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| It's another nice cover by Price, at least |
We reach the end of the four-issue
Siege of the Crystal Empire arc, and it's been an interesting ride. Sadly, this final instalment doesn't manage to close things out in style. Everything's wrapped up much too neatly, with a particuarly irritating ending for Sombra. Considering that the
show has now given us a glimpse of a full-scale war, I don't think the "kids' comics can't have serious battles" argument holds water any longer. The Umbrum are still interesting (I'm surprised they haven't caught fanfic writers' attention) and Discord's cameo is amusing, but this isn't the epic ending that I'd hoped for. Still, the first half is decent. ★★
I must admit that I was very disappointed with how this ended. Sombra dancing and skipping happily through the meadows and everything forgiven? No real explanation as to what the heck was going on with Flim and Flam, Iron Will, etc? It's a real shame because as you said, the first half was great and I did enjoy the other 3 issues. But that ending was a huge letdown, for me anyway. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteI've decided that I'm not ordering any issues in advance from now on. I'll be waiting to see what your reviews have to say about them and then I'll see about tracking them down on eBay or FP.
Yeah, sadly the hope (haha) I had that the main series was getting back on track hasn't really been justified. I have ordered Friends Forever #24, mainly because Gilda/Rarity seems like such a weird team-up, but it'll be a while before I get it, let alone write a review! :P
DeleteCrappy ending to IMO the worst arc of the My Little Pony comics, and IMO the worst thing G4 MLP ever had to offer. Sombra's ending was not only half-assed, but left a huge plot weakness: Sombra doesn't need friendship magic, nor did Hope even need to bring all those "villains" together for a pointless wasted teamup. All Hope had to do is just put the Crystal Heart back where it goes and the Umbrum will be killed and such and Sombra could turn back to normal!!! Maybe Hope could have tried to do it and EXPLAIN to the Princesses and such why she was doing it and they could have understood. Hope should have done that in issue #34-35, the first 10 pages of #35 maybe, have Sombra redeemed and then go off happily skipping into the meadow with Hope and such, or it could have all been done in one issue like #29!!! Maybe Hope could have tried to do it and EXPLAIN to the Princesses and such why she was doing it and they could have understood. My final thoughts are right here: http://seiya-meteorite.deviantart.com/journal/MLP-FiM-37-Review-578345202
ReplyDeleteProbably the biggest flaw I'd say this arc did was waste time. The villain teamup was wasted (I'm not the only one who was shocked), Chrysalis was wasted, Celestia and Luna were worfed and useless, and the Mane Six may as well not even been in here at all, I'll also say, where are the Crystal Ponies?
Speaking of Hope, her "destiny" thing that people supposedly have praised about was half-assed, and she was the worst part of this arc altogether IMO. Not only was she a Mary Sue, she learned nothing and pretty much got her friend handed to her on a silver platter. I've even seen some people use her to bash Celestia!
Some people have said this could have tied in with Reflections (which I loved also, and to be honest, I feel the comics hit its stride and should have ended there now) but it would make no sense because then Celestia and Luna would have to be turned evil! This only is on Youtube though, a lot of people on Deviantart, Derpibooru, and Equestria Daily hate this arc and Hope, so I'm afraid most fans don't like this, and this whole arc was a dismal failure. Some people are hoping a sequel might happen, but I'm not one of them. I'm just glad this comic series isn't canon.
If you enjoyed this arc though, that's perfectly fine. I respect your opinion. Me though, I've lost all hope for this comic series to redeem itself and I'm sadly done with the comics. :'(
Yeah, if it's annoying you to that extent then it probably is best to move on to something that you like. I've read your DA review, and I have no problem with it -- like you say, it's all a matter of opinion.
DeleteI felt particularly let down by #37 because I did like the arc as a whole. Unlike you, I don't feel it failed, though it was certainly flawed. My personal disappointment was that it ruined what could -- should -- have been an epic ending and made a mess of it.
I understand, and thanks. One thing to let you know, I've been seeing these comics on Youtube from this great user named ChronoShenron, not buying them, lucky I didn't waste my money on a disappointing ending. I've read a worse ending though, that was in that fanfic "The Simple Life" I talked about a while ago, this was why I thought it was bad glimpsing at it (SPOILER ALERT THOUGH, GIVES AWAY CERTAIN PLOT POINTS):
DeleteIn this similar fanfic, after a battle in the Equestrian Stadium versus Chrysalis and her Changelings (and Lightning Dust is good this time around) Sombra somehow possesses Cadence and they kill Fluttershy, and then towards the end Sombra wants redemption. See anything wrong? Sombra just came out of nowhere and had possessed Cadence, kills Fluttershy and asks for redemption in the end? And about Flutter's death, to quote this guy Bob X. reviewing a Batman graphic novel from Amazon, we get Sombra and evil Cadence mocking her for being the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy lets a tear fall... and that's it. We basically got two paragraphs surrounding her death. It was almost as if she was a secondary background character. Her death didn't feel important. It didn't have a point. Nor did anypony know it happened. If that was Fluttershy's death, then it was one of the most poorly-written deaths for a character ever. Anyway, sorry if I digress.
To be frank, a lot of Hope's fans also(not talking about you or Silver Quill, who likes Hope though I disagree with him) pretty much have tended to irritate me too. When I was having nice conversations talking to people on Equestria Daily, one guest kept stalking me, constantly calling me a "sociopath", when I was joking about doing a Saint Seiya move, told me to do it on myself, and have called me an idiot and said I was overreacting just because I didn't like Hope nor the story, and it seemed they thought I was some rabid Chrysalis fan when, while I like her, I'm not. While I did get really mad and such about this story, it was still my opinion and I believe they were taking it too seriously or caring way too much about it. They need to realize if they like her that's fine, but they need respect others' opinions.
I glimpsed at the next FF and #38, and to be honest, I'm not impressed. I'm really not liking Fosgitt's art style this time around, I dunno why he's making them bipedal (not that I hate that) and the ponies look less like ponies in this comic, them getting two nostrils on the front of their muzzles, the way these ponies are drawn, makes them look like pigs to me, and in the last panel here, what literally happened to your hair, Rarity? http://louderyay.blogspot.com/2016/01/comic-mini-review-my-little-pony.html
#38, this picture of the CMC running away from a bear looked really sketchy, though I'm not a fan of Grabowska's art style either. #40 is planned to be their own explanation of Twilight Sparkle's life as a filly, but I'm worried it may come off as bad fanfiction though. I'm also skeptical on FF #25, it reminds me of some fancomic where Celestia for some reason turned Twilight into a blank flank Earth pony, I dunno why, she looked more there like that stupid "Trollestia" thingy, and something about that comic just didn't click with me.
Well, I'll just be sticking with the older comics I've got, and like Nicky, I'll just check your reviews to see how they are. I'm avoiding any comic with Whitley's name on it. Maybe if there's a promising looking adventure arc I'll try again, but...I just don't know.
The G1 MLP comic series may be something I'll move onto, it's far superior right now.