Previously, on My Little Pony...
It's taken us so many years, so many generations. But we finally know where we're going. Where we've ALWAYS been going. We're heading back home...the long way 'round.
Time sure does fly...it feels like just 6 months ago that IDW published their 10th Anniversary comic...where does all the time go?
Another week, another pony comic. IDW sure is on a roll lately.
So, how is it? Well...there's three stories in this anthology issue. The first one is by FAR the longest...and probably the weakest of the three. The writing's pretty okay (and it's got a...cute concept, though I think some people will HATE it) but the art is a little too "spread out" and "storybook-like" for my personal liking. The other two stories are better in my eyes. They have some REALLY NICE art in those other two stories. I REALLY like the second story, which features the G5 cast. But, they take up less total pages combined than that first story.
And it's $9. That's...a hefty chunk of change. But, this book DOES feel hefty in return. The paper stock they used is really nice and thick and slick. It FEELS worth the $9, if only going by weight. And I think most people will enjoy most of this issue well enough. But, that price tag IS a barrier.
Also, be aware, this is less a celebration of the ENTIRE history of My Little Pony and...more about celebrating the VERY beginning of the franchise. There's only G1 and G5 "characters" in this one. And the G5 cast only shows up in the middle story.
So, I'd say this is good. It's a fun return to the VERY beginning of our little franchise. I think there's some fans who will really love this special.
So, I'm going to spoil the idea behind the first story right away. You've been warned.
It's taken us so many years, so many generations. But we finally know where we're going. Where we've ALWAYS been going. We're heading back home...the long way 'round.
Time sure does fly...it feels like just 6 months ago that IDW published their 10th Anniversary comic...where does all the time go?
Another week, another pony comic. IDW sure is on a roll lately.
So, how is it? Well...there's three stories in this anthology issue. The first one is by FAR the longest...and probably the weakest of the three. The writing's pretty okay (and it's got a...cute concept, though I think some people will HATE it) but the art is a little too "spread out" and "storybook-like" for my personal liking. The other two stories are better in my eyes. They have some REALLY NICE art in those other two stories. I REALLY like the second story, which features the G5 cast. But, they take up less total pages combined than that first story.
And it's $9. That's...a hefty chunk of change. But, this book DOES feel hefty in return. The paper stock they used is really nice and thick and slick. It FEELS worth the $9, if only going by weight. And I think most people will enjoy most of this issue well enough. But, that price tag IS a barrier.
Also, be aware, this is less a celebration of the ENTIRE history of My Little Pony and...more about celebrating the VERY beginning of the franchise. There's only G1 and G5 "characters" in this one. And the G5 cast only shows up in the middle story.
So, I'd say this is good. It's a fun return to the VERY beginning of our little franchise. I think there's some fans who will really love this special.
So, I'm going to spoil the idea behind the first story right away. You've been warned.
This first story is basically "My Little Pony...THE LIVE ACTION MOVIE!" It has EVERY cliche imaginable thrown in there. Friends who are having fights for no good reason, who have to come back together in the last act. Fictional characters being brought into the "real" world. A evil real-estate developer that is threatening a beloved small-town landmark. The whole shebang. It really doesn't PARODY that at all. It plays it all pretty straight. *I* found it amusing, but I'm not sure if that's actually what they were going for.
"Can't we have a smaller problem?" We ALL wish we could be having smaller problems, you get the hand you're dealt. Don't you just hate it when none of your other friends want to end the world with you? You're all like "let's steal some nuclear launch codes" , and they're all like "yeah, but I haven't beaten Tears of the Kingdom, yet, can we end the world LATER?". We've all been there right?
Okay, so we meet four friends who all have...The Original Six Ponies! Get used to seeing these six, because they crop up in ALL the stories. Really, that's the theme of the special. Using those Original Six Ponies in different ways in their stories.
I don't think the art is BAD here. It's actually kind of stylized. But these panels are REALLY big. There's a couple of two-page spreads in this story that feel...barren. There's not much to the backgrounds and there's not enough characters to really fill up the space. So...you just end up with a lot of empty room on a lot of these pages. I feel like some of these two-page spreads could have been combined.
Also, I don't know how common it was for kids to have a complete set of these ponies back in the day. It feels a *little* like they're spoiled, having access to all six. Also, it's weird that there aren't six little girls to go alone with the six ponies, but...that'd probably be too many characters.
