Written By: Christina Rice
Art By: Agnes Garbowska
Published By: IDW
My enjoyment with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has been declining ever since season five. There’s maybe an essay about why that is, but as it stands, I’ll probably stop with both the show and the comics once season seven comes to an end. I think it’s time to move on.
I only say that to put this review of MLP:FiM #55 into perspective, though it’s maybe unnecessary given that this is one of the stronger MLP comics of late. That of course comes with a few caveats.
The basic plot is that the Wonderbolts are in Yak Yakistan when a horde of dragons attack. The rest is the attack with some character work and world building thrown in. In that respect, there’s really not a lot here, both in terms of dialogue or gags. Pinkie is Pinkie, Dash is Dash, the Yaks are sadly themselves, and Dash’s parents are also sadly themselves—though written better here than in the show.
Honestly, going in, this book has a bunch of stuff from season seven I don’t like. Dash’s parents are annoying, the Yak’s are stupid, and Dash as a Wonderbolt stopped being interesting about two episodes after she gained the status in season six.
But, the characters mostly act logically here, and the dragon attack itself is pretty fun. The first is way more important than the second, though we all know we’re here for the second part.
Dash wants to fight because Dash is Dash, but no one else does. Dragons are big and scary, and they outnumber everyone too. There’s a very nice conversation between Spitfire and Dash that really shows how strange Dash’s Wonderbolt status is. She’s almost too big for it. It’s a lore question that pops up now and then as I watch the show: These characters are basically superheroes. Why are they treated like they didn’t stop the Changlings or Tyrek?
That’s acknowledged here, at least to an extent.
The Yaks too are handled better than they have been in the show, and while canonically having them willing to hide/retreat doesn’t work, the comic is better for giving them some IQ points.
The only big downside to this comic—aside from another action sequence that’s unable to actually get violent—is a strange, almost exposition dump around the middle. It’s three pages long and goes into “bravery” as a concept, and while it fits into the overall narrative, it does so awkwardly and at the expensive of logical character interactions.
Otherwise, yeah. This is a fairly solid MLP comic. It’s not perfect, but it works with the new lore fairly well, and the artwork is solid throughout. No surprises there as Agnes Garbowska knows how to draw ponies.
I’m curious to see where it ends up too.
