Which has better writers/stories? The Show? The Comics? The Books?

[Vulcan 3,256]

Who do you think has better writers/stories? 

 

The Show to me always had stories with better morals and a bit more originality , 

The comics' had an expansive world with a lot of epic stories though most were derived from other media,

and the books? haven't read'em yet.

 

If I had to say, I loved the comics, from the kingdom of elken creatures living in the heart of the everfree to the race of hyperintelligent sea monkeys that roam equestria, the writers of the mlp comics really know how to make things go epic. 

 

I wanna know what you guys think about this.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Vulcan

[Megas 28,147]

The show is kind of the foundation of FiM, so I go with that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also I die a little on the inside whenever people say the comics are better than the show

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

I am gonna say the show writers here. The comics are wonderful, no question about that and the creativity in those is off the charts, but I feel like the comic writers have a lot more wiggle room when it comes to how they write them. The show writers have to work with more restrictions and they have to fit a moral in there too most of the time and I commend them for the morals. Season 5 has been awesome for that.The books...I have not read any in full but from what I have read they are pretty generic. 

[Mesme Rize 15,692]

The Show has the best writers, no contest.

 

As big as the world in the comics might be, some of the writing of it is just astoundingly bad. Best example is the double story of "the good, the bad and the ponies."

 

Can't say much about the books though.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

The show, by a freaking country mile.

 

That being said the comic have the potential to be just as good, if not better than the show, they just can't capitalize on it.  The thing with the comics is that they can do things the show can't.  For instance Sombra's Fiendship issue, in the show, Sombra is probably the weakest villain of them all, in the comics he's one of the best.  And then the Friends Forever issues have more freedom to do random pairings like Spike and Celestia, Fluttershy and Zecora and Rarity and the Cakes. So while the show is better the comics are nothing to sneeze at either. 

[Cleverclover 1,526]

As big as the world in the comics might be, some of the writing of it is just astoundingly bad. 

 

 

This.

 

I haven't read the comics, but everything I've seen about them and heard about their arcs leads me to believe that the comic staff has absolutely no idea whatsoever how to write the mane six.

 

Take this particular arc for example: 

 

 

It involves Applejack and Rarity uniting Ponyville into war against each other all because of a disagreement over who is more deserving of a commemorative plaque.  :okiedokielokie:

 

Applejack and Rarity are among the closest friends within the mane six. They would never do this in canon, and especially not over something so petty. 

 

Another thing I find incredibly annoying about the comics is how they portray Twilight. They take the "Warrior Princess" thing to the extreme, making her uncharacteristically arrogant and willing to jump into a fight without a second's hesitation, as if they think that makes her a better character or something. 

 

 

Beyond that, I find that Twilight is the one who thinks up the solutions to the mane six's problems more often than not. In fact, she was the one who stopped the aforementioned war in Ponyville by talking some sense into all of them. The comics essentially do a better job of glorifying Twilight than the show itself. 

[AlbaTross 1,586]

Who do you think has better writers/stories?

 

The Show to me always had stories with better morals and a bit more originality ,

The comics' had an expansive world with a lot of epic stories though most were derived from other media,

and the books? haven't read'em yet.

 

If I had to say, I loved the comics, from the kingdom of elken creatures living in the heart of the everfree to the race of hyperintelligent sea monkeys that roam equestria, the writers of the mlp comics really know how to make things go epic.

 

I wanna know what you guys think about this.

Hi, as this topic has to do with all Pony related media, and not just the show, I decided to move it to Sugarcube Corner.

 

IMHO, I think the show is still where it's at, though I am a big fan of the other media too. I mean, I'm not a fan of everything in the comics or chapter books, but the same can be said of the show too, which has good and bad episodes. However, the show is still the foundation. I turn to the comics and books to expand on the already great world of Equestria that has been established in the show, but the show is the reason any of the spinoff media exists in the first place. I will give the comics props for developing Princess Celestia, who the show seems to have forgotten, among other things, but the atom is not complete without the nucleus regardless of how fond I am of the electrons.

 

As for who the best writers are IMHO, as is the purpose of this thread, again, I think it varies. Both the comics and the show have good writers, and I think GM Berrow is good too, for the most part, but all forms of pony media are home to some less than great writing, even by some of the best writers. I still think the best writing overall has come from the show, but I would highly recommend checking out the spinoff stuff and drawing your own conclusions as there's something to be said about not missing out on some great stories. Sure, there are good and bad comics, but there are good and bad episodes. GM Berrow's books tend to be a mix of good and bad moments but like with the other series, they really shine when they're at their best. The Japan exclusive manga and Under the Sparkling Sea are...good conversation starters.

