My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Comics

Read the latest Fiendship.

...it's official. Ted Anderson needs to stay the hell from anything EQG related. In spite of the reputation he's gotten from the 2014 annual, he's written a lot of great comics, but it seems any attempt to do anything EQG related sucks away all of his talent. The handling of Starswirl was especially atrocious. With the way it was all set up, it seemed like Starswirl banished the Dazzlings just because he didn't like them (especially since we never see the effects of the Dazzlings' songs).

I will say, though, for future EQG comes, Agnes should be doing the art for them since her style, as I expected, works well with the EQG designs.

I'm seeing OK to bad reviews of FIEN Dship is Magic #3 - Sirens, and to be honest, I'm not all that interested in the Sirens in the first place, so I think I'll pass on this one.

Yeah, Sirens is definitely the weakest so far. Ted Anderson is a hit or miss writer, but all of his EG comics have been misses so far.

At least Heather Nuhfer is back with Nightmare Moon next week, that should be interesting. I wonder if we'll see Larry and the gang again?

But the second audition showed the energy drain and mind control effects.

I thought the setup was pretty decent, but it was just too much for a single issue. Like, we get introduced to the Sirens and their nefariousness, get a really weird filler interlude where they fail, then are basically told over a three-page spread that they had a series of music battles. Then, suddenly, the end. To even have a chance of telling the story in a non-rushed, coherent manner, with satisfactory details, this probably would have had to have been a four book arc.

Just read the Nightmare Moon Fiendship. It's actually my second favorite thus far. I'm sure some headcanons were obliterated and I felt that it missed something and could've been a little better written, but I actually enjoyed quite a bit of it. I felt like it had that extra punch that tied up some of the established events in series with the comics' story that I felt the Tirek issue lacked.

Summary for MLP FF #18:

Everyone's favorite pegasus pair Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash star in this issue! Dash is excited to go to the Cloudsdale school reunion-but Fluttershy is harboring some bad memories and fears!

Fluttershy. Back then you were a constantly picked on loser. Now you're a savior of Equestria, personal friend of the princesses (one in particular), redeemer of Discord and a former super model. Now's your chance to go back and rub it in their faces!

Since when did ponies care about those sorts of things?

Also, I thought Dash was kicked out dropped out of school.

edited 22nd Apr '15 6:45:53 AM by Mio

I was mostly joking. But she has come a long way since her school days.

Also, I think Rainbow left flight school - this looks more like regular school.

Yeah it was flight school she either dropped out of, or got kicked out of.

Just finished the Nightmare Moon issue. It was okay, I guess. Definitely more coherent than Tirek's and the Sirens' and probably about on par with Sombra's. However, despite Sombra's having a rushed ending, at least it had oomph. I feel like pretty much every event in the story lacked the kind of build-up necessary to give is serious impact. Always thought the space animal thing was pretty iffy in the first place, though, so I guess they did the best they could, in spite of the concept. I suppose if there was one standout thing, it was giving said space animals a purpose. Overall, still a pretty 'meh' issue. Glad it's not show canon, anyway (especially since the Nyx dream control thing clashes with Luna's explanation of nightmares in the last episode).

Just finished the final Fiendship and thankfully, it's the second best issue. If you enjoyed the funny yet still sinister depiction of Chrysalis from the first arc, this won't disappoint. There are some parts that might make some people scratch their heads regarding canon and a bit of an Idiot Ball moment toward the end, but it was overall a very enjoyable issue and marks a bit of a return to form for Cook-Price after the previous arcs.

Personal ranking of the Fiendship issues: Sombra>Chrysalis>Nightmare Moon>Tirek>>>>>>>Dazzlings

FIEN Dship is Magic #5 was pretty good, outside of how odd it was that Chrysalis was responsible for all these things and even encountered Celestia multiple times yet only seemed to be recognized by Cadance in "A Canterlot Wedding", and how dumb Twilight was in the end. Chrysalis' plan would have been thwarted if Twilight levitated the book in instead of reaching into the room. I'm fine with it being revealed that Chrysalis is also long lived. Other than that, the art was as good as always, especially during Chrysalis' origin flashback showing that she was always this way, there was a nice creepy atmosphere in the present, and there were nice gags, especially Rarity's story.

