My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Comics

There's absolutely nothing wrong with redemption. Everyone loves Character Development and stories of redemption runs on that and can be very uplifting, knowing that for all the evil a character has committed, there is still something good in them. It's when it's done horribly is when there's a problem and that's what happened here.

I mostly liked the issue and felt the character development alone made it much stronger than the preceding issues, but the pay-off was, unfortunately, pretty rushed. The redemption itself, I was perfectly fine with, but then being all "Psyche!" about the fading away ruined the moment. Perhaps if the And the Adventure Continues ending had been about Hope setting out with Sombra's essence on a quest to rebuild him one more time, I could have accepted that. The current version just doesn't do it for me.

Sombra: I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to thank you or how to apologize.

Celestia: There is no need. Sombra, you have saved Equestria and have been forgiven.

Yeah. He saved it from himself and his Manic Pixie Dream Girlfriend, who also doesn't even bother apologizing.

Besides that lazy piece of writing, let's go over another glaring plot hole.

The team of "villains" just disappears. Where did Iron Will, Flim, Flam, Lightning Dust and Chrysalis go? Daaaah, who cares?

So Chrysalis is still at large, and three ponies and a Minotaur just committed high treason without anyone caring.

I'm just glad it's over. The finale doesn't look so promising when you can't even spell the title right.

edited 16th Dec '15 11:36:12 PM by ShiningArmor

You disappeared too.

Am I the only one who skimmed past the title and didn't even notice it?

I agree that the issue was rushed. I honestly thought it was going to be at least one longer.

The fight had too much comedy too. Basically to really pull off a good ending they needed to stretch out Sombra's internal conflict a little more and maintain the serious tone better.

I'm not reading the comics or watching the show, but I keep tabs on it now and then, found this, and had to hop in to see what was going on.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=YMMV.MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW

From what I've gathered in the show Sombra was a boring villain until very recently, the comics made him better and tragic, and this this happened and it was rushed and kinda pointless.

It kinda reminds me of last-minute G1-era redemptions, like Queen Bumble. (I don't think Porcina and Niblic count since theirs were foreshadowed more.)

I agree that it felt rushed, and the ending seemed way too happy, but I did like Hope telling Sombra he was an idiot and that he didnt have to follow destiny.

And got the latest FF. It was okay, but fairly meh. Best parts:

• Rarity was in top form this issue.
• It was nice to see Gilda again. Even better that she too was entertaining here.
• Good to see the events of the Griffonstone episode didn't suddenly make everything better, but is making baby steps.
• The coach was been an hardass, but I did like that all it took was for Gilda to call him out on it to make him reconsider.
• Hilarious Prince Rutherford cameo.

edited 6th Jan '16 11:08:44 AM by Spirit

Just read Friends Forever #24 (Rarity and Gilda). First of all, there is the odd problem that there is a character named Greta who doesn't look anything like Greta from "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone", but I'm just going to assume that she's meant to be a new character and they unintentionally reused her name. There is also an old griffon who doesn't quite look like Grampa Gruff, but his name isn't given, so he could also just be a new character. There is also the fact that the griffon names don't all start with "G" like they do in the show, but it's understandable that that pattern could be missed.

Ignoring that, the comic was alright. I would have preferred if the focus was more on Rarity actually making dresses that can appease griffons, since as is, all of the not!football stuff made the story feel similar to the earlier main series issue by the same artist with Cheerilee wrestling, which also had Rarity join in at the end. At least they didn't repeat the gag of Rarity being better at the sport than the actual professionals. The griffon designs were pretty nice overall.

Apparently they were supposed to be both the same Grandpa Gruff and Greta.

Also apparently there had to be some details changed due to some contradictions when the episode was aired.

edited 6th Jan '16 11:22:55 AM by Spirit

Finally got around to #24 too. It was pretty cute overall and I don't think I can say there's anything I found wrong with the story itself. I guess if there's one thing that I found a bit odd is that Griffonstone supposedly got really far and had a chance for the Cup, yet the Yaks totally destroyed them. I wouldn't really call that a legitimate chance. >.>

The art put me off a bit because it leaned just a bit to heavily on bipedal actions for long stretches that made it all really obvious. I quite like that Rarity pulled the Twilight Sparkle Approach™.

