Written by: Katie Cook
Art by: Andy Price
Publisher: IDW
Good God has Andy Price outdone himself as an artist this time. He’s always been my favorite My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic illustrator, and issue 41 only cements that further. I’m going to full-stop recommend this comic in this first paragraph for the artwork alone. It’s wonderful.
Now I should probably talk about the rest of it.
Issue 41 is structured somewhat like a fable, with Zecora narrating the story as it happens. Rainbowdash starts off with a bad day, and she spreads it along until the whole town of Ponyville is infected with the drearies. Unlike most magical creatures in Equestria, drearies go away rather quickly. All you have to do is apologize.
As a story, there’s not that much here. Rainbowdash is excited about the release of a new Daring Do novel, but her first angry run-in with a construction worker manages to spread everywhere and slow her down. By the time she’s in line at the bookstore, the line is…well, a line. Apparently Daring Do is a hellovan author.
As a comic though, this one is lovely. There are tons of jokes, some of them fourth-wall breaking between Spike and Zecora, and in typical MLP:FiM fashion, there’s lots of love/little Easter Eggs in the backgrounds. There’s a lot of joy here.
Honestly, the only real flaw is Zecora herself. She talks in rhymes—which I’ve always found annoying—and they kinda hit peak annoying here. Katie’s a fantastic author, but I question her prowess as a poet, since a lot of the couplets are really clunky to read. It took away from the comic a good deal, honestly.
Everything else though? Good stuff. Love the characters, love the jokes, and I love the lesson. Sometimes the morals shoved into MLP:FiM things can come off as too…on the nose maybe. Now, that’s fair given the targeted demographic, but it’s still a bit annoying. Here though? Yeah, it’s on the nose, but the fable setup makes it work really well. It’s also just a good lesson.
So yeah! This one’s worth grabbing if you’re into these comics. I had a good deal of fun.
