I'm way behind schedule – again – so I'm afraid this will be a quick one. This is the first half of a two-issue arc from Christina Rice and Agnes Garbowska. The "Ponyville Days" festival is imminent, but an argument about where a historical marker plaque should be situated ends up tearing the town into two rival camps. It's a potentially funny setup, but in the event it's all a bit contrived, and I'm again slightly dissatisfied with Twilight. I don't think this is the best artwork Garbowska has ever produced, either. I really didn't recall much about this comic an hour after finishing it. Next issue may help, but so far this story feels rather meh. A high two. ★★
I knew almost nothing about this particular story arc, since the place I pre-ordered it from didn't have any details at all. (Not even a cover picture at the time.) Unfortunately as I've said before, I'm not at all a fan of Garbowska's artwork, so once I opened the issue and recognised that art style, it was hardly the most encouraging of starts.
ReplyDeleteAnd the story, as you mentioned above, just felt so uninspiring. To me it felt almost forced. It seemed extremely out of character for just about every pony in the story, and I couldn't really see them going to quite such lengths over something like a plaque. It seems a bit pessimistic to say it, but I really don't hold out much hope for the next issue, and in all fairness I only pre-ordered the next two issues out of loyalty. If things don't seriously improve, and soon, with the comics then I may well have to forget pre-ordering and start visiting Forbidden Planet on a "I want to see it first" basis.
If you do change to store buying, remember there's usually a free preview a few days before publication. That will at least let you see what the artwork is like and a bit of the story setup.
DeleteLooking at the next few issues, the creative teams will be:
FF #17 (Twi/Big Mac) Anderson/Hickey
Main #31 (second half of this) Rice/Garbowska
FF#18 (FlutterDash!) Rice/Fosgitt
Main #32 (new two-parter) Zahler/Fleecs
I have a good deal of optimism about FF #17, since I think Hickey is one of the best artists on the comic. Obviously FF #18 won't exist because I'll have bought every copy in the universe. :P As for main-series #32, again I'm fairly optimistic, as Fleecs has improved so much since he started. But the second half of this arc (FF #31) is not one I feel much excitement about.