What would it take to get the main comic series back on track?

[FlutterDash4072 190]

Recently, a lot of comic fans haven't been happy with the quality of the main series entries. The Reflections arc proved to be highly devisive amongst the comic's fanbase, and a lot of people would argue that it hasn't found it's step yet, with the two mini-arcs written by the once favored Cook-Price duo also being highly panned by fans. I haven't seen much praise for the other releases up until now, but in my opinion the only good one was #24.

 

So, what would it take for the main series to get back on top? Should it continue to focus on smaller, slice of life stories for a while longer in hopes that the quality goes back up? Or would another four part adventure arc kick it back into gear? Will the short break IDW's taking to publish Fiendship is Magic bring the writers and artists back with a fresher perspective? Or do we need some fresh blood working on the main series?

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,164]

Honestly, I don't think the comics recently are as bad as people say they are. Granted there was one bad arc (Good, Bad, and the Ponies), and a few other issues have been average, but like the show not every issue will be a winner.

 

In any case they may want to concentrate on a few SoL issues to take a break from the bigger arcs. Granted the wrestling issue was awesome and I loved the deer arc, but people's mileage will vary.

[FlutterDash4072 190]

I guess people here have been enjoying them here more than other places, but I've still seen a bit of criticism here from other members. The main series just feels lost to me lately, and I hate feeling like that. I was one of the biggest supporters of the comics when they first launched, seeing them go through (what I perceive to be) such a rough patch is disheartening.

 

But hey, there's no denying that Friends Forever has been great lately, and Fiendship is shaping up nicely. Hopefully the main series gets some more comics that we can all enjoy again soon.

[Megas 28,124]

Less "huge, epic" adventure arcs and more simple slice-of-life stories as those tend to be comic's stronger points. I mean the recent Wrestling comic was the most fun I've had with the main series in a while

 

Also, as a personal request, give me a good main series comic starring Rainbow Dash that makes up for her Micro and I'll forgive IDW for every screw-up they've made including the Dash micro

[ArcheoPony 76]

More "slice of life" or shenanigan adveture stories featuring character mashups we don't normally see, or won't see from the show. When I backtrack at what are some of my favourite issues, it's those with such setups.  I think they allow the writers a bit more leeway, and the fans something fresh to enjoy.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,700]

I honestly don't think it has anything to do with slice of life vs. epic adventure; comics like the sombra comic showed that epicness can be done well, and the nightmarity arc back in the past was pretty good: Heck, the pirate arc was pretty good too.

I don't mean to sound mean spirited, but I think the big issue is writers here; Cook just feels like she's fallen out of touch and is phoning things in. Additionally, her handling of Twilight has gone beyond bad, transforming her into a character that you just want to drop kick compared to ones like the Pinkie/twi FF where she's actually likeable.

 

 

Change the guard up a bit, and demote Cook from being the "mane" writer (She does a dissporportionately large number of the adventure plotlines) and hand it off to some of the other writers.

[Dark Qiviut 22,593]

A lot of stuff, to be honest:

1. Focus more on slice-of-life offerings. The biggest problem with adventure stories is little focus on characterization and more on the action. Unfortunately, without characterization, the writing becomes more about style instead of substance.
   
   More importantly, the adventure arcs are WAY too predictable. The second you open the book, chances are it's an adventure. Mix it up more.
2. Quit shoehorning the Mane Six into every single DAMN plot. In nearly every main series arc, the Mane Six are always together. One of the few exceptions was Manehattan Mysteries and the Big Mac arc, and they're easily the best of the bunch.
3. Quit with the logic lapses, DEMs, and asspulls. In nearly every single adventure arc, there's been some moment where the plot suddenly twists and the protagonists find a way out just because. Instead of foreshadowing prior or giving it some solid background to make it make sense, the audience suddenly goes, "What the hell?" It's especially problematic in Reflections and The Good, The Bad, and the Ponies.
4. Write the Mane Six, Celestia, et al in character and likeable! There's a reason why the characters are so well-liked. Their quirks, strengths, flaws, and situations make them all relatable. But there needs to be consistency, and there's been none of it lately. TG,TB,aTP competes with Rainbow Falls as some of the worst characterization I've seen in an FIM product, especially Twilight.
5. DON'T insult your audience again! Just like adults, kids aren't stupid. They can tell what parts of a story make sense or not. They can tell if a character isn't acting like him or herself. They can tell when the writers aren't even trying. In Reflections, Cook, Price, and Breckel showed off completely big egos by mocking criticisms of the comic series throughout Reflections. This is insulting to not just adult analysts and reviewers, but casual bronies and kids, too.
6. No more straw characters. This was one of the biggest problems with the nature arc. Characters were presented to only be proven wrong, and they're worse when strawmen are vessels for morals.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,700]

