My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #6 Review


My Little Pony’s Nightmare arc continues with a pretty dark issue. Is Heather Nufer’s take on the characters another winner? Of course.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

Nightmare Moon returns! But it’s not the same old Nightmare Moon! Someone new, someone close to our heroes, has taken the mantle! What will the ponies do when the danger hits so close to home?

I absolutely loved Katie Cook’s Return of Queen Chrysalis story, but I am also enjoying this rather more serious plot. Whereas the former was laugh out loud comedy, this one is a grander story with the pop culture references taking a backseat. The previous issue set things up well, establishing the Nightmare Moon aspect and Rarity getting kidnapped. (The ending was awesome and pretty intense.) This issue has adventure, nightmares, Pinkie being awesome, a cool new antagonist, and an ending that will rock the fandom.

Heather Nufer’s writing is top notch. From the beginning I could hear the voices in my head, it’s just like they were speaking right out of an episode. What’s interesting is how Princess Luna is portrayed. She’s rather downcast, but it does make sense considering her history with the nightmare forces. It is interesting how her time as Nightmare Moon is referenced, it makes for a great plot point, plus it’s absolutely heartwarming when Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie call her their friend. Speaking of Pinkie, she is off the charts here. She’s broken the fourth wall before, but here she’s like a Looney Tunes, pulling out stuff like 3D glasses out of nowhere. I loved Twilight in this issue, how she got her friends out of the nightmares, the compliments (namely Applejack being a great farmer and Pinkie’s billboard) is just heartwarming. The nightmares I felt could have been handled better. For example, Twilight’s is just a retread of The Crystal Empire. They aren’t bad of course, they could have just been expanded on a little more.

Amy Mebberson’s art is pretty good for the most part. I don’t want to say it’s a copy of Andy Price’s work, but it does look ultra similar. There are mild problems here and there. Sometimes Applejack looks like a boy (or stallion as it’s called in that world) and Luna looks just slightly off. I will say that the nightmare forces do look sinister. Shadowfright is officially the ‘antagonist’ of the arc, he’s handled and drawn well. It’s good to see comic exclusive characters looking great. Covers are awesome as always. The main one highlights the ‘rope from the Earth to the Moon’ scene in the issue, perfectly portrays the rather downcast side of the story. (Not sure why Fluttershy isn’t flying with Rainbow Dash, but that’s a mild thing.) Cover B is more artistic, with a glum Rarity looking at the Earth from standing on the Moon, I personally love it. The RI is more general, having the Mane 6 together with the Nightmare Moon logo on the top. Not as good as the main covers, but still fun. As for retailer exclusives, Jetpack has a fantastic one of Princess Cadence, but Hot Topic might win for its cool Indiana Jones homage using Rainbow and Scootalo.

Overall, another great issue of My Little Pony. Not only will it make you smile, it’s also a really engaging read for its epic story. Rarity has never been written better. Fluttershy gets some of the funniest lines, and Shadowfright is a pretty cool antagonist. Not to mention that Luna is getting a lot of great page-time in this arc. With the insane ending, it’s going to be a long wait until Issue #7.

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.

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