After a two week delay, the long awaited third issue of the My Little Pony series is upon us. It’s no surprise that this book had special hype from the start. Being based on what is probably the greatest cartoon of this century, it had a lot to live up to. The team of Katie Cook and Andy Price established early on that they know the characters and tone of the show. Both Issue #1 and #2 hit the ball from Shea Stadium to Dodger Stadium, stellar issues. Even to the non-fan, it would still be a genuinely funny story with diverse characters. This issue is the penultimate one for The Return of Queen Chrysalis, another great read.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

The Mane 6 enter the heart of the Changeling Kingdom to rescue their friends!

Danger lurks everywhere, and each Pony will have to put their best hoof forward if they are to survive the night! Unfortunately that’s exactly what the Changeling Queen expects!

Will our heroes fall into her trap?

This one starts out a little differently than the others, with Spike taking the role as a narrator of past events. Soon we’re led into present day, the Queen is having some great laughs while watching the Mane 6 disband. Despite having a big argument last time, can the Ponies unite once again? Fluttershy thinks so. Katie Cook continues to demonstrate just how funny these Ponies can be. Pinkie Pie never fails to steal the show, here we learn she carries around a ‘I’m sorry cake’ cake all over the place. Applejack and Rarity use to be at odds with each other back in the first season, so it’s cool to see their dialogue clash here. “Uh…Rarity? The floor is dirt. We’re in the forest. We’re outside.” Good stuff, you can hear the voices in your head as you read. This version of Queen Chrysalis is almost a parody of her cartoon self. She’s funny, but I do hope for her to get some sinister scenes in the conclusion to the arc. It was also pretty neat how the sentence ‘Friendship is Magic’ was incorporated, a true in-joke for fans. The only part I personally l felt was off is when Fluttershy explained that the Jackalope and the Chupacabra would fight each other for dominance, her words “Nature is so fascinating” just seemed out of character, I wouldn’t think she would get a kick out of watching creatures battle it out.

The art by Andy Price never fails to inject some good smiles. The facial expressions on the characters really reflect on their given situations, such as the goat scene. Some might say it would have been better to copy the show’s look and incorporate it into the comic world like how Marvel does it with Avengers EMH, but you just can’t replace how everything is drawn here. There are three main covers. The main one showcases Queen Chrysalis with Changelings of the Mane 6 minus Twilight, a very cool cover for sure. Cover B is my personal favorite, done by the hugely talented Stephanie Buscema. It showcases Twilight and Pinkie in an ice skating ring, perfect timing since we’re in the winter. The third one by J. Scott Campbell is the most unique. It takes the Mane 6 and combines them with the G1 look. I know what he was trying to do, but it didn’t quite work in my opinion, it ended up looking a bit awkward. Like always, there are too many retailer exclusives to get into. I will say that my personal favorite is the one from Larry’s, seeing Twilight as a superhero is just too cool. (You also can’t go wrong with Midtown’s Gangnam Style one.)

Overall, My Little Pony continues to be the best all-ages title and one of the best overall on the stands. Sometimes after a long day you just want to sit back and enjoy a smart and funny comic, this series is that and much more. Here we see more of Queen Chrysalis and it’s a blast to see the Mane 6’s pairings. I’ll be looking forward to the (sadly delayed) fourth installment which is the final part in the Return of Queen Chrysalis story.

4.5/5

My name is Daniel (@Destroyer_199), the main guy for comic reviews here at Unleash the Fanboy. I was born in 1995 in the Big Apple, spent my formative years in Staten Island, and currently reside in the awesome state that is New Jersey.