My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #33 Review

The conclusion to Night of the Apples has arrived! How well does it end? Let’s take a look.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

“Night of the Living Apples” Part 2! The Bad Apples’ rule is now law in Ponyville! The only hope lies with FLUTTERBAT!

Will one vampire pony be enough to stop the Bad Apples??

The first issue of this two-part arc was the definition of crazy. The concept, even for MLP, exceeded uniqueness on a whole ‘nother scale. The reason why I didn’t give it a higher rating was because everything happened abnormally fast. In less than a day somehow evil apples take over Ponyville, enslaving the inhabitants. But we’ll never forget when Pinkie Pie transformed into an apple herself. With all this said, how well does the conclusion end the story? It’s an incredibly fun comic with some of the best dialogue Princess Celestia has delivered yet.

Thom Zahler’s pacing here is much better than the previous issue’s. Things move along fast, but not without slowing down and explaining a few things. Obviously the primary draw is seeing the ponies transform into vampires, and it doesn’t disappoint as we the various personalities in a new light. Flutterbat was an exciting cliffhanger last issue (which unfortunately was spoiled by one of the covers) and her appearance here is a lot of fun to watch. The Apple menaces still unfortunately suffer as laughable antagonists. As stated earlier, Princess Celestia has some fantastic lines. The action throughout the story was a lot of fun, but it’s the rather soft ending that truly made the issue as the Princess spoke words of encouragement which rings true not only to the Mane 6 and Cutie Mark Crusaders, but to the reader as well.

Tony Fleecs delivers solid visuals throughout the story. A highlight is easily the arrival of Flutterbat with a moon night backdrop. And I must say the simple backgrounds in the last few pages really added to the beautiful, almost somber ending. Heather Breckel did an amazing job with the coloring in these two sequences. The main cover by Fleecs showcases a fantastic picture of Flutterbat front and center with the vampire-fied ponies flying in for battle.The RI by Zhaler is a horrifyingly terrific piece featuring the Mane 6 as vampires. (Time to make this a poster guys!) The subscription variant by Andy Price is an extremely detailed piece and definitely one to pick for its comedic take on all the madness.

Overall, Night of the Apples ends on a high note. It features fun action and dialogue as we see the ponies become vampire versions of themselves. Flutterbat makes her big comeback from the episode “BATS.” The ending features some of the best dialogue from any MLP comic to date. The Apples themselves were more on the annoying side, but the issue was definitely great nonetheless.