My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #14 Review


Ahoy Me matey, welcome to the final issue of My Little Pony’s pirate saga. While not as good as the 5 star first part, it’s a pretty fun, if not little all over the place story.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

Swashbuckling and mutiny abound! From a mysterious map to a moody captain, our heroes sure have their hoofs full! The ponies are hot on the trail of Hoofbeard’s long lost treasure – but can they stand him long enough to find it? Find out in this action-packed issue of My Little Pony! 

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This pirate arc has been a very nice change of pace. It’s rare that we see the ponies outside their usual surrounding, even in the show. So when they go to different places such as Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, the Everfree Forest, or just about anything outside Ponyville, it’s a treat. The first issue was a very entertaining ride as we saw the ponies adapt to a pirate atmosphere. It ended with Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash about to fight a monstrous crab. This issue concludes the story. It’s a little crazy and I think the story could have benefited from a third issue, everything happens too fast. But it’s still a lot of fun nonetheless.

Heather Nuhfer’s favorite pony must be Rainbow Dash, cause she gets a lot of nice props here. The writing is naturally solid and I can hear the voices in my head, which is good, these are things the characters would say. Hoofbeard was a pretty alright character, personally I was liking the direction the story was taking with him. It looked like he was going to be a deranged pirate. Instead, the big plot twist tries to make the reader sympathetic. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that the story could have been stretched into three issues, everything happens too fast. The ponies get the map, then there’s a mutiny, then Fluttershy lets him go, then we see that he really was looking for a ‘jewel.’ I really do think this should have been a 3-part saga! But I will say this: I love Nuhfer’s Twilight and Pinkie. The former is written like a true leader and the latter’s comedy scenes are actually better than the ones usually featured in the show.

Brenda Hickey’s art is solid. There’s no real complaints to be had, the characters look good, especially the faces. The main cover is pretty cool, having Rainbow Dash taking on Hoofbeard while the other ponies are captured about to walk the plank. Cover B by Sara Richard I don’t think is as dynamic, but it does feature some very artistic lovely-looking sea-ponies, or rather mereponies as they’re referred to in the story. The RI by Stephanie Buscema doesn’t have anything to do with the story, but it’s a very nice Christmas themed cover. It makes sense, since this is the last Ongoing issue before Christmas, so big shout-out to the artist. Cutie Mark Crusaders fans will definitely want to pick it up. As for store exclusive variants, there are some nice choices. Dr. Who fans will like Hot Topic’s cover. But, how can one deny Larry’s Twilight superhero one or Jetpack’s Applejack?

Overall, a pretty fun issue. It doesn’t quite come close to Part One, it feels rushed. It does however bring in the famous mereponies for the first time, which was neat. The plot twist was admittedly unexpected, but too sudden. The ending moral about love was nice though. And you’ll never forget the day ponies took on a giant crab.

3.5/5

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Daniel is a huge fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. His favorite is Fluttershy and you can follow him on Twitter: @Destroyer_199

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