My Little Pony: Friends Forever #2 Review


Friends Forever is finally back! This time, the Lord of Chaos “teams-up” with everyone’s favorite fillies. Is it a solid read? It’d definitely decent, nothing amazing, but not too bad. I don’t think Discord fans will be too pleased with it however.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

The Cutie Mark Crusaders have done everything they can think of to get their cutie marks. But there’s one creature of chaos who might have some ideas they would never think ofÖ Discord! When our pint-sized heroines start working with the unpredictable trickster, the results are bound to get unusual! Will Ponyville be able to survive their friendship?

My Little Pony-Friends Forever 2_Variant CoverDiscord has solidified himself as the fan-favorite non-pony character. Like it or not, he’s a reformed villain. His most recent appearance proved he could be a cool chaotic neutral character. (Though nothing will ever beat his original appearance.) The first issue wasn’t bad, but there were factors against it, namely that it didn’t live up to its own premise. This one certainly does, but it just didn’t come close to the elites of the MLP comics. I think we’ve had enough of an emotional Discord, the last thing anyone wants to see is him getting emotional and tearing up.

Jeremy Whitley writes the characters pretty well for the most part. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and their crazy antics are done well enough. Even the Mane 6 that appear later on are all written well for the most apart. It’s Discord I have a little problem with. He wasn’t necessarily written badly, but not quite as sarcastic and cool as his show persona. The final pages with him getting touched by what Sweetie Belle was saying was cringe-worthy. We saw this already in the episode, ‘Keep Calm and Flutter On,’ we don’t need to see that again. Seeing the Mane 6 attempting to deal with a Discord problem was however a lot of fun. And later in the issue there are some fantastic homages to pop culture, such as Godzilla and Power Rangers. But obviously the greatest one was Star Trek: The Next Generation. Discord mumbling to himself, “Hmm…this one seems familiar.” was absolute genius on Whitley’s part. (Since Discord in the show is voiced by John de Lancie, the guy who played Q in Star Trek TNG.)

The art by Tony Fleecs is alright. I’m not going to say it’s bad, cause it’s not, but it just isn’t that impressive either. Discord is the biggest culprit. He’s drawn literally as an old man, he lacks the always smiling persona he has from the show. He’s drawn almost as if he’s tired. The main cover by Amy Mebberson is really good, now that’s Discord. The RI by Fleecs isn’t bad, but pales to the main one. However, fans will want to pick up the Subscription variant by Lea Hernandez. It’s a nice and simple piece, plus Discord looks like he stepped right out of an episode.

Overall, a pretty light-hearted issue of Friends Forever. Jeremy Whitley for the most part writes a solid tale. (I will let slide that fact that he had Apple Bloom say “anyone” instead of “anypony” and “someone” instead of “somepony,” c’mon editing department!) Discord’s first comic appearance is more lackluster than satisfying sadly. The Mane 6 have a nice role later on. So, what we have is a pretty standard MLP comic. If you like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you’ll probably like it.

 

OUR RATING
6.5
  • + Fun Cutie Mark Crusaders story
  • + Awesome pop culture homages
  • - Poor first appearance of Discord in comic land
  • - Average Art

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