I think it’s about time I turned my nitpicking attentions to the IDW Friendship is Magic Comics, and subject them to the same stringent examination as in my episode reviews. My quest to over-analyze the franchise continues!
ATTENTION, FAIR READER! SHOULD THOU YET WISH TO PURUSE WITH THINE OWN EYES THE COMICS, WE BID THEE BE MINDFUL THAT MESSIRE SUNNY FOX SHALT MAKETH NARY THE LEAST ENDEAVOR TO AVERT SPOILERS! THUS HAST THOU BEEN CAUTIONED!
Thank you, Princess Luna.
The first
I am truly disappointed! This is NOT the Spike I know and love! – Twilight Sparkle
This is the other episode that tends to top many Worst Episode lists for Season 1, or overall. I guess I can sort of see why. Is has quite a number of flaws in characterization, writing and execution. Let’s turn a baleful gaze upon “Owl’s Well” and see why it tends to make people cough up pellets.
The episode starts off cheerfully enough, with Spike helping Twilight to make arrangements for an evening of
It’s time to bring together all the disparate threads of the Bookend Diaries. (It’s mostly because I like round numbers. 0 and 8 are my favorites). I will consider the Premieres and Finales separately, and rank them in each category from worst to best. Since villains tend to take centre stage in these episodes, I’ll rank them too.
Premieres: Friendship is Magic; Return of Harmony; The Crystal Empire; Princess Twilight Sparkle
Finales: The Best Night Ever; A Canterlot Wedding; Magical M
These namby-pamby stories aren’t getting us any closer to earning our cutie marks. They’re all about “finding out who you really are” and boring stuff like that! – Scootaloo
The Cutie Mark Crusaders are trying to get their marks in zip lining, despite Sweetie Belle’s uncertainty. Unfortunately, the friction from the three sliding fillies burns through the rope, dropping them through the trees and onto the ground. As they clean off the tree sap and pine needles, they lament their continual l
No! / I've waited all my life / for this moment, / and I’m not going to / let it slip by! / If it's the last thing I do, / I'm going to make this / The best night ever! – The Mane Six
The day of the Grand Galloping Gala has finally arrived, and preparations are being made. Twilight decides to literally make it a fairy tale, as she uses her magic to turn an apple into a carriage, and four white mice into four white horses. One of them apparently has the ability to turn invisible, since only
Do you know what Princess Celestia will do to you when she finds out you’ve kidnapped her pet? – Twilight Sparkle
In her cottage, Fluttershy is busy reuniting one of her mouse patients with his family. Angel Bunny runs onto the scene, carrying a pocket watch and trying to get her attention. Despite a few false starts, he manages to remind his mistress of an important event: brunch with Princess Celestia at Sugarcube Corner. She keeps coming back to thank him, until he locks the door behind
My father stampeded on these grounds, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him… – Chief THUNDERHOOVES
The Mane Six are on their way via train to the Western frontier town of Appaloosa so that Applejack can give one of her apple trees, Bloomberg, to her relatives there.
The train's engine is not very powerful, unfortunately… it only has four horsepower!
Applejack is babying the tree by reading it a bedtime story, to the annoyance of Rarity, s
Losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend… FOREVER! – Pinkie Pie
Another Rarity-centric episode, but it also shines a spotlight on Fluttershy to an equal degree… which is precisely the problem. As Fluttershy and Rarity are having their weekly spa visit, Rarity tells Fluttershy about a chance meeting with Photo Finish, yet another important fashion pony in Equestria. She is a photographer, so Rarity manages to convince a reluctant Fluttershy to be her model for a photo shoo
“Whining”? I am not “whining,” I am complaining. Do you want to hear whining? – Rarity
Rarity is hard at work in Carousel Boutique as she puts the finishing touches on her latest creation. Hearing the bell at the door ring, she turns to find a living legend in her shop: Sapphire Shores, the Pony of Pop! Ms. Shores even greets Rarity by name, saying that she heard of her through a rave review in a fashion magazine, and has come to buy a SENSATIONAL! outfit for her latest tour.
Rarity qu
Look here are three little fillies / Ready to sing for this crowd. / Listen up, ‘cos here’s our story / We’re gonna sing it really loud! – Scootaloo
As the episode opens, Applejack is leading the Cutie Mark Crusaders towards a secluded area of Sweet Apple Acres. They arrive at her old treehouse, which Applejack offers to let them use as a club house. The three fillies’ response is in a word, subdued, mainly due to the fact that the clubhouse is literally falling apart, as Applejack finds ou
The comics are great. I like the art style, I like the darker stories, I like the funny little references they throw in. (Well, some of the artist OC cameos get a bit annoying, but eh) Some are better than others, of course, but overall, they're a hoot.
And Applejack agrees.
The question is, are they canon? Or should they be considered an alternative continuity? Can we use the comics as evidence for headcanon theories in the same way as the show itself? Join me as I examine this quest
Warning: This blog entry will contain many more swear words than usual.
Reader discretion is advised...
I really mean it... lotsa swear words...
Are you sure you really want to go through with this? Don't say I didn't warn you!
Nothing's going to dissuade you from reading this, is it. Oh well. I warned you, and you didn't listen to me, so that's your own lookout.
Begin RANT
END RANT
I think I'll go back to my reviewing now...
Stay sunny side up!
