May
22
2015
1

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #30 Review

Written by: Christina Rice

Art by: Agnes Garbowski

Published by: IDW

IDW have been putting My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comics out on a weekly basis, and I haven’t been reviewing most of them. The reason for this is simple: Many of them aren’t worth talking about. I can at least appreciate a gloriously-bad comic, because it’s amusing to tear into them, but comics that end in scores of 4’s or 5’s are just boring in all regards.

Issue 30 of MLP:FiM is worth talking about though, and in a mostly-positive context too. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a fun little story, and that sets it apart from perhaps the last month’s worth of comics by a great margin.

Our story starts off with Twilight Sparkle and Spike heading to Canterlot for some princess-related matters. She’s leaving everyone else in charge of Ponyville Days, a yearly celebration of the town’s history and togetherness, and she’s quite confident that nothing will go wrong.

Oh Twilight, you really should have lower expectations from Ponyville at this point.

What starts off as a simple recognition of the first building in Ponyville turns into an outright war as The Apple family and the Stinkin’ Rich family argue over whose contributions truly began the town. Applejack’s farm was the first structure, but Stinkin’ Rich’s shop was really cemented Ponyville as a town.

Things get worse when Rarity finds out that the commemorative plaque being handed out will go in front of her Boutique, turning it into a tourist destination. That’s good for business.

What follows is fairly predictable stuff, but it’s enjoyable on the whole. Issue 30 isn’t groundbreaking, but sometimes fun is all that’s needed. Rarity and Applejack are always amusing when they’re at odds with each other, and that certainly hasn’t changed, despite MLP:FiM’s long-running status.

My biggest complaint is with Rarity’s character on the whole. She can be superficial and self-absorbed sure, but I feel like those negative qualities are too on point this time around. As the show has shown, she’s quite capable of generosity—you know, her Element of Harmony.

On the art front, Agnes Garbowski’s style continues to be…serviceable. The characters are cute, but there’s something a little too simple about them, and her style doesn’t yield itself well to certain angles. Rarity also just looks strange, but that’s been a long-running complaint.

MLP:FiM # 30 is alright. I had some fun, and the ending is a good mix of cliffhanger and amusing, but it’s far from the best this series has offered. Worth a buy if you’re desperate for a pony fix.