My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Comics

I liked him. He wasn't as "MUWAHAHAHA!" as most Captain Planet villains and was rather smug about stuff. Not to the point of being a total Smug Snake, but still.

The ending of issue 27 makes me want to go to a convention where Nicole Oliver is a guest just so she can read the last page and I can hear a Not So Stoic Princess Celestia.

Just read Friends Forever #15. I didn't like the ending much, in that Mayor Mare never actually owns up to the fact that her bureaucracy is terribly structured, or at least never seems like she really intends to do anything about it, but the rest of the issue was a lot of fun. I thought the art during the crisis at the end was great, though because MY HEADCANONS, I didn't like that Sweetie Belle was able to use magic to transform Twilight into a state where she couldn't use magic.

As for Friendship is Magic #29, it was OK. It was really odd how they tried to play it both ways, by saying that the wrestlers don't actually try to hurt each other (implying that it's staged), yet still presenting the matches as actual fights. And though there's precedence of Cheerilee being surprisingly strong, I didn't like how she was naturally good at wrestling. The wrestling also wasn't quite as goofy as I would have liked.

edited 25th Mar '15 9:05:45 PM by SigmasonicX

Sweetie probably just had a magical surge like Twi and Rarity had as fillies.

This is even more Hilarious in Hindsight now.

Am I the only one who thinks that Flax Seed and Wheat Grass should appear on the show as a cameo?

Meh, if anyone from the comics needs to show up, It's Tiberius.

Sigma: Yeah, #29 was really strange that way. It was like 80% performance wrestling, but then they didn't practice for the championship routines, so I was all, "Uh, what?" There was also a lot of overly bipedal stances in that issue that threw me. In the end, I felt the story was kind of sweet.

As for FF#15, I thought it was really weird. Just, like a total acid trip with some random bureaucracy stuff interlaced. The Sweetie problem was something I wasn't especially fond of. I admit that the ending made me smirk a little, but overall, I just didn't really like it at all.

Can't say I'm very fond of them, myself. I kinda wouldn't mind if Cherry from #29 showed up, though. Or Loop-de-loop, but it really wouldn't make sense for her to be considered since she had such a tiny role. Of course, the chances of any comic characters turning up in the actual show are basically zero.

edited 29th Mar '15 12:53:06 AM by KuroiTsubasaTenshi

Is it a copyright thing, or just petty 'We Don't Care Enough to Spend a Few Minutes Checking On This Thing' posturing? Because I see no real reason not to include them as at least non speaking background ponies; you even save yourself a few new-pony designing efforts, and you're doing a bit of fandom-pleasing in the proccess. I mean, I understand not giving them talking roles as to not wrangling both media around, but...

The show staff is usually under a serious time crunch, such that overtime is a regular thing. Plus they already have a lot of episodes to keep the show consistent with. I imagine it's more of a practical thing, since there's well over 50 comics now. It's probably just not practical with regard to their time frame and budget.

I doubt it's worth having to create new art assets for a background cameo from a random comic. More likely, if they were to ever import something, I think it'd have to be someone they consider important enough to make an episode plot around, in order to justify the extra resources put into it. Like Maud coming in from the novels.

I think the Maud situation was something of an Early-Bird Cameo. Her episode was already written, Hasbro told the author Pinkie has a new sister in the new season, and the book came out before the episode because the episode takes much longer to make.

It will be kinda awkward if they introduce a pet for Luna in the show and its not Tiberius.

Awkward for the comics, but not for the show, since the show has the absolute, final say. That's why I treat them like AU fanfic, giving them a lot more leeway to do as they please and not wreck my suspension of disbelief.

Didn't know that about Maud, but that does make a lot of sense.

Which Fiendship is Magic issue are y'all looking most forward to?

edited 30th Mar '15 2:34:08 PM by Spirit

I'm trying to just not think about them too much since I want to go in as cold as possible, but considering that Chrysalis's is the only one to take place in the present, I look forward to seeing her arc continue a bit.

After watching Once Upon a Time? All of them. The back stories are giving me such OUAT feels.

Just read Fiendship #1. Certainly not the most original read, but I did really get into Sombra's backstory.

