My Little Pony is finally back. (Seriously, it feels like forever since the previous issue.) It’s the conclusion to Big Mac’s two-part arc. Is it as good as #9, which received 5 stars? Not quite…but it’s still immensely entertaining despite an over abundance of pop culture references.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

The trials and tribulations of Big Mac continue! His epic journey continues, as Big Mac must come face to face with some of the most unique citizens of Ponyville. DRAMA! REVELATIONS! DANCING! This one’s got it all! 

Before this arc I was very skeptical on how Bic Mac would be able to hold his own story. The last issue put those fears to rest, he’s a pretty fun character to read for a few reasons. The only time when he talks in long sentences is in the very early episode, ‘Applebuck Season.’ Since then it’s been the running gag that all he says is “yup” and “nope.” So to read a story from his point of view is really interesting. This issue has him continue his journey in search of Lugnut for some nails. Along the way many crazy things happen. Watchers of the show will have fun with it, though this time I will admit that there might have been too much pop cultural references. (There are actually two parodies of James Bond titles!)

Katie Cook easily proves once again that no writer quite understands the characters like she does. Big Mac’s narration is fantastic. In a way, he’s representing the reader walking into the craziest day of Ponyville. There are quite a few highlights, such as Zecora’s wonderful mentoring personality and the funny subplot of a Pegasus whom seems to have a big crush on Big Mac. The only questionable thing is Spike’s portrayal when he literally conned Bic Mac out of money. It seemed kinda weird and not something Twilight’s #1 assistant would do.

This issue reminded me how much I really like Andy Price’s artwork. Every panel is filled with such great and funny expressions on the characters. It also takes pretty good skill to make even the background characters stand out. A highlight is a half-splash page of DJ Pon-3, she looked absolutely fantastic. The main cover by Price is a homage to this famous Justice League International cover, really cool piece featuring the background ponies. Cover B naturally features Big Mac, though it’s kinda dull compared to the main cover. The RI is a simple, yet nice cover of Big Mac and Apple Bloom reading on the farm. As for store exclusive variants, Larry’s and Jetpack’s Tron covers are both pretty fantastic. DJ Pon-3 fans will like Larry’s while Octavia fans will want to head on over to Jetpack.

Overall, this was a very fun conclusion to  Big Mac’s story. It’s entertaining and unique. (Want to see a panel with Mac having an arm wrestle with Princess Celestia?) It shows just how much heart the team puts into the story and art, I hope they’ll be on My Little Pony for a long time.

4/5

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