Anyway, they're having a day camp at a real pony ranch. These kids are *definitely* spoiled. BUT...a real estate agent wants to buy the Pony Ranch and pave over it with...a MALL *gasp*
It IS a nice touch that the agent is from "Grogar Developments". And his name is "Hugh Mann". Definitely not suspicious. He's just doing totally normal human things. Move along.
So the four friends promise to stop the land development...but instantly break that promise, because they have...y'know...SCHOOL! School...truly the bane of a adventurous heart.
So, one of the girls is feeling bad her friends are going their own ways, and all the ponies at the Ranch will be sold for glue (not really)...but then she finds a random magical book that she saw in a dream. Those Latin classes really paid off, because when she reads off a spell from the book, she turns her My Little Pony toys into the REAL Original Six!
"Virtue equitus universil...hae creatura vitam adduseer...mitteret in domum soum!" I can tell the Latin spell actually IS translatable...*plugs it into Google Translate" "By the power of the universal knight...he would bring life to this creature...send him into his home" Well, now I want to know more about this "Universal Knight"...okay yeah, that's probably supposed to be "Universal Horse" in this context.
Also, this kid is living during the 80s...this was the golden age of horror movies. She really should have known better than to read from a mysterious book out loud. This is how the MLP horror movie parody starts.
Anyway, the Ponies DO NOTHING! The little girl gets kidnapped by the land developer. It's not even a fight.
Her friends notice she doesn't come to school and go to the Ranch to find her. Free range children, without helmets or anything on their bikes. It was a different time.
Then we find out this land developer was actually banished from the G1 Pony world. He wanted to replace their Castle with a mall too. He's really into malls for some reason, but they never explain why. I want to know why he loves malls so much! I'll admit, I DO miss them a little bit, too. I mean I guess this WAS the 80s, so...meh. But... TWO SHOPPING MALLS!?! He's gone too far!
So then the Girls and their Ponies square off against the magical real estate agent and his minions for a EPIC FIGHT! (Two of those ponies look kind of lonely without riders, just saying) Only...we find out this was all a dream. LAME!!!
But, we do find out that the ranch has been saved, since the realtor backed out of the project. And the girl's friends think they've been ignoring her too, so they all reconcile and are besties again. They have a sleepover. The End!
The next story is the BEST one, in my opinion. It features Sunny going through some of her dad's old research books looking for LORE. Instead she finds...the back of the box bios from The Original Six Pony toys! It's such a cute reference and it's done so well that this is easily my pick for the best story in this special. They basically re-create those back of the box bios from the G1 toys, with the same font and everything. This is basically the G5 cast giving the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment to G1's box bios and it WORKS! It's great.
It helps this is done by the same artist who did the Discord arc in the main comic. So the art is just the best. All the characters are super expressive. It's just a good time.
Hitch was the two-time Maretime Bay Junior Cart Pulling Champion. I don't know if there was much competition, but that's still impressive.
Too bad Hitch has been skipping leg day. And he's ALL legs, so that's really unfortunate. Either that or these books are made of unobtanium.
The fact that Izzy has never even HEARD of most of these old G4 towns is kind of sad.
"What's Fillydelphia?" "...Dad believed they had magical sunshine every day!" That's a random "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" reference.
"Why do they all look so sad" "Maybe that's just how they used to look?" AH HA HA HA! Okay, that's a good one. It's also pretty cute that Izzy thinks they're sad because there's no unicorns or pegasi in The Original Six Ponies.
"Is this some kind of poem?" *The G1 Back of the Box Brushables Poem* "...Lot of talk about this pony's hair, though" It's not weird if you don't make it weird, Izzy!
*Butterscotch's Bio* "What's a "Gymkhana"?" ...You know, that's a legitimate question. *looks it up* I guess it's a type of sporting club. They have equestrian versions, too, which is basically a race and other games. So, that fits.
*Blue Belle's Bio* "Maybe they were a ancient hunter-gatherer culture? Maybe this was before we had farms?!" I love that Sunny is REALLY digging for the lore, here.
*Cotton Candy's Bio* "Blossom's garden is always a tempting place to grab a snack" "Definitely Ponies' tales...must be the traditional trickster type character" "Sounds kinda mean" Look, sometimes you just get the munchies...so you eat your friend's lawn. Friends let friends eat their lawns sometimes!
I guess this can't ALL be from the original G1 toys, since they DO mention the Bushwoolies, and the cartoon probably hadn't created them yet. Still, it's neat seeing this old artwork for Dream Valley, again. No one has ANY idea what a Flutter Pony is, though.
And Izzy absolutely FREAKS OUT about Sea Ponies. She wants to meet them SO BAD! Make it happen Hasbro!
