to justify in-universe why the stories have characters we know for the first story, saying it was written by Luna herself, but then they didn't bother for the other stories. Speaking of which, for something supposedly written by Luna, Luna was rather odd in that first story, both in the fact that we're somehow still getting Luna's season 1 design (how?!) and that she seemed to have a stereotypical Cockney accent at points. In any case, that first story just didn't seem to have a strong hook, so I thought it was the weakest of the set.

The second story with Rarity going through the Nutcracker story but then quitting as soon as the Rat King appeared was great.

The third "Night Before Christmas" story was cute, with great art from Andy Price, but the additions really broke the rhythm of the original poem, which took me out of it a bit.

The framing device was cute, though I thought it went a bit too far with the fourth wall jokes at the end.

Read it last night. Was a bit nuts and I agree on the fourth wall stuff being a bit much. However, despite all the holes, I think the goofy cuteness makes it a bit better than the other Xmas specials (which tried to be serious and had holes, which detracts from those kinds of stories more heavily than a silly one).

I have to say, I am really excited for Friends Forever 26. Prince Shining Armor, Prince Blueblood, and Prince Rutherford together sounds like it would be a disastrously amazing combination.

edited 15th Dec '15 5:40:27 PM by AkoSiKuya23

Saw the final issue in the arc.

...I just don't know if the main series will ever recover from this.

It took the biggest problems from the main series throughout the last year or so and crammed them into one. The overly saccharine ending of Reflections? Check (Geez, I joked about how Sombra is the only villain to be killed in the series and now I really wish he stayed dead!). The strange tonal shift of The Good, The Bad, and The Pony? Check. Yes, we've seen Ponyville citizens fight off the Nightmare Forces, but there was still tension in that one. The fight between the reinforcements and the Umbrum forces was played too comedically. Easily Forgiven antagonist, oh double check. If the Pets issue did not tarnish Jeremy Whitley's standing with fans (Even though it was just a blemish on an otherwise fun issue), this one definitely will. Oh, and that stupid villain team-up that this whole thing started with...nothing. None of them show up in this issue. Seriously, what was the point of it all?

I was hoping that the Holiday issue was a sign that things were looking up for the main series, but this issue proved me wrong. It's really a shame, honestly, how much the main series has gone downhill since The Good, the Bad, and the Pony. Some point to Reflections being the start of the Dork Age, but I thought the issues that came after it were fine. But from the Bulls arc onward, I don't think there has been a single main series that has been good or even just okay. The Wrestling issue was the only one that I didn't have much of a problem with and it just barely hit "Meh..."

I'm sorry for venting, but it really is sad just how far the main series has gone downhill. I want to look forward to the upcoming arc with Cheerilee's class, I really do, but I don't think I can. Every time I think the next arc will be good, I'm just left with disappointment.

edited 15th Dec '15 11:00:32 PM by AkoSiKuya23

Short version, the comic can do decent slice of life, comedic stuff, but it's horrible at large, epic adventure and action stuff.

Much like the sho-

Wait, they actually did decent for season 5

They did it damn good all along. There was never any issue about it handling one or the other better.

I can't help but think they could've had something brilliant if they just changed a few things this issue and split its events into two-parts. Shoot, just cutting down the battle a bit and giving more focus on Hope and Sombra would've helped.

This arc had a lot of promise, but ended up being a misstep.

I do think how they utilized Discord was a good idea. Allows him to be a part of the events without having him just solve everything with a snap, all while keeping him in character.

edited 16th Dec '15 9:04:26 AM by Spirit

Yeah, that part was definitely one of the few highlights of the issue. They can't do it often, but getting Discord to left a paw/talon to help once in awhile is nice.

I also really liked Hope and Sombra's discussion about screwing destiny. It really was a good scene and helped tie it together with their debut issue, Sombra feeling he can't fight fate only for Hope to say that she did by choosing Sombra over being princess. In that moment, I actually these were the characters I liked in the Fiendship Issue and not idiots running around throughout the arc. Had everything else been executed properly, I actually would have been fine with Sombra's Heel–Face Turn, but it wasn't and just...ugh...

And on certain levels, I do find Sombra's Heel–Face Turn fascinating because of how Reflections ended. Whereas Mirror Sombra became evil and lost Celestia forever, Main Universe Sombra becomes good and is reunited with Hope. I can't imagine what was going through Celestia's head during all this, seeing her bitter enemy get a happy ending with his lover while her lover is pretty much gone forever.

I actually really like the show's adventure episodes. In fact, I am in th minority who thinks that the average out as better than the slice-of-life ones.

Finally got to settle in and read this (having avoided the thread today).

And I like redemption. It's a pleasant surprise to have that kind of status quo change when these comics supposedly weren't going to make any waves for show canon (though I doubt Sombra is going to appear again either way). But geez, we thought that Sunset and Starlight's turnarounds were sudden and sappy... this was straight out of, well, the saccharine construct most people have in their heads when MLP as a whole is mentioned, or the earlier generations for many bronies.

Well, on to Avatar: The Last Airbender - Smoke and Shadow Part 2....

edited 16th Dec '15 7:40:17 PM by YamiVizziniX