Twilight’s #1 assistant gets his Micro-Series comic. Do we have a winner? Let’s find out!

Here’s the official description from IDW:

Spike is ready for the responsibility of being a pet-owner! However, he might be getting more than he bargained for when a delivery of Sea Beasts (‘just add water!’) arrives at his door. Spike’s unusual training methods will result in some surprises for everyone’s favorite baby dragon! 

I’ll be honest with you guys, I was not particularly looking forward to this issue. Spike is easily my least favorite of the main characters in the show, his episodes are always the worst. (Dragon Quest, Spike at Your Service.) So it was going to be interesting to see what a Micro-Series comic was going to do with him. Ironically, just as with Spike at Your Service, the best parts are the non-Spike parts when the ponies are around.

For the most part Rob Anderson nails Spike’s character. (Aside from two times when he referred to Twilight as ‘Twilight Sparkle.’) The story is typical Spike fare, he wants to impress the ponies with pets of his own. When they come in the mail however, he’s disappointed with their tiny size. So being the troublemaker he is, he reads one of Twilight’s books and grows them unnaturally. Spike can be funny, but often (mainly in his episodes) he’s an annoying troublemaker. He has his fans, but I just don’t find him particularly interesting. Anderson also nails Twilight and Fluttershy, I’d like to see him do a non-Spike story one day.

I really like Agnes Garbowska’s art, there’s something nice about it. The backgrounds, the ponies…they all have a very pure look, I hope she’ll draw some more comics in the future. The first cover by Amy Mebberson is alright, I’m sure Spike fans will like it better than I do. Cover B by Garbowska I like a lot and relates to the story more. The RI by Sara Richard like always is the most artistic one. As for store exclusive variants, I think Larry’s is the best with a ‘Napoleon Crossing the Alps’ homage.

Overall, this was an alright issue of the Micro-Series. It’s not the writer’s fault, I just don’t find Spike engaging at all. Perhaps his fans will like it more.

3/5

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