Comic review: Guardians of Harmony

Yet another comic from IDW now. I am just slightly wondering whether they're overdoing it a bit – it's starting to get expensive! – but this is a story I've been looking forward to ever since it was announced. Time to see whether the real thing matches up to my expectations. Not a mini review this time, as I'll be going through each chapter in turn in a spoiler-cut section after the main review.

Andy Price's main cover is, as expected, great

Guardians of Harmony ties in with the toy line of the same name, and is rather more transparently toyetic than usual. This isn't fatal in itself, and with one exception things don't look too out of place in Equestria. The comic is also a multi-creator deal, with six chapters, each from a different writer/artist pair. (Heather Breckel is the only colourist credited.) The story is inevitably episodic, and there's less smooth continuity than I'd have liked. There are also a couple of slightly irritating character decisions. The chapters themselves are of uneven quality, and there's not really enough action-adventure for the GoH brand, but they're generally at least decent. This is a good comic, but it blows its chance to be a great one. Considering the high cover price (it's marketed as an annual), I can't really award it more than ★★★.

Now, come with me past the break for some spoilery comments on each chapter.

Comic not-as-mini-as-usual review: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #50

Some excellent oval-ball sport last night. I mean rugby union, obviously. Italy 7 Wales 33 was a decent enough result, though until the last 20 minutes it was a bit of a nail-biter. Sadly I can't see Wales winning the championship, but I'd love them to beat England. (For those unaware: I am in fact English, but for various reasons I support Wales at rugby.)

Andy Price's main cover hits just the right note

The "Accord" arc comes to a close with the landmark 50th issue of the MLP comic. And I'm pleased to say that it does so in some style. While Ted Anderson's story doesn't totally blow me away, nor does it seem like the horrible let-down I'd slightly feared. Accord's own story concludes reasonably, Starlight is used in a sensible way, there's a nice visit from some old friends (not ponies) and the final page – though a bit cheesy – is fine for a celebratory issue like this. I'd have preferred a tad less fourth-wall breaking before that, but still. Andy Price's art is bright, colourful (thanks to Heather Breckel) and varied, which is expected but appreciated.

This being a special (and more expensive!) issue, there's also a ten-page backup story. The writing, by Jeremy Whitley, is pleasant fluff: lightweight fun in the style of a short Friends Forever comic. There are even (doubtless unintentional) echoes of Sunny Skies All Day Long. The art is by Jay Fosgitt; I don't hate his stuff in the way some fans do, and for the ponies it's fine. The way he does Discord, though, just looks weird, and I simply can't accept a draconequus drawn the same size as a regular pony. A shame, as this lets down an otherwise entertaining story.

So, the issue as a whole? Very enjoyable, with a few irritations that stop it being the truly superb comic that would have made issue #50 something for the ages. I still recommend it, though, and indeed the whole arc. Not great, then, but it is very good. ★★★★

Comic mini-review: Friends Forever #35: Twilight and Starlight Glimmer

At least Tony Fleecs used the right manestyle

This team-up was always going to happen, unexciting as it is. Ted Rob Anderson writes a reasonably effective, if not amazing, story and it's nice to have a bit of Star Swirl again. (Not appearing in pony, sadly.) Jay Fosgitt's art is... well, Jay Fosgitt-y. If you hate it, this won't change your mind – especially as he gives Starlight her pre-reformation mane design. Spike plays a fun supporting role this time, and the ending is a little less rushed than sometimes. A moderately entertaining Friends Forever issue. ★★★

Comic mini-review: Friends Forever #32: Fluttershy and Daring Do

I'd probably have preferred Tony Fleecs to draw inside, too

This combination of writer Ted Anderson and artist Jay Fosgitt could have been calculated to make some parts of the fandom wound up, but they do a fairly solid job with this issue. I'm not really convinced that Fosgitt's "squishy" style really lends itself well to adventure stories like this one, and I really wish he'd lay off the bipdedalism, but that aside it's cute and colourful (thanks, Heather Breckel!) and doesn't get in the way. The story is a little shaky at times (Daring's initial greeting to 'Shy doesn't sound terribly natural) but again it does the job. You won't find anything extraordinary here, which is a slight shame given the unusual pairing, but as long as you like Fosgitt's art it's worth picking this up. ★★★

Comic mini-review: Friends Forever #28: Luna and the CMC

Watched "Newbie Dash" again, having read some pretty critical reviews. Nope, still like it. Still makes me happy. Still find the impersonations funny. Mind you, I also still quite like both "Rainbow Falls" and "Bats!", so I'm clearly a terrible person. :P Anyway, I've finally got round to reading the latest Friends Forever comic.

Being me, I chose this Sara Richard cover instead

Quite a moment, this: the point at which the IDW comics catch up with the Cutie Mark Crusaders' new status – as seen on the main cover, with its "Now with more cutie marks!" splash. I'm not in the "Oh no, it's Jay Fosgitt!" camp, and Heather Breckel is a reliable colourist, so I don't have too much of a problem with the artwork. Unfortunately, the story itself is a real disappointment, well below Jeremy Whitley's best. The biggest problem is a trio of new characters – two baddies and a goodie – who, quite frankly, I don't care much about. The bullies are nowhere near as interesting as (old-style) Diamond and Silver, while the nice guy has a really pretty ridiculous special talent which is only useful for about two pages right at the end. Luna has the odd funny line, and the CMC are okay, but I can't really praise this issue. ★★

Georgia Ball and the problems with the Rarity/Gilda Friends Forever

(Thanks to moody magpie on UK of Equestria for the heads-up on this.)