[Dark Qiviut 22,606]

Echoing @ and @@Cleverclover. Without a doubt, the show has the best writing. What the comics do is expand the series in ways DHX can't, like the worldbuilding. But more often than not, plenty of the comics' writing has been factually awful. Examples include:

1. Nightmare Rarity: The entire four-part series dumbs down Luna's evil as Nightmare Moon as something that controlled her rather than her own doing, as expressed in the show. Combined that with some poor dialogue of some of the cast, like Rainbow Dash, the whole comic was cheap from start to finish.
2. Rainbow Dash Micro: The worst written. The dialogue, references, brony pandering, and conflict were completely stupid.
3. Fluttershy Micro: Contrived plot, two plot halves that have no continuity with each other, and use of a straw man to teach a poorly written moral.
4. Reflections: Celestia is out of character. The worlds were supposes to parallel each other (i.e., feeling pain), except when they didn't just because the plot says so. Characters like Pinkie Pie were used as mouthpieces to mock the critics of the main series and Micro-Series.
5. The Good, The Bad, and The Ponies: The worst written main comic. Simply put, anyone who likes Twilight will hate her here!
6. EQG's Holiday Special: Sunset Shimmer is bullied, abandoned, and isolated by the Crusaders out of jealousy. This is a direct ripoff of Ponyville Confidential, only worse. My most hated FIM comic.
7. The nature arc. A stupidly written "nature-good-industry-bad" story with Well-To-Do acting as a horrific strawman.

The main comic series was so bad, I gave up and stopped following it.

[Kenshiro 13,499]

I would probably choose the show because you can get all messages that they wanted to show us. But there is one point is missing from the comics. That point is you can impell your imagination in comics but you cant do that in the show because the message is obvious and you dont need to run your imagination '''

[Cleverclover 1,526]

 

 

Characters like Pinkie Pie were used as mouthpieces to mock the critics of the main series and Micro-Series.

 

Could you elaborate on that? I find that quite interesting.  

[Vulcan 3,256]

 

 

Hi, as this topic has to do with all Pony related media, and not just the show, I decided to move it to Sugarcube Corner.

Sorry, I actually wasn't sure where to place it without being biased,

I figured posting it comics and books would have people who love the comics and books and

having it posted on show discussion would generally have the same effect. 

[AlbaTross 1,586]

Sorry, I actually wasn't sure where to place it without being biased,

I figured posting it comics and books would have people who love the comics and books and

having it posted on show discussion would generally have the same effect.

 

It's all good. There is no judgement with moderation. In this forum we rarely deal with people getting out of line, but we're around to clear up confusion regarding where to put threads. Sometimes they work in more than one place. I figured the regular Sugarcube Corner board would be the most neutral place to put this one, and as it isn't contained to just the show, it's a better fit here anyways. Believe me, if there's trouble you'll know it, and it's rarely anything more than a warning, but a mixup of where to put a thread is hardly worth calling the cops over.

[Dark Qiviut 22,606]

Could you elaborate on that? I find that quite interesting.  

Gladly.

1.  

   8:30 to 8:54: Pinkie finds a cartoony trap to get them back to Luna and Spike. at the end, she yells, "Deus Ex Machina!"

    

   Uh, that's not a DEM, because this type of kookiness was established in the product before.

2.  

   At 1:16, Pinkie saying, "Who needs continuity?!" and dismissing any lack of sense of their own world.

    

   Pinkie, continuity and sense still matter, even in a cartoon world. If your story makes no sense, what's the point in presenting a good story in the first place?

3.  

   After AU!Luna was viciously assaulted by her sister, Pinkie blurted out the "Kid's Comic" strawman at 4:55.

    

   At the end of the video, the alternate Mane Six broke the fourth wall about how the story makes no sense.

On their own, they sound silly, but the nail in the coffin comes from the last statement. Cook, Price, and Breckel knew Reflections made no sense at all. Rather than fix whatever they could, their final statement spat in the readers' faces.

 

Also, Pinkie is many things. Communicating dumb messages like these isn't one of 'em.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[PacificGreen 1,163]

Obviously the answer is me! Just kidding. I haven't read (most of) the comics or the books so I honestly can't answer this question.

[baba_booey 4,303]

Hands down, the show. While it has it's own poor moments (looking at you, Boast Busters and Rainbow Falls), it's practically the foundation of MLP, plus gives good morals and great characterization most of the time.

 

I haven't read many of the books (I've only read Pinkie Pie and the whatever Pony Palooza), but the comics, while have good world-building, they tend to have terrible characterization of the Mane 6.

Just this little image alone rests my case:

Edited November 4, 2015 by SuperNESBrony