Writer: Christina Rice

Artist: Agnes Garbowska

I wouldn’t normally read a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic.  It’s not that I have any opposition to the book; it’s just that I’m a red-blooded American male who would rather spend his time reading about zombies or capes and tights.  I’m doing this as a favor to my daughter, who loves ponies and Hello Kitty and all things adorable.  So I initially had to drag myself through this comic in order to properly review it.

And then came the Big Lebowski reference.

Right in the middle of what I assume is a typical story about ponies and friendship and putting aside differences to help each other out, there it is.  An instantly recognizable cameo by Walter and the Dude…as ponies, but still, there’s no doubt that it’s them.

Suddenly, the comic became much more manageable for me as someone who’s probably not in the target audience of this title.  For this, I will give the creators credit–the Lebowski reference will be completely over the heads of the kids reading the comic.  But it might be an opportunity for parents and kids to realize that they have common interests in the book–ponies for the kids, pop-culture references for the parents.  In doing so, it’ll let them read the book together and bond over it.  (I’m aware that an earlier issue of MLP:FIM had a shout-out to Quantum Leap, so maybe this kind of thing is a regular gag.)

So, the comic: the annual Ponyville Days Festival is fast approaching and the pony population is busy squabbling with itself.  Twilight Sparkle and Spike need to motivate the ponies to get the town ready, but nobody wants to cooperate with each other.  They get the ponies to work on individual projects, but when the town is flooded with visitors, can they get them to work together to solve a crisis?

Christina Rice writes a fairly standard tale of friendship and problem-solving, but kids will enjoy seeing the ponies put aside their differences.  Even if the plot is nothing original, she accurately captures the personalities of the ponies from the television show.  While Agnes Garbowska’s art doesn’t precisely capture the flash-animation style of the show, she does keep the characters recognizable, and does an impressive job of having the ponies emote in reaction to various scenes.

If your household has a kid who’s into MLP:FIM, this issue will make a decent gateway drug to get them into the comic shop.  If you’re reading it with them, you just might get lucky and find a Big Lebowski joke.

Rating: Three and a half out of five bronies.

Reviewer: Adam Frey