It had been my headcanon that Chrysalis was long lived and she and Celestia (and Luna) knew each other well already, so yay. (I never saw Cadance as the only one to recognise Chrysalis. Simply the one to reveal her).

Twilight was an absolute moron. It seemed like the ending was just written to give Chrysalis and her hive an excuse to escape. With how Twilight has been written lately in the comics, I have to wonder what IDW is thinking with her character. Pretty much everything that happened wouldn't have if Twilight weren't suddenly turned into such a massive idiot. She could have used her magic to levitate the book in as mentioned or teleported the book in, and instead she physically opens the door?

It's not IDW, It's Katie.. she seems to hate Twi or something.

Even though she claimed in an interview that Twilight's one of her favorite characters. Yeah, if that's how she treats one of her "Favorites", then I'm highly skeptical.

Some people, like myself, like to make their favourite characters suffer. In fact, I have a general guideline in writing, that the more I like a character, the worse I should treat them.

It prevents, Creator's Pet problems and gives them the opportunity to really show their mettle.

There's a difference between making your characters suffer {Believe me, if I could actually write properly, bad things would happen to ponies in my fanfics, be it for comedy or drama} and making them into morons because the plot says so, amongst Katie's other problems.

edited 29th Apr '15 12:57:57 PM by marston

Understood.

So let me see if I understand the changeling origin right. They were simple flies that were eaten by an evil tree and mutated inside the tree while being fused with unicorn skeletons and the blood of Starswirl. Said tree grew from a rotten acorn that fell into a grotto. Said grotto is under a cemetery and may or may not have been made from wastes from Starswirl's potions.

That origin is as cluttered as it is metal.

edited 29th Apr '15 4:09:06 PM by Spirit

"There is no story. I was born this way."

See, all Katie needed to do was another Chrysalis story. Yeah she's not the best Twilight writer but she writes a good Chrysalis. I guess this josses the whole "She's the Hearts & Hooves Day Princess" WMG.

I'm curious if the ending was meant to set up a possible return in the show. Ever since the first Story Arc I've thought that if they ever did bring back Chrysalis they'd have to reference the comics in some way, but now they can just have the changelings appear whenever.

That was great. The origin of the Changelings was fantastic. Just a great sequence. And I liked the other stories, too. Also, I like that even Pinkie is confused by Rarity having a couch with her.

I agree that the first few little stories were really fun in a goofy kind of way. It's a bit weird because that was some pretty horrific shit that was played for laughs. Still, it was interesting and cohesive enough.

Things I wasn't a fan of are the ending and origin, where the first is telegraphed from a mile away by each and every one of the other shorter stories (I also have complaints about Twilight falling into an obvious trap despite sniffing out Chrysalis way back in season 2). The second just felt kinda slammed together and handwaved in a page because they ran out of comic while telling the other stories. I have mixed reactions about Chrysalis's prominence in serious historical disasters. Namely that no one seemed to know anything at all once Chrysalis was revealed in A Canterlot Wedding. On one hand, it's kinda neat for comic!Celestia to essentially have a long-time nemesis, but on the other hand, it clashes so strangely with show canon that I'm quite glad the comics stay separate.

I loved the origin because it was just done so well. Price killed it. I like when a writer knows when to shut up and just let the art tell the story.

Preview for the DT and SS Friends Forever issue

I have to say, I am actually pretty excited. Yes, they are still conceited Jerk Asses, but it feels like they'll be more entertaining than how they usually are. I also like that, at least from the preview images, that it seems like the Diamond Tiara just naturally wants to show up the CMC.