Let me get one thing straight right off the bat: I don’t hate Derpy. So please don’t immediately jump to the conclusion “he’s a hater, so therefore everything written here is irrelevant.” That isn't even a valid argument in any case. Even if I were a "hater", it would not automatically make my opinion any more or less worthy than it would be if I were her biggest fan. So I hope that is clear.
Also from the beginning, I want to make a distinction, which is clear in theory, even if in practic
You’re the Queen of Stares! You’re the Stare Master! – Cutie Mark Crusaders
The episode opens in Carousel Boutique, where Rarity is working herself into a state due to a large order for the following day. Not helping matters is Sweetie Belle, who wants to assist her sister and perhaps earn her cutie mark, but instead ends up causing a domino disaster when she tries to get a spool of ribbon off a high shelf.
After losing the time to set the room back to rights, Rarity declares that she
“Yay!” – Fluttershy
Rainbow Dash is teaching Fluttershy how to be a cheerleader. As the quote above indicates, it doesn’t really seem like the best choice of pony for the role, with her sweet, demure voice unsuitable for loud cheering. Dash needs Fluttershy to cheer for her as she competes in the Best Young Fliers Competition, to be held in Cloudsdale. Dash practices her routine for the competition, to more barely audible cheers from Fluttershy. However, her piece de resistance, the Sonic
I know it doesn't make much sense...but those of us who have been in Ponyville a while have learned over time that if Pinkie's a-twitching, you better listen. - Applejack
Alrighty. This episode. I've put it off for long enough. Let's go.
Spike and Twilight are working together on a spell to make Spike a tux, a cane and a top hat out of leaves, a stick and a rock. I'm not sure why they don't just ask Rarity to make the clothes for them. Maybe they're on a budget. Anyway, Spike is dist
How does it feel? Knowing that soon, every pegasus, unicorn and earth pony will bow to my will... and that there is nothing that you can do to stop it? - Lord Tirek
So, Season 4 has come and gone. It certainly went out with a bang, providing us with the most impressive display of magical battle the series has yet seen. Still, despite the visual feast, the finale has its problems. Let’s plunge right in, shall we?
The finale starts with another trip to the Crystal Empire, this time to me
Mane 6 (and Spike!)
Applejack
This relationship has definitely seen the most development. From barely being able to stand each other for more than a few hours in “Look Before You Sleep”, they now seem to be quite firm friends. Of course, Rarity still tries to get Applejack to be more ladylike, and Applejack still thinks Rarity needs to be less fussy, but overall, they seem to have come to an understanding of each other. Applejack’s selflessness devotion to her family has helped R
Now that the March Madness competition has ended in a four-way tie, I feel like I need to talk about some of what has transpired in the course of this contest. My involvement until the quarter-finals was rather perfunctory. I really started taking an interest in it when Twilight went up against Rarity.
And this is how it ended… bump... bump... sugarlump... SMASH!
It’s no secret that I’m a pretty gung-ho Rarity fan. Not at Ghostie’s level of devotion, perhaps, but I’m vociferous enough
You know, there are a great many threads on this forum regarding the multiverse and the possibility that Equestria is real and "out there" somewhere. The argument is pretty much the "infinite number of monkeys" argument. Given an infinite number of monkeys sitting at an infinite number of computer keyboards, eventually one of them has to accidentally type out, by virtue of hitting keys at random, the complete works of William Shakespeare.
To extend the thought experiment, any possible combi
Let me see... you [Princess Luna ] just rescued me from a maniac laughing Rarity cloud... yeah, probably dreaming. - Sweetie Belle
Rarity is busy with a very important order for Sapphire Shores, who has come to think of her as her favorite designer. Despite this, she agrees to check on Sweetie Belle’s costumes, which the filly has made for her new play… which she wrote, produced and will star in (she’s a triple threat) along with her Cutie Mark Crusader buddies. Unfortunately, the play is t
I don't know if you've noticed... but I don't show my enthusiasm for things quite in the same way my sister does. - Maud Pie
The Mane Six are gathered outside Sugarcube Corner to meet Pinkie in the pink before dawn, wondering why she called them to meet her so early in the morning. She invites them in, and they find she's been a tad busy cooking...
♫ In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, There's a land that's fair and bright... ♫
Many courses of rock candy later, the Mane Six have too
If you want to trade for a mint comic, you gotta have a mint comic! - Spike
I’ll give it to you straight: This episode sucks. It feels pointless, a tale told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Seriously. We learn nothing new about the characters, the moral is both obvious and obscure simultaneously, and there is almost no comedy or action throughout the majority of it. So let’s examine this cluster-cluck, and I’ll show you just how deep the suckitude goes. (I know that’s
I really wish my sister were here! - Apple Bloom
The Apple family is having a counsel, and it’s finally decided that Apple Bloom is old enough to stay home while Granny Smith is away visiting, and her big sister and big brother deliver some apple pies to some far away towns. Despite Applejack having her reservations, she starts off on her journey. To make herself feel better, she leaves Apple Bloom with a long list of chores and instructions. Apple Bloom is over the moon to be on her own f
You can do it, Breezies! – The Mane Six
In the cold open, Fluttershy is training the rest of the Mane Six to cheer quietly. The Breezies are going to coming through Ponyville on their migration, and a loud cheer may distract them. This is a lovely reversal of Rainbow Dash trying to get Fluttershy to cheer louder in “Sonic Rainboom”. Also reminiscent of “Luna Eclipsed” with the ponies voice getting softer each time. Eventually, she’s happy with their stage whisper cheer.
As the episode