 

A lot of stuff, to be honest:

1. Focus more on slice-of-life offerings. The biggest problem with adventure stories is little focus on characterization and more on the action. Unfortunately, without characterization, the writing becomes more about style instead of substance.

    

   More importantly, the adventure arcs are WAY too predictable. The second you open the book, chances are it's an adventure. Mix it up more.

2. Quit shoehorning the Mane Six into every single DAMN plot. In nearly every main series arc, the Mane Six are always together. One of the few exceptions was Manehattan Mysteries and the Big Mac arc, and they're easily the best of the bunch.
3. Quit with the logic lapses, DEMs, and asspulls. In nearly every single adventure arc, there's been some moment where the plot suddenly twists and the protagonists find a way out just because. Instead of foreshadowing prior or giving it some solid background to make it make sense, the audience suddenly goes, "What the hell?" It's especially problematic in Reflections and The Good, The Bad, and the Ponies.
4. Write the Mane Six, Celestia, et al in character and likeable! There's a reason why the characters are so well-liked. Their quirks, strengths, flaws, and situations make them all relatable. But there needs to be consistency, and there's been none of it lately. TG,TB,aTP competes with Rainbow Falls as some of the worst characterization I've seen in an FIM product, especially Twilight.
5. DON'T insult your audience again! Just like adults, kids aren't stupid. They can tell what parts of a story make sense or not. They can tell if a character isn't acting like him or herself. They can tell when the writers aren't even trying. In Reflections, Cook, Price, and Breckel showed off completely big egos by mocking criticisms of the comic series throughout Reflections. This is insulting to not just adult analysts and reviewers, but casual bronies and kids, too.
6. No more straw characters. This was one of the biggest problems with the nature arc. Characters were presented to only be proven wrong, and they're worse when strawmen are vessels for morals.

 

 

 

 

On the note of not including all the mane six into every arc: The cattle rustler arc would have been DRASTICALLY improved if they had left Twilight at home; Twilight's refusal to use magic is generally stated as the worst aspect of that arc, both making it revolve around twilight indirectly (since she's pretty much the sole defining variable for whether the vilalins or the heroes win, as when she decided to fight the bulls instantly lost, while when she refused to intervene the ponies instantly lost), and infuriating the readers with a horrible reason for her to NOT intervene.

 

Without twilgiht there, the mane six having to think of a way to outwit them would have felt more natural, since there wouldn't need to be a reason to hold back against them (Everyone but twilgiht was full gung ho on beating them  up, they just lacked the power). Granted, they would have need a new conclusion (since Twilgiht WAS the conclusion when she decided to intervene), but it would have still been more palatable to the readers in any way.

[StoneCold 144]

Yes it's been said, but STOP USING ALL OF THE MANE SIX. The only characters who should be in a story are the characters that need to be there.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,700]

 

1. No more straw characters. This was one of the biggest problems with the nature arc. Characters were presented to only be proven wrong, and they're worse when strawmen are vessels for morals.

 

 

actually meant to comment here: the only thing that saved the nature arc from  being a massive failure was how the second comic in the arc was King aspen being pretty much non-stop put through a humiliation conga, and Blackthorne, the ONE nice deer, doing what alot of people had been saying the deer should have done from the start, Attack Well to do, the ACTUAL villain instead of invading canterlot because it was convenient.

 

 

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but the fact that they went ahead and humiliated the overbearing elve character instead of acting like he was 100% in the right was refreshing.

