Bunch of comics
My Little Pony #14
If you haven't been paying attention to the fandom, Violette has been getting fanart ever since the cover was first previewed months ago. Given that, I was worried that she would end up diverging from what fans expected, or that this would be a notably weak story, but thankfully that wasn't the case.
The story is straightforward. Izzy's friend Violette, a young filly with an unusual coat, comes to visit, but she gets in trouble and becomes upset about standing out. She then runs into a family of zebras (!!!) who tell her about their own experiences with discrimination. The mother zebra gives Violette a potion that will allow her to fit in, but it backfires and Violette realizes she prefers her own coat.
Then it undermines its own message on vitiligo and looking different by suggesting to Violette that she could be a special pony race.
In a vacuum, the story is fine and cute, but with everything else, it's strange to just have zebras in town with no explanation of where they all were, other than somewhere in the woods; and we know more zebras likely won't show up for a while. It's sad that the zebras are now discriminated against for being zebras (rather than Zecora being a mysterious stranger), even if that was the case for every pony race. Also, I guess Pipsqueak was a special pony that got treated badly by everyone?
In terms of characterization, Posey is a jerk, so her yelling at a kid makes sense, but Pipp doing the same was a surprise, even if she felt bad about it after.
The art was cute, and managed to be pretty consistent about Violette's pattern.
Silver Quill's review expresses the feeling I have, where there's a lot that's strange about the story, but ultimately, it's still a story I'd recommend.
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My Little Pony 40th Anniversary
Though this book is about the original toys, there is one story set in G5, so I'll just go ahead and include it in this thread.
First of all, I have the general thought that going in on nostalgia and the joy of childhood and such doesn't ring right when it's specifically about a corporate IP like this. This impacts the first, and largest, story the most, I think. If it was about some property invented for the story, I would have been more willing to get invested in this tale of friends drifting apart then coming back together, but then you throw in that it's because their parents bought these toys and ugh.
In any case, I wasn't a huge fan of the first story. It's set in the 80's with... well, what I said above. There are panels where the art style works, but it's just too plain and undetailed for my taste.
The second story was set in G5, with them uncovering an existing G1 book among Argyle's research. It was cute, and the art was really nice—seriously, the best I've ever seen the G5 characters drawn—but conceptually it was strange that Sunny and the others were trying to parse historical information from what was clearly written for children.
The third story, about a G1 aunt and her G5 niece connecting, had really cute art, and was generally sweet.
Silver Quill's review points out that a non-IP first story would have had the girls move on from their friendships being based on a shared IP and form something new, but it needs to boost this IP so that isn't what happens.
Camp Bighoof #1
I'm curious about how this miniseries came about. It isn't a compelling marketable premise and I'm pretty sure there isn't a toyset for this.
Despite my confusion about why this exists, it's nice seeing the ponies help out foals, and the art is pretty cute. The colors are nice, especially since we're in a new setting.
Silver Quill's review points out that the ponies blend into the background a bit, which I can see. He applauds Hitch and Sunny's role in the story, particularly Sunny helping cheer up a colt.
Overall, it's nice, but not exactly a must-read.
My Little Pony #15
There isn't much to this story, just featuring Izzy decorating a tree house and then having to deal with animals. However, the art is really cute and Izzy acts cute.
Silver Quill's review brings up Izzy's unicycling and her ability to see the good in trash, and I felt that's a big part of what made this issue enjoyable.
Endless Summer
This was a nice story about Sunny learning to appreciate the end of summer, and we actually get some dead dad angst! That's been an oddly underutilized part of G5 (though I suppose Applejack rarely touched on her dead parents). It also seems like Sunny has seasonal affective disorder; it would have been nice to have that spelled out so kids reading can recognize it.
I enjoyed seeing everyone recreate the different seasons and talking with Sunny about what she liked about them.
The art was nice, though the faces looked a bit off to me.
Silver Quill's review suggests this is due to high eyebrows and a ridge from the eyebrow to the muzzle.
There isn't much to say about this, but it's nice.
Camp Bighoof #2
This was alright. I was pretty surprised the ending went the direction it did, with Bighoof just showing up in the camp. I did like how the ponies helped make the colts and fillies feel better.
The art is charming at points, though I'm not quite sure a story like this is best suited for it. There are some pretty panels, but it just feels flat a lot of the time.
Silver Quill's review points out that having them decide that the avalanche isn't a big deal undermines the threat a lot.
My Little Pony #16
This was a really fun issue with great art. Pipp's interactions with the Pippsqueaks are cute, and it makes me wish they did anything close to what they did with the Cutie Mark Crusaders with them. At least something to differentiate their personalities. Anyway, the core of the story is Pipp and Zipp, as each handle different parts of an upcoming celebration. The story progresses to them thinking the other has it easy, of course, but I think they managed to give convincing reasons for both to feel this way.
The story also introduces a new magical creature, Milkyway the nymph. They appear helpful at first, but they appear to have something more sinister in mind. Curious if there's a lore explanation for what's up for them or if there's just a random new reality warper. Milkyway is alright, but not super compelling.
Silver Quill's review asks if this is the first appearance of the Pippsqueaks in the comics and... huh, I guess that's why I felt the need to comment on them. He notes that Sunny and Izzy playing instruments for Pipp is pretty clearly just to get them involved in the story, but it's fun seeing them play instruments so it's fine.
We're starting a new arc, and it's actually all together this time. This is a good start to it.