And read issue #38. Must admit, I wasn't looking forward to this one after hearing that it takes place before Crusaders of the Lost Mark and that Snip and Snails would play a major role. But honestly? The kids all played off of each other really well. I almost felt bad that DT and SS probably won't be bullies anymore as they gave some amusing burns to the Crusaders. Or at least they did more than just say "blank flank" over and over this time. I also liked that Snips and Snails were more like Cloudcuckoolander than brain dead idiots.

Overall a pretty solid issue.

edited 13th Jan '16 12:24:26 PM by Spirit

After finally reading FF 24, I did like the story. Not something I'd necessarily read again, but it was a good read nonetheless, especially from an out of nowhere pairing like Rarity and Gilda. I liked that Rarity ended up showing a lot of concern for the team and the writer definitely had a good grasp on how Gilda would act post-redemption. The art, though... I wanna give Fosgitt slack, but it's starting to really grate on me. I was fine with it for his first couple of issues, but now it's become really unappealing and the fact that can't even get a few character designs right really sours my mood. The fact that he could draw a perfectly good Prince Rutherford makes me wonder why he couldn't put that same effort into most of the other characters.

Issue 38, on the other hand, is definitely looking like a great start and a breath of fresh air after the last couple of issues. While it is a little weird seeing Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as bullies again after Crusaders of the Lost Mark even though I know it takes place before then, they're thankfully not portrayed as obnoxious as they were pre-CotLM, having more in common with their antagonistic yet enjoyable depiction in their FF issue. Making Snips and Snails actually funny and having them save Sweetie Belle was icing on the cake. All in all, a great start for the main series. Hope the following issue can give us a great ending as well.

edited 13th Jan '16 3:06:35 PM by AkoSiKuya23

Read main #38. Pretty standard "kids on a wacky adventure" start, although I do like that Apple Bloom was taking the situation seriously. Dynamic felt pretty natural all around, especially with Snips and Snails getting a few amusing lines. The only thing that bugged me enough to stand out was that the start used too much bipedal, just like FF #24. That quickly disappeared as the issue went on, though.

So in the latest FF we find out that Twilight and Dash are Drift Compatible. Neat.

It also gave us Twilight threatening someone with "Don't make me come over there!" Nice.

It was an alright comic overall. Kinda dark on some implications, but nothing really outside what we've already seen. And I did like the question raised on whether Twilight's wings came from some other pony (probably not). We also got Dash displaying some clever thinking. But so-so otherwise.

edited 3rd Feb '16 10:05:35 AM by Spirit

I thought this was a pretty fun issue, with some nice art, though there were some wasted opportunities with the premise and Twilight was both too powerful and too weak.

One problem was that Twilight's magic was way too convenient here. Bringing Rainbow through the window and teleporting, sure, but instantly figuring out who stole Rainbow's wings was a bit much. Given how much Twilight's magic was used, it was odd that she didn't just blast away the evil unicorns and needed Rainbow's help to defeat them, even if I did like that scene.

From the cover, I was expecting more of a spy story and for there to be some big conspiracy behind this, so I was kind of disappointed that it was just three unicorns acting on their own. I also thought they didn't do enough with Rainbow having to act without wings. I feel like the scene of Rainbow possessing Twilight would have worked better after the evil unicorns were able to gain wings, or perhaps just one gains wings and they start squabbling, to basically demonstrate that they wouldn't have been a match for the real deal.

It was odd that two out of the three unicorns somewhat resembled the Dazzlings.

I'd like to emphasize that despite these complaints, I still liked the issue. The art was good, there were several fun scenes, and I especially liked the climax.

Most of my complaints are pretty much covered above. One thing I found really weird was how powerful the other unicorns were, such that they could use all this forbidden magic so easily. Also, I definitely feel like this story should have been a two-parter so that the investigation could have been longer than a page and a half.

