Monday 24 August 2015

Comic mini-review: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #33

Before the comic review, a fashionably late signal boost: go and have a look at Resolution, an Equestria Girls fic by xjuggernaughtx. It's not quite finished as I write this, but I did have a look at what is there and thought it was interesting. (It's on my RiL list, so will get a proper review... er... sometime.) Also, the author is a good guy and deserves more than 150 views on this fic. So shoo! I'll wait here until you get back.

Right? Right. The latest IDW comic, then.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic #32, subscription cover
Though I can't help thinking Flutters looks like a Muppet...
Last month, I reviewed comic #32. It wasn't very good, but I mostly bought it for the great cover. Same again this time? Well, nearly, yes. I really like Andy Price's subscription cover, so that's the one I picked up. The story itself is a bit of a mess, as you'd expect, though a more enjoyable mess than last month's issue. Tony Fleecs' art is decent, with one memorable page of Flutterbat by moonlight. Thom Zahler's story is meh: not the worst I've read by any means, but I can't help feeling that, for a B-movie comic, it's not B-movie enough. Heather Breckel's colours are fine as usual. Just scrapes a three, mainly for the art and the Twilight joke everyone's expected for years. ★★★

8 comments:

  1. I'd have to agree with that review. Fantastic cover - it really is - and the artwork inside is generally decent. But the story, while a little better than the previous issue, did almost nothing for me. I don't imagine this particular story arc being one that I'd reread any time soon, and it just generally seems somewhat forgettable. Ah well, just have to hope now that the next story works out a lot better!

    As for the cover, I'm assuming that Rarity is meant to be Elvira, Rainbow is one of the Lost Boys (Keither Sutherland had a fine mullet and coat like the one Rainbow is wearing) and Pinkie is possibly Nosferatu. Not sure at all about Twilight, and I have no doubt I'm wrong in thinking she was meant to be a character from a satirical film called "What We Do In The Shadows." But I think that would be a bit of a vague reference so it's probably meant to be something else.

    I couldn't quite place who Fluttershy or Applejack were meant to be though.

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    1. The next arc is going to be the four-issue epic Siege of the Crystal Empire, so I really hope it's an improvement!

      I'm pretty sure Fluttershy is supposed to be Barnabas Collins, from the US TV series (and later film) Dark Shadows. Collins had a cane just like that. Twilight could actually be Bela Lugosi, who played a pipe organ in The Mark of the Vampire. Which leaves Applejack... with that suit, she could be Christopher Lee. But I'm guessing now.

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  2. I read Silver Quill's thoughts on this, and this looks better than #32, but not by much. I'd still say readers are not missing much by skipping this arc though.

    And why is there a "Twilight" joke here? There already was a reference to that in Twilight's Micro Issue.

    I do hope that the next arc is better.

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    1. Mind you, Twilight Sparkle's very name is a dig at that! :P

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    2. Yeah, it is.

      If Siege of the Crystal Empire is horrendous, and/or "The Good the Bad and The Ponies" horrendous, I'm giving up hope on the main comic series redeeming itself.

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    3. What did you make of the "Reflections" arc? It really divided opinion. If you believe 4chan, everyone hated it, but that's not been my experience.

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    4. I really haven't read it that yet (I was ordering Volumes 1-5, minus 3 for some reason, and they got backordered >____<), so my expectations will be mixed. I've heard a lot of people have hated it though, so I wonder if that would mean it got mixed to negative reception. I'll post comments on your reviews of #17-20 when I finish it though.

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  3. I've found a short preview for #34 here: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2015/08/itunes-preview-for-mlpfim-34-siege-of.html#idc-cover

    What do you think of it?

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