Sunny isn't sure any of these stories were REAL though...so she gets the idea to check in the libraries of the OTHER Kingdoms. Is this the start of a epic pony event? Eh....we'll see, but I doubt it.
And the final story is all about a little girl and her aunt bonding over aunt's old ponies in the attic during a blackout. It's really sweet. And the art's good in this one, too.
This little girl is streaming G5 on Netflix (TM), while looking stuff up on the MLP wikia, while reading the pony comics on her tablet, while ALSO fighting with her friend over the phone...the girl can multi-task. She lives and breathes ponies. When she wakes up in the middle of the night...it is ponies that she sees!
Then the power goes out...and ALL her batteries are dead. Amateur move kid. You ALWAYS keep SOMETHING charged.
But, her aunt still has her old ponies in the attic. The little girl is fascinated by them, but thinks they're a little strange. Applejack...DOESN'T HAVE HER HAT! And Twilight...isn't Sparkle! The aunt can't find her old Twilight figure, but then we flash back to when SHE was a little girl. She was having a fight with HER friend, too...but they made up and she gave her the old pony as a apology.
So, the little girl uses the power of LANDLINES! She calls her friend and apologies. Funny that both of these families even still HAVE landlines, but, okay, fine.
So, then her aunt texts her old friend. And they chat about how they can't believe MLP is 40 years old now. Her friend even still has the old Twilight toy...right within photo-taking reach. Convenient! But, also, really sweet.
So, yeah, just three cute stories. I liked them. I have a hard time recommending a $9 comic, in general, but these are fun stories. I'm glad I picked it up.
"Can't we have a smaller problem?" We ALL wish we could be having smaller problems, you get the hand you're dealt. Don't you just hate it when none of your other friends want to end the world with you? You're all like "let's steal some nuclear launch codes" , and they're all like "yeah, but I haven't beaten Tears of the Kingdom, yet, can we end the world LATER?". We've all been there right?
Okay, so we meet four friends who all have...The Original Six Ponies! Get used to seeing these six, because they crop up in ALL the stories. Really, that's the theme of the special. Using those Original Six Ponies in different ways in their stories.
I don't think the art is BAD here. It's actually kind of stylized. But these panels are REALLY big. There's a couple of two-page spreads in this story that feel...barren. There's not much to the backgrounds and there's not enough characters to really fill up the space. So...you just end up with a lot of empty room on a lot of these pages. I feel like some of these two-page spreads could have been combined.
Also, I don't know how common it was for kids to have a complete set of these ponies back in the day. It feels a *little* like they're spoiled, having access to all six. Also, it's weird that there aren't six little girls to go alone with the six ponies, but...that'd probably be too many characters.
Anyway, they're having a day camp at a real pony ranch. These kids are *definitely* spoiled. BUT...a real estate agent wants to buy the Pony Ranch and pave over it with...a MALL *gasp*
It IS a nice touch that the agent is from "Grogar Developments". And his name is "Hugh Mann". Definitely not suspicious. He's just doing totally normal human things. Move along.
So the four friends promise to stop the land development...but instantly break that promise, because they have...y'know...SCHOOL! School...truly the bane of a adventurous heart.
So, one of the girls is feeling bad her friends are going their own ways, and all the ponies at the Ranch will be sold for glue (not really)...but then she finds a random magical book that she saw in a dream. Those Latin classes really paid off, because when she reads off a spell from the book, she turns her My Little Pony toys into the REAL Original Six!
"Virtue equitus universil...hae creatura vitam adduseer...mitteret in domum soum!" I can tell the Latin spell actually IS translatable...*plugs it into Google Translate" "By the power of the universal knight...he would bring life to this creature...send him into his home" Well, now I want to know more about this "Universal Knight"...okay yeah, that's probably supposed to be "Universal Horse" in this context.
Also, this kid is living during the 80s...this was the golden age of horror movies. She really should have known better than to read from a mysterious book out loud. This is how the MLP horror movie parody starts.
Anyway, the Ponies DO NOTHING! The little girl gets kidnapped by the land developer. It's not even a fight.
Her friends notice she doesn't come to school and go to the Ranch to find her. Free range children, without helmets or anything on their bikes. It was a different time.
Then we find out this land developer was actually banished from the G1 Pony world. He wanted to replace their Castle with a mall too. He's really into malls for some reason, but they never explain why. I want to know why he loves malls so much! I'll admit, I DO miss them a little bit, too. I mean I guess this WAS the 80s, so...meh. But... TWO SHOPPING MALLS!?! He's gone too far!