Read #39. My biggest complaint is the hooves being treated the same as hands so much. It's okay once in a while, but here, it's used so excessively that its jarringly draws attention to itself. Otherwise, I quite enjoyed the banter. There's a lot of comradery and bonding going on, despite DT and SS's antagonism. Also loves the callbacks, both to Boast Busters and the CMC acknowledging the Main Six as national heroes. Also, the Wonderbolts actually getting to be useful!

Side note: the cover for #40 advertised in the issue looks simultaneously adorable and questionable.

So, folks, I finally found Pinkie's inspiration for her hilarious full-body self-costumes. Google Image Search these words: Mulle – världens mesta häst.

Gaze upon the Abomination.

Friendship is Magic #40 was a very cute comic, though I was bothered by how Twilight's teachers and Celestia all let her situation with Spike go on for so long without helping. Instead, they all seemed to ignore the dragon in the room and assume Twilight was slacking. I would have liked if Twilight had to ask Celestia for help in the end, and that was the lesson, but no such thing happened.

The default art style was great, and I liked some of the weird expressions, though I felt that they were used a bit too often. I liked the shoujo as hell moments, particularly that shot of Twilight with flowers at the start of the flashbacks.

Thankfully for the Twilight's First Day fan comic, it didn't step on its toes too much in regards to what sorts of ponies Twilight meets and what her classes are, though you still have to do a lot of timeline shuffling. Honestly, I was rather surprised this comic didn't do anything with the "Amending Fences" flashbacks other than cameos.

Also, some IDW complaint comics imply that Celestia handing Spike to Twilight messed up her Friendship stuff.

The same thing she needed to save the world countless times.

'Complaint comics'?

Basically edits of comics that poke fun at the errors in the comics while insulting the staff at IDW

Probably means these "clever" 4chan edits.

Edit: Ninja'd

But less about fabrication and more about things that actually happen in the comics: I found the FF issue to be pretty cute. It did seem strange that even though Twilight was only supposed to take care of Spike when Celestia was "too busy" it was all but stated that Twilight took care of him full time. Ignoring that fact that Celestia delegated her problems once again, it does raise an intriguing prospect that Spike of all people is why Twilight is so OCD.

As for the main issue, this sums up my opinion. That is exactly how I wished Blueblood to be characterized; a pompous ass but good at his job.

edited 19th Mar '16 1:07:56 PM by Spirit

Read the Shining Armour/Blueblood issue. It was a sort of odd feeling to see Blueblood behaving as he did after the way he acted in The Best Night Ever. Instead of just being a stuck-up asshole, he's more of a clown and it's charming in its own way. Like, he comes across as the stuck-up because he's an idiot, instead of a self-entitled douchebag. That sort of outward presentation is the perfect thing to get the Yaks at ease and manipulate them into doing what he wants. The only thing that's a little weird is that it's another one of those issues where the two characters don't actually interact a ton during the major turning points in the story (like the Spike/Luna one). Otherwise, I don't really have any complaints.

As for main issue 40... gonna do something a bit different and record my impressions as I read. So here we go: that picture of filly!Twi snuggling Smarty Pants, it's heart-stoppingly cute. Right away, I felt off-put by Celestia shunting Spike's care onto Twilight. She's barely more than a child herself and she's supposed to take care of Spike? And go to school? Hell, handling both is the kind of thing that drives adult women to breakdowns. What was Celestia thinking? At least there's more Twi snuggling Smarty. There should be a comic entirely devoted to that.

Anyway, several panels of Twi looking like she's dying, then just completely losing her mind. Also, I can't help but feel that it's Celestia's fault that Twi doesn't even have any friends at this point. It's pretty irresponsible. That :I from Twi is so good. I feel equal parts like laughing and hugging her. Okay, it's definitely hugs. A filly this young should not be having this kind of mental breakdown. Seriously, I want to smack Celestia.

I have... clearly played too much Fire Emblem. Because Spike's line about "'Ike sup pah" makes me think of something else entirely and it kinda ruins the scene. >.>

I really don't buy that Celestia was trying to give Twi a friend. Like, Spike isn't anywhere near mature enough for that kind of relationship. The turning point is just completely unbelievable. I feel like Celestia screwed up really badly here and the only reason things worked out is because the story said so.

So... it had its cute moments, but mostly I'm just appalled at Celestia.