Written by: Katie Cook
Art by: Andy Price
Publisher: IDW
The hesitation My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has towards violence is both its biggest strength and its biggest weakness. Equestria is a pleasant place, and I like that most of its problems are solved with talking and rationality. It’s why the show is so distinct and inviting. However, sometimes violence is the only way out of a rather nasty problem, and MLP:FiM simply cannot go that route with the gusto of say, Adventure Time.
Now, I type the above with the full realization that I am not the target demographic for this franchise, but, MLP:FiM #28 provides a villain that sort of needs a solid ass-kicking to make everything square. Not everyone can be reasoned with, after all.
Twilight and company are still stuck on what to do with Well-to-Do, a shady business-minotaur who is destroying the Everfree Forest to build an amusement park. Talking was tried in the first issue with little success, but Twilight still believes nonviolent methods are the way to go about this problem. She, of course, fails.
Issue #28 sees Well-to-Do go from shady business-minotaur into a full-on villain, one whose talk of a good product was nothing more than a mask for greed. This change feels natural and works, and I appreciate that level of character de-evolution, but this also means I want to see Well-to-Do lit on fire. MLP:FiM #28 also seems to want that, but it’s afraid to do so.
This creates a problem because, early on in the comic, it becomes very evident that force is what’s needed to stop Well-to-Do.
The middle of Issue #28 volleys back and forth between very funny and just a bit too ridiculous for my tastes. Fluttershy’s staged peaceful protest was hilarious, but Well-to-Do foiling Aspen with a legal loophole felt absolutely stupid. It’s a problematic back-and-forth, one where I’d be laughing on one page and cringing on the next. The question always remained: Why has no one committed arson yet? Meanwhile, the stakes keep escalating.
At the end of the day, there is a battle of sorts, but it’s not very spectacular and relies on some lazy magic to avoid any real physical confrontation. The whole thing sort of works due to some solid jokes and overall charm, but given the buildup, I’d have liked more payoff.
All of my praise of Issue #27 still stands here: The art is fantastic, and the writers have managed to juggle multiple characters flawlessly, giving everyone the right amount of personality without slowing the story down. There are also plenty of background gags to be uncovered. Spike and Rainbowdash also deserve a nod for being awesome.
It’s just a shame that the story told couldn’t end itself with some real action. The show has diverted from the norm to showcase some spectacular battles, so why that didn’t happen here is a bit of a head scratcher. I prefer MLP:FiM to stay peaceful since I can get action from a myriad of other cartoons, yet that doesn’t mean watching Twilight Sparkle go Super Saiyan on the big bad guys is unsatisfying.