The Pony of Honesty, Applejack, gets her Micro-Series comic. While it doesn’t come close to the greatness of Rarity’s or Pinkie’s, it’s a decent read whether you’re a fan of the character or not.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

It’s almost Hearth’s Warming Eve, and the Apple family is busy at work preparing an array of tasty apple treats for all of Ponyville. But when a mysterious creature starts ruining their crop, Applejack sets out to find out who’s behind this tomfoolery! Who, or what, is the SASS SQUASH??

Applejack is a great character, one of the best. Her element is honesty, she has a very strong inner personality. In some ways she’s like Rainbow Dash, just way less arrogant and is the hardest worker of them all. If it’s one pony that’s underrated, it might be her. (Though since season 3 when she got her own song she has risen in popularity.) I was looking forward to this Micro-Series issue for two reasons. One, I like Applejack a lot. And two, it looked to feature a villain. Sadly after the absolutely fantastic Pinkie Pie issue, this pales in comparison. The story is only average, but it does have a very good moral in the end.

Bobby Curnow writes, which is pretty cool since he’s been the editor of these comics from day one. From the start it shows he knows the characters well. You will hear the voices in your head as you read. There’s also some cool things for fans to catch, such as Big Macintosh sleeping with the Smarty Pants doll he likes from Lesson Zero. The story is interesting at first since it’s kind of a mystery. The Sass Squash is a clever name, with a lacking design. The book has two main morals, the first being that you should let others/family help out instead of taking a task head on all by yourself when you could use the assistance. This is kind of rendered moot since this type of thing was already explored in the early episode Applebuck Season, it’s almost a retread. The second moral however is quite good, in the form of a letter to Princess Celestia. In summary it’s that you shouldn’t get caught up in the holiday season, because in doing so you neglect the most important thing: spending time with family. This is the best part of the comic.

A notable thing IDW tried here for the first time was a song within the story. Brenda Hickey did the lyrics, where Applejack keeps trying to capture the Sass Squash after failed attempt after failed attempt. It would have been better if this were an episode, it just didn’t quite work in comic format. Brenda also handles the art, it’s quite good. It’s reminiscent of Andy Price’s work, but avoids being a copy. It’s show accurate which fans will like. The main cover is bright and eye catching. The simplicity of it is nice, it’s a quilt with patches of the major members of the Apple Family. Cover B is more in relation to the story. While not as bright, it’s definitely solid. The RI continues the tradition of having the title pony in Filly form. This one features Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom all in filly form, definitely cute. As for store exclusive variants, while Double Midnight never fails with its artistic covers, my favorite actually is Newbury’s. It’s just so simple and Applejack-like, I love it.

Overall, while not great, Applejack’s comic is a solid read. The moral of not forgetting about family during the holidays is the one of the best we’ve seen. Plus, the story surprises us with a plot twist you won’t see coming.

3.5/5

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