My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #15 Review


MLP is back with a new story arc. This time see some of the ponies journey into the book world to try and subdue a monstrous Bookworm while Applejack and Fluttershy deal with some very mysterious pod plants that are growing all over Ponyville. This issue was definitely fun, but sadly plagued with writing inconsistencies.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

Things are getting positively bookish in Ponyville!

When a magical bookworm starts to cause some literary mischief, it’s only a matter of time before things start to get out of hoof!

It’s up to our ponies to set things right… but will they want to when Daring Do shows up?

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After the ponies went out to sea last time, I think everyone was ready for another Ponyville adventure. This one was getting additional hype aside from the usual because Daring Do would be appearing. (This comic’s plot was established before the episode ‘Daring Don’t‘ aired.) This issue packs a lot of fun, perhaps even more so than the pirate adventure. The problems however lies with the question of canon and Twilight going just a bit out of character.

Heath Nuhfer returns from her pirate story. I do enjoy her writing quite a bit. But I’m going to have to address a rather obvious plot inconsistency. When Daring Do appears, she confronts Applejack about Ahuizotl. (For those wondering why I’m not questioning Daring Do not knowing who Applejack is, it’s because Do is the character within the story, not the actual pony.) Applejack responds that she doesn’t know who Ahuizotl is. This wouldn’t be a problem if this issue had taken place before ‘Daring Don’t.’ But the comic goes out of its way to reference ‘Power Ponies,’ which takes place after ‘Daring Don’t.’ Another inconsistency is that Twilight doesn’t seem to know how a particular Daring Do story goes, she asks Rainbow Dash for help despite her owning the books and also even claiming to be technically a bigger fan than Rainbow.

And then, later in the issue Twilight breaks down saying, “Now everything that mattered to me is gone.” If this was pre-Season 1 Twilight it would have been fine, but after three seasons of learning about the values of friendship, this seemed out of place. I’ve been bashing the writing, but it’s truly not bad. It’s just that these things are too big not to mention, and sadly brings down the rating. The Bookworm and Princess pony at the end do seem like cool new characters, so hopefully they’ll be established more in the next issue. Daring Do is written very well, I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings to the table.

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Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is Amy Mebberson’s first time doing the interiors instead of just the cover. You’ll notice she has as a distinctive style, very manga-like. MLP already has a anime look to it, so it’s cool to see something almost completely manga-inspired when it comes to the art. Cover A by Amy is a very nice representation of what you’ll see inside, perfectly nails Twilight expression. Cover B by Agnes Garbowska is more of a unique one featuring Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow and Pinkie in book land. It took me a few seconds to realize the genius of the RI by Ben Bates. Seriously, you just have to marvel of how plain cool it is.

Overall, sadly this issue of MLP was plagued with writing problems. Granted, while it will hinder some of the enjoyment for hardcore fans, (seriously, just like that they stop being friends?) it’s still a very entertaining read with a lot of fun plot points thanks to them jumping from book world to book world. Daring Do doesn’t disappoint, hopefully she’ll have a nice large role in the next issue. This new Princess appeared out of nowhere, but with a cool design and good dialogue, she may end up going somewhere. So while fun, this issue of MLP is one of the weaker ones writing wise.

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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