So then the Girls and their Ponies square off against the magical real estate agent and his minions for a EPIC FIGHT! (Two of those ponies look kind of lonely without riders, just saying) Only...we find out this was all a dream. LAME!!!
But, we do find out that the ranch has been saved, since the realtor backed out of the project. And the girl's friends think they've been ignoring her too, so they all reconcile and are besties again. They have a sleepover. The End!
The next story is the BEST one, in my opinion. It features Sunny going through some of her dad's old research books looking for LORE. Instead she finds...the back of the box bios from The Original Six Pony toys! It's such a cute reference and it's done so well that this is easily my pick for the best story in this special. They basically re-create those back of the box bios from the G1 toys, with the same font and everything. This is basically the G5 cast giving the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment to G1's box bios and it WORKS! It's great.
It helps this is done by the same artist who did the Discord arc in the main comic. So the art is just the best. All the characters are super expressive. It's just a good time.
Hitch was the two-time Maretime Bay Junior Cart Pulling Champion. I don't know if there was much competition, but that's still impressive.
Too bad Hitch has been skipping leg day. And he's ALL legs, so that's really unfortunate. Either that or these books are made of unobtanium.
The fact that Izzy has never even HEARD of most of these old G4 towns is kind of sad.
"What's Fillydelphia?" "...Dad believed they had magical sunshine every day!" That's a random "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" reference.
"Why do they all look so sad" "Maybe that's just how they used to look?" AH HA HA HA! Okay, that's a good one. It's also pretty cute that Izzy thinks they're sad because there's no unicorns or pegasi in The Original Six Ponies.
"Is this some kind of poem?" *The G1 Back of the Box Brushables Poem* "...Lot of talk about this pony's hair, though" It's not weird if you don't make it weird, Izzy!
*Butterscotch's Bio* "What's a "Gymkhana"?" ...You know, that's a legitimate question. *looks it up* I guess it's a type of sporting club. They have equestrian versions, too, which is basically a race and other games. So, that fits.
*Blue Belle's Bio* "Maybe they were a ancient hunter-gatherer culture? Maybe this was before we had farms?!" I love that Sunny is REALLY digging for the lore, here.
*Cotton Candy's Bio* "Blossom's garden is always a tempting place to grab a snack" "Definitely Ponies' tales...must be the traditional trickster type character" "Sounds kinda mean" Look, sometimes you just get the munchies...so you eat your friend's lawn. Friends let friends eat their lawns sometimes!
I guess this can't ALL be from the original G1 toys, since they DO mention the Bushwoolies, and the cartoon probably hadn't created them yet. Still, it's neat seeing this old artwork for Dream Valley, again. No one has ANY idea what a Flutter Pony is, though.
And Izzy absolutely FREAKS OUT about Sea Ponies. She wants to meet them SO BAD! Make it happen Hasbro!
Sunny isn't sure any of these stories were REAL though...so she gets the idea to check in the libraries of the OTHER Kingdoms. Is this the start of a epic pony event? Eh....we'll see, but I doubt it.
And the final story is all about a little girl and her aunt bonding over aunt's old ponies in the attic during a blackout. It's really sweet. And the art's good in this one, too.
This little girl is streaming G5 on Netflix (TM), while looking stuff up on the MLP wikia, while reading the pony comics on her tablet, while ALSO fighting with her friend over the phone...the girl can multi-task. She lives and breathes ponies. When she wakes up in the middle of the night...it is ponies that she sees!
Then the power goes out...and ALL her batteries are dead. Amateur move kid. You ALWAYS keep SOMETHING charged.
But, her aunt still has her old ponies in the attic. The little girl is fascinated by them, but thinks they're a little strange. Applejack...DOESN'T HAVE HER HAT! And Twilight...isn't Sparkle! The aunt can't find her old Twilight figure, but then we flash back to when SHE was a little girl. She was having a fight with HER friend, too...but they made up and she gave her the old pony as a apology.
So, the little girl uses the power of LANDLINES! She calls her friend and apologies. Funny that both of these families even still HAVE landlines, but, okay, fine.
So, then her aunt texts her old friend. And they chat about how they can't believe MLP is 40 years old now. Her friend even still has the old Twilight toy...right within photo-taking reach. Convenient! But, also, really sweet.
So, yeah, just three cute stories. I liked them. I have a hard time recommending a $9 comic, in general, but these are fun stories. I'm glad I picked it up.
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