Written by: Alex De Campi
Art by: Carla Speed McNeil
Publisher: IDW
The first four issues of IDW’s My Little Pony: Friends Forever, make up this first volume, and each tells a story of friendship, as My Little Pony stories tend to do.
While all four tales are basically children’s stories, each with a lesson about how important friends are, they also try to appeal to older audiences. Mainly, this is done through a massive number of pop culture references. There are jabs at Food Network chefs, a Willy Wonka reference, Star Trek jokes, and references to Pinky and the Brain, just to name a few. Unfortunately, the writers couldn’t help but add some crude humor into the mix as well, with a male pony named Jumbo Don throwing out “ladies, you can call me any time”. It’s clearly meant to be innuendo, and is just as clearly meant to sail right over the heads of younger readers, but it adds nothing to the story and felt unneccessary.
The four stories themselves fall right in line with where My Little Pony is as a franchise. Each one takes a pairing of characters (or, in one case a quartet) and puts them at the center of a story with a lesson at the end, which is pretty standard fare for children’s stories. In issue one, Pinky Pie and Applejack enter a baking contest and, in the midst of discovering that success is sweetest when it’s earned, find time to team up and take down a maniac. Up next, in my personal favorite, Discord and the cutie mark crusaders discover that they have more in common than they expected (and make a couple of hysterically funny jokes) while seeking cutie marks for the fillies. Spike and Princess Celestia helm issue three, taking and adventure that teaches them both about stepping out of their comfort zone. To cap it off, Twilight Sparkle and her brother Shining Armor rekindle a shared love of monster hunting while learning how important it is to maintain friendships. In all four tales, the writers have kept fairly close to what’s already been established as far as the characters go, only falling short of the mark in characterizing Pinky Pie, who seems a little too subdued. Even Shining Armor, who hasn’t gotten a lot of screen time, falls well within the range of loving brother who is also an overworked prince (which I imagine is tough to write). However, the writer may have gone too far in writing Applejack’s country accent. The way it’s written gets a little tough to read, particularly if you’re not already familiar with the way she speaks.
The book is a good one for children, barring that one joke that you may have to explain. The language is, for the most part, on a ten to twelve year old’s level, with a few exceptions, and the over the top words come from a believable source. It’s got four distinct but very pretty art styles that each add to the story and help to make up for a few bits of lackluster dialogue. Plus, there’s so much visual humor packed in that an adult reading along will be sure to get a few chuckles, especially in the last half of the book. Don’t expect anything life altering out of this one, but it’s a good way to get kids reading, asking questions, and processing some more complicated scenarios in a colorful and nonthreatening way.