 

[AlbaTross 1,586]

I'm behind on the graphic novels, and so I'm behind on the comics in general, but I've been happy with all of them so far, with two exceptions as of issue 20 and Friends Forever #8. I don't know why people dislike the Reflections arc so much, because I enjoyed every minute of it. Then again, I enjoyed Nightmare Rarity too, despite that arc also being divisive among fans. I actually understand why some fans don't like that one though. My least favourite issue in all of the comics I've read so far has to be Rainbowdash's Micro issue by a long shot. As much as I hate to jump on a bandwagon, I have to be honest about how I feel. If I had to choose another issue I was really disappointed with, it would be Friends Forever #1. I find most of that series to be slightly disappointing, but that issue was perhaps the most disappointing of the bunch, mostly because it isn't anything close to as advertised.

 

I definitely don't think it's a matter of slice of life vs action. I get really into the action sub-plots, and think it's great that the main series focuses more on action since we already have Friends Forever for slice of life. If I had to choose a favourite standalone issue, Friends Forever #8 and Micro Series #3 are pretty tied for me, and the Bookworm Saga might be my favorite two parter. I'm torn between Nightmare Rarity and Reflections for my favorite four parter, but then I've only read three of said arcs so far so maybe I need to read on.

 

As for how I think the comics could improve, since there's always room for improvement even in the best of series, perhaps we can have a major four part story arc where only some of the mane six are involved. Nightmare Rarity doesn't count given the circumstances around that and the fact that it's called Nightmare Rarity. For Friends Forever, I find that the situations often transcend the pairings and thus detract from their novelty, but that may be because the more offbeat pairings need time to be established more. Maybe Friends Forever #8 worked so well because Applejack and Rarity as a pair is hardly a foreign concept to fans and so doesn't need to be established and a story based on those two can get going right off the bat, but issues like #6 just barely got off the ground before climaxing and ending despite having the same number of pages. Perhaps two part Friends Forever arcs would fix that.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,696]

I'm way behind on the comics. I just don't have the money for all of them, but I want to read them as actual comics and not on a computer screen, so that limits me to waiting and buying the volumes.

 

So far though, I read Volumes 1, (Chrysalis), 2 (Nightmare Rarity), and 3 (Zen/Neigh Anything). Volume 5 (Reflections) and Friends Forever #16 are in the mail. I've stuck mostly to the Katie Cook/Andy Price duo because I love the way Andy draws the ponies, and Katie's writing has been really sharp and humorous. I emailed her a few years ago and she gave me a nice reply.

 

Everything's been great so far except for Nightmare Rarity, so I'm surprised to hear that Katie's phoning it in...maybe I'll hold off on ordering Volume 7.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

I've been thinking, and it occurs to me that I haven't been approaching the comics so much as a comic series as an extension of the show, which makes sense since that really is what the comics are, and I can't say I have nearly as much experience with comics as some people do. That said, I have come to understand that comics are known for having ongoing story lines, and arcs that more or less relate to one another. I'm sure entire libraries could be filled with what I don't know about comics, mind you. I suppose the comic can never truly spread its wings as a comic, since it has to work alongside the show, and any ongoing plot stuff would have to be toned down enough so that it won't directly impact the show. Maybe if the comic continues after the show ends, we'll start to see it truly shine, but that's a bridge we will hopefully not be crossing for a while.

 

I do think having at least one recurring character would be cool though. Sure, a good recurring character will just make fans wish he or she is in the show, and that character also can't directly impact the show as the comics have to be an optional part of the canon. However, even one character like that can give a series some identity. Equestria Girls has Sunset Shimmer, and she has since won over a large portion of fans. I also think it's possible to daisy chain two or more story arcs in the comics without truly impacting the show. It's just an idea. As it stands, I do think the comics work as an extension of the show, so I'm cool with that.

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

The comics have been hit-miss with me as of late. They have been better than the show some times to me. I think the current 4 issue story formula isn't working any more. Reason being is that if the first issue of that story arc doesn't appeal to you, you need to wait for another arc that may or may not appeal to you. This happened to me after Nightmare Rarity's story. First 8 issues were A+. The arcs I didn't read, like the pirate oriented arc I skipped, because the premise didn't appeal to me.

 

I think IDW knows this comic makes them money. The main series almost has 30 issues, Friends Forever=16, Micro series ended with the double digits. We recently ended the Fiendship event. So have them change the formula, have it set in arcs or have it be a continuous evolving story.