A few days ago, I reviewed Friends Forever #24, which I didn't find a particularly brilliant comic. Part of that was because I find American football boring, but part was because I was unimpressed with the use of characters (eg Greta) who looked absolutely nothing like their on-screen equivalents. Well, it turns out that I wasn't the only one.

It's not often that I link to a Horse News article, but this one is worth reading. Remember that I complained about the new cover design that makes the creators' names tiny? On top of that, Georgia Ball's name was misspelt as "Bell" – there and in the inside-cover credits. She wasn't very happy about that, nor about the off-model character designs, and rightly so.

And Ball isn't planning on pitching anything else for Pony, as this Twitter conversation reveals. It's also pretty clear that she is not desperately happy with Jay Fosgitt's lack of research, and I can't blame her. I like Fosgitt's style – the Dash/'Shy FF was wonderful – but this really isn't on. We're talking about basic research.

I go back and read the early MLP comics occasionally, and while I don't think the fall in average quality is as bad as 4chan likes to make out, the fact is that the gems are rarer than they were. Will we ever get another arc that produces non-stop laughs in the way "Zen and the Art of Gazebo Maintenance" or the Rarity micro did?

This franchise needs some TLC, and it needs it now. Over to you, Bobby Curnow.

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Comic mini-review: Friends Forever #24: Rarity and Gilda

I actually prefer the main cover, but it was sold out!

A slight redesign for the IDW covers. I don't much like it, since I feel the creators' names are now too small, tucked away at the bottom of the page. (Edit: and "Ball" is printed as "Bell" anyway!) Anyway, an unusual pairing this time, and a reasonable comic. Jay Fosgitt's style continues to divide opinion, but I quite like it despite its liberties with pony anatomy. One thing I don't like is that Greta, who plays a minor role, looks nothing like her show design. Sorry, JF, but with canon characters you can't get away with that. Georgia Ball provides only her second My Little Pony story after the very satisfying Celestia micro back in 2013, but doesn't quite match that effort here. The story is still a reasonable read, although it is heavily based around a sport similar to American football, which bores me silly. (Only the Dash Academy webcomic has made me interested in anything similar!) It's not bad on the whole, but I'd probably only really recommend this comic to Gilda fans. ★★ (but ★★★ if you like Gilda)

Edit: For once I'm going to link to a Horse News column. It makes pretty depressing reading, and the only person who comes out of it with credit is Ball. I'll be making a fuller post about this in the near future.

Comic mini-review: Friends Forever #22: Pinkie Pie and Celestia

Amy Mebberson did the main cover once again

Well now, there's an interesting team-up for the My Little Pony side series. This comic was written by the Rice-Fosgitt-Breckel team who last got together for the excellent Fluttershy/Rainbow Dash FF, so I was hopeful of something special again. I didn't quite get that, as this is more of a simple "ponies doing cute and fun things" issue, but it's pleasant enough reading and Fosgitt's illustrative style continues to be attractive. Pinkie's baking scenes are a lot of fun, and as ever she manages to conjure up some bizarre creations. One or two insights into Celestia's feelings about Luna, though I do wonder whether they might have got a little past the reconciliation stage by now. Still, worth a look. ★★★

Comic review: Friends Forever #18: Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash

Cloud Kicker won the "Most Popular" award. Well, well...

Okay, folks, this is the big one: the Friends Forever that really, really matters to me. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Fluttershy in general, and of FlutterDash friendshipping in particular, so this is a comic I badly wanted to get things right. It's drawn by Jay Fosgitt, who seems to be establishing himself as a regular MLP artist, with a story by Christina Rice and colours by the dependable Heather Breckel. Let's see how it goes...

Comic mini-reviews: main-series #29 and FF #15 (AJ/MM)

I'm still not really up to writing full-scale reviews, but since I know there are one or two people who like to know what I felt about the IDW comics, here's a very quick summary of each one. Both issues were coloured by Heather Breckel. Above are my copies: Cover B of #29, drawn by Katie Longua, and Cover Sub of FF #15, drawn by Brenda Hickey.

Main-series issue #29 wasn't bad. I have no interest whatsoever in wrestling, so I probably missed any number of in-jokes, but I still found the issue reasonably enjoyable. Ted Anderson's story was more Friends Forever in tone, really, so I'm not sure what it was doing in the main series. Jay Fosgitt's art is growing on me, and at least he didn't make a hash of Ponyville's architecture this time. ★★★

Friends Forever issue #15 (Applejack/Mayor Mare) was very nice, the best comic since the Twilight/Pinkie FF. The team-up worked well, quite a lot of the jokes were funny, Brenda Hickey's art was attractive and Bobby Curnow seems to be a pretty decent writer of AJ. The weird turn near the end will probably split opinion, but in context I think they got away with it. Recommended. ★★★★

Comic review: MLP Friends Forever #11: Spitfire and Rainbow Dash

The foals are based on G1 ponies: Melody bottom left, Heart Throb bottom right, etc

Been a while, hasn't it? You can blame that on the autumn cold that's been attacking me. I know there's already another comic out after this one, and I will try to catch up. Anyway, here's Friends Forever issue #11. Yes, it's written by Ted Anderson, so if that's a red line to you then I'll see you next time. For the rest of us, this RainFire team-up (hey, better than SpitDash!) brings a new artist to the scene in the shape of Jay Fosgitt. This'll be a fairly short review on account of my health, so let's go: