This what happens when you try to go to the beach...you get head-crabs.
Catch a wave or build a sand castle or para-sail through the sky with the G5 crew!
So, how was it? Well, unfortunately, my local comics shop's comics got a little delayed this week. It happens from time to time. They might be in tomorrow or maybe not. We'll see. (...the beach eludes me even in comic book form...)
Anyway, the thread's up for anyone else who might want to talk about the issue.
And for the record, I don't THINK all four of the Endless Summer Specials released today connect together, story wise. They're all just summer themed. They do have a neat connecting cover on the B Covers, though.
My comic shop got their comics in today, so I can actually TALK about this now!
Art wise....this is kind of a weird one. The art is actually really good. The panel layouts on each page are well done. It's well paced. The characters' body language is really expressive. But...some of these faces are...off putting to say the least. All the ponies look so...square-jawed and sometimes too "flat-faced". And some of the expressions just feel off, making the characters look manic. Everyone's just...maybe a little TOO smiley? The faces just give the artwork a uncanny valley effect, if anything, for me. The effect is strange. Because this doesn't feel like stylization, it just feels like this artist couldn't QUITE get the models down in their style. If you could just tweak the faces though, this would be really good art. Making the G5 models work in 2D is always a challenge though, and this artist definitely tries.
Writing-wise, this one's fine. It's actually got a sweet little plot. The stakes are pretty low, but it's cute. Things happen. The characters are in character. A very minor problem is solved. It's kind of just there, but this would have been a cute episode of TYT or MYM. The dialogue isn't as quotable as some of the other writers, but it's solid. It works. There's nothing really wrong here, but there's nothing that really stands out, especially.
Now, is this worth the extra dollar tacked onto the price? Meeeh? It's okay, but...it should have just been a little shorter for the normal $4 price. This is just maybe a slightly above-average issue of the MLP comic. It's sweet, but light fare.
Onward to the spoilers!
Right away, we have Sunny waxing nostalgic about her dad. And she probably brings up her dad more in this issue of the comic than any of the other issues of the comic that came before. It's not enough to be a actual plot point, but her dad's clearly on her mind.
Goodness, Sunny's tongue is HUGE when she's ordering ice cream. She could almost lick her eye in this panel.
"Filliehood of the Travelling Hooves" See! This issue even has background gags. Not a lot of them, but they're here! I really can't call this art bad...even if all the ponies look like they're being played by Bruce Campbell.
Oh, but we get the problem of the issue...FALL IS COMING! And Sunny isn't ready for the Summer fun to be over yet.
"How did I not see the END coming?" You know....if I was paranoid (and I AM!) I would say this was a meta-commentary moment from the writer about IDW losing the MLP license. Of course we haven't gotten news about that AT ALL. But...we also haven't gotten cover images past issue #20 yet, when we usually do by now. And the connecting covers for #19 and #20 KIND OF remind me of the connecting covers we got when the G4 comic ended. And this entire "Endless Summer" mini-"event" kind of feels like IDW having one last hurrah with it's licensed comics before they might lose some of them...just saying.
A connecting cover where the characters fly off into the sunset?
It's even the SAME ARTIST. Justyna Babinska.
COINCIDENCE?! Maybe? I don't know. It just strikes me as a choice. That's all.
"We'll see you in two shakes of a pony's tail!" I'm pretty sure that translates to about 5 seconds. Pony tails are very swishy.
Aw, no one wants to make sweaters with Izzy.
Apparently, Hitch knows summer was always Sunny's favorite season.
Okay, so the others figure out that Sunny's bummed by the season's changing, so they decide to remind her how much fun EVERY OTHER season is. Not just fall. All the rest of the Mane 5 get assigned to make fun activities about the other seasons to brighten up Sunny's mood. These are good friends. They have too much time on their hooves, but they're good friends.
Note the background unicorn with a mohawk. And one who looks like some sort of...cactus hybrid? Some effort was put into these background characters.
I don't know why they have walky talkies when they already all have phones. I guess it's just more fun this way. Some times you have to lean into the madness.
"I wish there were a way to make it summer forever" Okay, it's a good thing her friends are stepping in. Sunny's starting to get supervillian thoughts, again. And she probably has the power needed to actually pull it off!
Ahh...the secret to embracing fall...pumpkin spice. Pumpkin spice EVERYWHERE! They actually make candy apples together. Applejack would be proud.
I'm not sure if the sticks in Hitch's mane are a fashion statement, or if something happened offscreen.
Okay, that's a supervillian look on Hitch's face after Sunny leaves the pile of leaves. That's...going to be taken out of context.
Somehow, Pipp and Zipp have created a mountain of snow with a snow machine we see later for a snowball fight with Sunny. These princesses are too rich. They got a snow machine bought and delivered to the middle of the woods in less than a day. Pipp knows to pay for priority shipping, I guess.
And they even have hot chocolate ready to go. This impromptu event is incredibly well planned.
And again, we have Pipp and Zipp looking rather insidious because of the art. If they ever do a story about the Mane 5 turning evil, they need to bring back this artist. They make it work!
Izzy made fake bees to add to the fake flowers for her spring flower garden that is completely hand-crafted. That's just a step beyond, right there. Also, I'm PRETTY sure some of these flowers are Sonic the Hedgehog references.
I'm not sure why Izzy just did a downward dog pose, but it works with Izzy. Again, the art is actually REALLY expressive with it's body language.
Bunny Day gets referenced. Someone watched Tell Your Tale!
So, yeah, Sunny is thoroughly cheered up. And then they take Sunny para-sailing at the beach with a jet ski...even though she can fly...still cool, I guess.
