Written by: Ted Anderson
Art by: Brenda Hickey
Publisher: IDW
My immediate reaction to seeing the cover and alternate covers to Issue 40 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was revulsion. Twilight taking care of baby Spike? Surely nothing good can come of that. Oh, and let me guess, he was magiced this way and now we’re in for 24 pages of cringe humor. How. Dare. Y—wait, that’s not it at all?
Oh good.
So imagine my surprise when all my expectations were proven wrong and Issue 40 wound up being really, really good! My face did that thing where it frowns, but upwards. Strange, right? Must be broken.
Issue 40 is actually a story within a story. Rainbow Dash and Rarity find Twillight Sparkle looking through an old album of pictures, and there’s one of her taking care of a baby Spike. They of course ask for an explanation, and Twilight is quick to give it.
As it turns out, Twilight’s relationship with Spike started off very poorly, with her taking care of the baby dragon while attending the gifted school for unicorns run by Princess Celestia. There are less hijinks and more generic stress, all of which are seriously relatable in one fashion or another. If you’re a single parent going through college, this comic is going to get very real very fast.
The whole package is great, even if the basic story itself doesn’t break many new grounds. It really doesn’t need to. Twilight losing sleep, failing classes, and generally avoiding everyone around her because she has a baby to take care of works on its own, and dressed up in Brenda Hickey’s wonderful artwork, is more than enough for this issue to stand out. Hey, remember that time Mrs. Hickey did a wrong? Me neither!
And I’d be lying if I said Twilight didn’t pull a “Lesson Zero” at some point, so in that respect, it does do something new with the plotline.
The comic also adds an extra layer to Twilight’s relationship with Spike, though it’s one I’m not sure I totally like. I’ve never considered her his mother figure at all within the show, but the comic is also only a snapshot of events. Plenty of time for that to change.
Regardless, the comic is good. Really good, even. It’s one of the more mature issues I’ve seen of MLP:FiM , but it works with its content in a way that melds itself well with its cute art style and world.