Cadance is actually descended from Radiant Hope. The Mi Amore name was given to Cadance by Celestia as part of her tribute to the late Princess Amore. One of Cadance's spells is a healing bubble, and Radiant's talent was about healing others. Finally, it is through Cadance that Radiant's destiny as a Princess was fulfilled.

edited 1st Apr '15 9:39:09 AM by AkoSiKuya32

Just read FIEN Dship is Magic #1 - Sombra, and it was really good. It was a pretty standard story of the villain trying to live life happily but having a dark destiny that he can't escape from and eventually accepts, but sad ponies makes it sad. At the start, I was going to cry foul on Sombra being portrayed as developmentally behind the others when he turns into the least sapient of pony-like villains, and then on Hope being a manic pixie dream girl, but I felt both were handled well enough. One moment that did take me out of the story was an Attack on Titan poster right at an important plot development, though, and Twilight's and Cadance's dialogue at the start was oddly stilted. I'm a bit disappointed that the show will never follow up on this—with shadow ponies still under the Crystal Empire, Princess Amore shattered into crystals but potentially able to come back to life if her shards are reunited, and it being unknown what happened to Hope—but perhaps the comics will.

It also brings up some interesting ideas, like perhaps the mirror world Sombra is what Sombra could have been if he rejected his evil heritage and become a good, wise king.

And you never know, maybe they will follow up in the show. Perhaps Sombra is slated to come back in a future episode, and the comic's writer read the script and put in deliberate foreshadowing.

I thought it was a great start to this series, too bad we're not getting a follow-up on Radiant Hope, though maybe we don't really need to. I was expecting to see her show up at the end to finish the tale, but I guess we're to assume she was the sole survivor of the Crystal Empire, never to see her beloved home or Sombra again... man this is tragic, and this is the first issue.

Uhh... guys?

Does anyone here know if there was in fact a third "How Starswirl Got His Hat" story packed in with issue #19 of the main comic? It's been mentioned on This Very Wiki and the MLP wiki, but literally nowhere else, and my copy of #19 doesn't contain it.

Just read the Sombra comic. It was quite compelling as far as the front two-thirds went, but I think they gave Sombra bit too much development. That is, I think he ended up too sympathetic for how easily he turned to the dark side. Plus it was a super downer ending for Radiant Hope, who definitely deserved better. In short, I have very mixed feelings about the execution of the last third of the story.

Read FIEN Dship is Magic #2 - Tirek, and like others have said elsewhere, it's odd where it chooses to end, or rather, what the story chooses to cover. It isn't the story of Tirek coming to Equestria, or the story of Tirek deciding to do that, or even the story of Tirek starting to become power hungry. He's largely unchanged from start to finish. The issue was a decently interesting look at what Tirek's life was at, though the story presented wasn't nearly as interesting as Sombra's.

I'm not a fan of the plot device of "this character is so strong because this other character was strong and taught him", but they made Tirek's teacher sufficiently weaker than Tirek that it didn't come off as odd. It was funny how the unicorn was presented as this mysterious and powerful thing, coming off even as a demon that was demanding to be released. I did like how Discord was present but didn't actually do anything, with the implication that he also came from this land. One thing I thought was odd, though, was the fact that Tirek's father had diplomatic relations with Celestia. The implication of the "Twilight's Kingdom" flashback seemed to be that Celestia had no clue what sort of race Tirek and Scorpan were and where they came from.

Very much agreed. While I thought it was an interesting look into the world Tirek and Scorpan came from, I felt like we were only seeing the beginning of a two-parter. Heck, a full page image of Tirek staring down at Celestia, Luna, Starswirl, and Scorpan at the end would've made for a fine conclusion. That or maybe showing him having already overthrown his father and about to march his way into Equestria. Just ending on young Tirek made for a really weak ending.

edited 8th Apr '15 7:30:34 PM by AkoSiKuya32

Pretty odd that Tirek ended up being the least interesting thing in his own backstory.

Not really a fan of Tirek's own role too. It was almost a sort of non-plot in that it was practically just a reiteration of what was seen on the show. I enjoyed the world building way more, even though, as has already been pointed out, there's all sorts of weird holes involved in that too. I do quite like that Tirek's father was actually politically savvy instead of some kind of card-carrying evil overlord villain (even if it resulted in one of said holes).