IDW does it again

Winter wrap up, winter wrap up...

Thanks to the vagaries of the way the comic business works, it's been a while since we've had some monthly sales figures, but here at last (courtesy of Comichron) are the Top Comic Books for February. And, you ask, does Pony feature anywhere in that list? Silly question, of course. First, the big headline figure for main series issue #3. Its estimated North American sales total to comic shops was:

43,579

This puts it in the top 50 (no. 45, to be precise) and is good. Very, very good. In fact, it's up more than 9% on the figure for issue #2, and is by a long way IDW's best-selling comic book of the month. Nothing else gets close — with one exception. And what would that be? You're way ahead of me, I know: it's issue #1 of the Micro-series. I wasn't overwhelmed with it, but it was a good story. The market seemed to agree that Twilight's tale was worth reading, since it hit 62nd place, selling:

34,435

In case you're wondering, IDW's best-selling comic that didn't star pastel ponies was the debut of G.I. Joe, which made no. 116 and shifted 17,553. A very respectable figure in itself, but it's nevertheless barely half the numbers the Twilight Micro sold, let alone the main comic. Incidentally, there's one more MLP entry in the top 300: the Hot Topic pack of the first two main issues sold 8,988 copies and squeaked into the top 200 at no. 196.

A belated comment on Fighting is Magic

There's a simple reason why I haven't said anything before about Mane6 and their ceased-and-desisted Fighting is Magic game, and that's that I'm one of the (minority of?) fans who was never all that interested it in the first place. Don't get me wrong: what I saw of it in videos and so on was very impressive, and it's a great shame that Hasbro's actions came so very close to the end of the development process. But I didn't bother playing the leaked alpha. I just don't find fighting games very interesting, and never have. Driving games, yes. Fighting games, no.

Lauren Faust is, of course, a fantastic person for offering to work with the Mane6 team to turn the game into an original-IP product with some of her own characters. I hope that whatever's eventually released will be a success, assuming it plays as well as Fighting is Magic looked. But will I play it? Frankly, no I won't. If I were a fighting-game fan, I probably would, especially given Faust's involvement. But I'm not, and the MLP angle was the only reason I'd have been interested in playing Fighting is Magic.

All right, so what about Hasbro? Well, they had the right to do this; nobody with a brain can question that. It's their IP. Whether they had to do it is another matter. I'm not sufficiently familiar with these things to say, but if common sense had anything to do with the law (I know, ha ha) they'd have left it alone. This was bad PR for Hasbro, no question. There's actually a case for saying that their worst offence was not doing something about it earlier, since I simply don't believe nobody at the company knew about Fighting is Magic until just recently.

We all know, Hasbro included, that the brony fandom would not exist in anything like its current form and size had Hasbro cracked right down on YouTube, in particular, from the start. They have the legal right to do so; MLP:FiM is their intellectual property. They also calculate, I think correctly, that only a small minority of bronies will do the dreaded "leaving the fandom" thing over this. So it's probably a business decision as much as anything else... and Hasbro is, undoubtedly, a business.

The Price is right

Trust Rarity to be more horrified by the goo than by Chrysalis

This is a little indulgence on my part: Andy Price's RI cover for issue #4 of the MLP:FiM comic. I couldn't find this in the shops — probably it went very quickly — so I splashed out £5.99 buying it on eBay. I used a place called Ace Toys and Comics, and I'm very happy with their service. In spite of their stating that they used Economy Delivery, I got the comic only three days after ordering it, which is good going. It's a fantastic cover, and I'm delighted to have got hold of it.

Review: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic issue 4

Cover A by Amanda Conner (colours by Paul Mounts)

So, here we are at the end of the first arc of IDW's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic. On the evidence of the first three issues, the combination of Katie Cook and Andy Price has been a winner. I wandered off into central Birmingham this afternoon to pick up issue #4, and as usual took my £3.15 to Nostalgia & Comics. They only had two copies in stock, which surprised me a bit, but I had the choice of both main covers. I went for Conner's over Stephanie Buscema's as it seemed more fun. What about the story inside, though? Hit the jump to find out!

It's About Rhyme

I went to Birmingham today
To buy the latest comic:
Despite the fact that going there
By train's uneconomic.
Still, there is something rather nice
In bricks and mortar shopping,
And seeing Pony on the shelves
Does get this fan a-hopping.

As usual, 'twas N&C,
The place where I was going:
I'd hoped to get the RI one
With Chrysalis a-glowing.
But Andy Price's variant
Was out, so my excursion
Resulted in just Cover A:
Amanda Conner's version.

Of course, there soon will be a post
In which I'll be reviewing
This issue, number four: I hope
It will be worth pursuing.
Don't worry, please, it won't be long:
That's really no baloney.
I know how hard it is to wait
For new My Little Pony!

(And no, I'm not going to do the entire review in rhyme. Probably...)

There must be something in the water

Equestria Girls, they're kind of tragical

...but I doubt it's very palatable. What you see above is an official promotional picture for Equestria Girls, the spin-off of MLP:FiM that Hasbro will be launching some time this year. It's fair to say that in my earlier post about this, I was less than whelmed, and if anything I've become even more uncertain after seeing this picture. What it looks like on this evidence is pseudo-anime, and I am not an anime fan at the best of times.

Specific problems, you ask? Well, the cutie-mark facial tattoos look borderline gruesome, while the characters seem more cookie-cutter than their associated ponies, despite the latter being depicted with those vectors we've all seen a billion times by now. Also, how come Twilight gets to keep her wings but neither she nor Rarity gets a horn? I've warmed towards Rarity a bit recently, and this seems rather unfair on her!

Of course, the Equestria Girls, er, girls do vary in their level of awfulness. Fluttershy isn't appalling, and Pinkie Pie looks relatively normal (something not right there, surely), but Rarity has definitely drawn the short straw. She looks distinctly unhealthy. To say the least. Actually, let's not mince any words here: she looks like a feminised ghoul from a Fighting Fantasy gamebook. A pony that colour looks okay. A human(ish) girl that colour doesn't.

Now, I know very well that if you went back three years, many of us would have said similar things about what became Friendship is Magic. I will concede that it's possible that the perfect mix of writing, voice acting and animation will come together again to produce another piece of cartoon brilliance. If that happens, then doubtless I'll make a post saying so. Let's face it, though: it's not looking very likely at the moment, is it?

Daniel Ingram discusses writing music with comicbook.com

Daniel Ingram has been talking to comicbook.com about what it's like to write music for kids' cartoons. (There's a mistake in the title: he was only nominated for Emmys.) The interview doesn't bring any stunning revelations, but it's certainly worth a look. The highlight for me was Ingram's comment that "catchy doesn't necessarily mean its good", using Disney's infamous "It's A Small World After All" as his example. He also says that he doesn't really consider the brony audience (or even the core demographic's parents) when composing, just whether he likes what he's created.