Comic mini-review: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #53

All very meta. I do like the design, though

And at last it's time to review the final part of the Shadow Lock arc! My usual supplier for some reason didn't stock #53, and so I had to get it electronically this time. (I'll pick up a paper copy in due course.) As with Asmus's previous issues, there's a sense that he's got the basics but doesn't quite have the ponies' characters down pat. (Fluttershy, for one.) On the plus side, there's what looks like foreshadowing – and given that we've been told this arc ties into the show's plot, I'm intrigued! The interior art credit, I've noticed, is now "Tony Fleecs and Garage Art Studio". Oh, and we get "kick your haunches" this time to add to the flanks, rumps and tails used in the past! All in all, a fairly enjoyable comic once again. This arc hasn't been a classic, but it's been entertaining. ★★★

Comic mini-review: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #52

None of the covers particularly jumped out at me this time

The Shadow Lock (he does seem to have a two-word name) arc continues, and it does so in a pretty similar vein to the way it began. Our antagonist is taking forever and a day to get round to explaining himself, but by the end it does seem as though we're on the verge of an important reveal. I do want to give a special nod to Tony Fleecs this time: there are some dramatically drawn panels in here. The page design is nicely varied, too. There's a "cement horseshoes" joke that I'm not entirely sure is appropriate, but for the most part this is a case of "if you liked the last issue, this is more of the same". It therefore gets the same star rating! ★★★

Comic mini-review: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #51

Comics are coming thick and fast from IDW at the moment! I already have the Guardians of Harmony special issue, which will be reviewed soon, but for now we're back to the main series.

Tony Fleecs' cover appealed to me more than the "toga party" sub cover

A new writer this time! James Asmus, writer of much other stuff including quite a few X-Men comics, makes his Pony debut alongside regular artist Tony Fleecs and colourist Heather Breckel. In this arc, which will apparently somehow tie into Season Seven of the show,* Asmus gets off to a solid if unspectacular start with a fairly interesting story, introducing a suspicious new pony. Most of the character interaction is decent, though a bar scene is a bit odd and I can't see Fluttershy ever using the term "wrestly-doo". A bigger problem, given the importance of book magic, is the absence of even a passing reference to the Bookworm arc. Hopefully that was a choice, not a research failure. Fleecs' art is fine, though it's a bit weird having Fluttershy flying so much and Rainbow flying so little. Enough here for me to be cautiously optimistic, but not enough for me to proclaim Asmus a Pony comic genius. I await the next issue with interest! ★★★

* I'm being deliberately vague here. I know what was announced.