My Little Pony Annual 2014 Review

Wow, can you believe it’s been nearly one year since the 2013 My Little Pony Annual? This time the Power Ponies take center stage in what is one of the most fun comics of the year.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

Check out the original Power Ponies in action! When Mane-iac assembles an all-star team of villains, the Power Ponies may be outmatched! It will take a familiar face from Equestria to even the odds! Get ready for super powered adventure like you’ve never seen it!

One of the highlights of the previous season of the show was the episode ‘Power Ponies.’ While it wasn’t technically one of the show’s best episodes, it was awesome because it brought the realm of superheros into the realm of ponies. After the episode, fans joked that a Power Ponies side series would be great. Thankfully the comics have a lot of freedom, more so than the show when it comes to stories within the Equestria mutiverse. No Mane 6 this time, it’s all about the Power Ponies and their adventure against the Mane-iac and her team of villainy. Not only is there an abundant amount of awesome parodies of popular comic culture, but it even manages to squeeze in some great friendship morals. This is one Annual you don’t want to miss!

Ted Anderson may just rival Katie Cook for awesome shout-outs to popular culture; there’s plenty of things that will have you smiling. From the Powerpuff Girls to Batman, the parodies never for once get old. Onto the actual story, the Power Ponies are much like the Mane 6 except for thing: they lack genuine friendship. This was an unexpected twist since from the cover you think everything is dandy. So it was fantastic watching this unfold and Humdrum’s solution to the problem. There’s a number of villains that take the spotlight aside from the Mane-iac. Each of them are given adequate (and often humorous) development. The Mane-iac is nicely written and makes for a good antagonist. (Though admittedly not as demented as she was in the episode, which is a shame.) The action is intense, as you would expect from a superhero-pony comic.

Ben Bate’s art is very good and matches the overall Powerpuff Girls-like look to the story. The main cover by Bates is quite an awesome piece, showing the Power Ponies front and center with the villains as the backdrop. It would make for an incredible poster. The RI by Tony Fleecs is solid and great for Humdrum fans since he’s actually on it. I wouldn’t say it’s as striking as the main cover (also the coloring on it is a bit dull in comparison) but it’s still a nice piece. There’s a great backup story starring the Mane-iac which might be the most funny after-pony-story yet.

Overall, the 2014 My Little Pony Annual is one heck of an adventure. While it’s always awesome to see our Mane 6, it’s a nice change of pace to have other ponies in the spotlight. In this case, superheroes! The story is a lot of fun and you will be smiling the entire time. IDW delivers another pony winner.