Written By: Christina Rice
Art By: Agnes Garbowska
Published By: IDW
It’s time for the first ponies of the New Year, which I guess is pretty exciting if you’re really into ponies and also measuring time. I’m personally cool with the former and lukewarm on the latter, but I’m still kind of excited because issue 38 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is pretty good.
It’s also a Cutie Mark Crusaders issue!
Side note: it feels really, really awkward to write that sentence as a grown man with a car and a full-time job. I pay taxes god damnit! And have health insurance. And voted twice in the presidential election. I AM OLD! Kind of. Not really.
Anyhow, Issue 38 is a relatively safe affair, with Cheerilee, Rarity, and Applejack chaperoning a field trip through Foal Mountains. They’re bird watching and basically doing the kinds of things kids do on a field trip, only this one is a little more dangerous because we’re in Equestria.
Also, Rarity isn’t having much fun. Her sorrow is amusing.
Things get bad when the CMC, Snips and Snails, and Diamond Tiara and that other pony that hangs around with her and isn’t as important get separated. Separation leads to getting lost, and that leads to danger, drama, and another word that starts with D that I can’t think of right now but will get back to you on.
While it isn’t exactly a bad thing, the plot summary of Issue 38 is basically all there is to it. We’ve scaled back when compared to that four-issue arc at the Crystal Empire, but I’m down for something a bit more light-hearted myself. The fun in these MLP:FiM comics comes in their diversity and versatility.
And hell, as simple as it all is, Christina Rice nails the characters she’s writing. I could just hear the voice actors saying the words she wrote, and with the proper inflections too. Diamond Tiara oozes snootiness, Sweetie Bell’s adorable appeals to Rarity to lighten up are perfect, and Snips and Snails are the perfect level of stupid.
Basically, it’s good.
The only real problem I see is that it takes place sometime before Season 5, and it was kind of awkward dealing with a Cutie-Markless CMC and having Diamond Tiara call them “blank flanks” again and again. It was also kind of sad to see Diamond Tiara reverted back to her awful self when she was given such a great bit of development in Season 5.
Bu those are minor complaints when everything else here is pretty fun and loaded with that charm I want from this series. We’re starting these comics off on a high note, which is good because the show is on a hiatus and I’ll need my fix somehow.
Oh, and the artwork is good!
Desperation! There’s a word that starts with D. Friggen’ nailed it.
