Comic Review: Issue #14 (Twilight's So Alone, Part 1) · 2:07pm Jan 15th, 2014
After going adventuring with pirates, it's time to settle back and enjoy a nice read. So how about a story about the ponies getting trapped in books, a bookworm eating everything, and a fictional interpretation of a pony who's actually real now becoming real again?
…
Fine, time to read the latest adventure of the ponies as they face a voracious bookworm.
Cocoon-like pods have sprung up all over Ponyville, with more and more appearing by the minute. While attempting to help AJ clear the ones at Sweep Apple Acres, Twilight discovers a far graver threat...something has been eating her books! Even worse, her entire library is in ruins, with every possible tome being devoured by an insidious – and literal – bookworm. The creature is too small and fast for her to kill (yes, she jumps straight to lethal force this time – because nothing screws Twilight's books and lives) with straight magic. So the solution is obvious: Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash will go into the book worlds and chase the worm while Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike stand guard in case the cocoons hatch.
…
Did we miss a step here?
Even worse, the cocoons actually begin to hatch, and the first one to open reveals Daring-Do. That is, the one from the books, not the actual author who's now a real adventurer because GAAAH! And the bookworm is becoming larger and larger the more it eats...
This issue was just...what.
Just like the last story, the setup is brought out at a breakneck pace just before tossing the characters into the adventure proper, but it doesn't work quite as well this time around. My brain hurts just trying to connect the dots from “a very small worm is eating my books” to “we need to go inside the books and fix the stories.” The worm's ability to travel between books is not established when it first appears, and it's not just that it's exerting influence or whatnot as it eats the pages; it's clearly becoming part of the worlds it devours, and when our heroes fix what it's doing, the pages mend themselves.
In short, what.
We get three book worlds this issue: a fairy tale collection, a Daring-Do book, and a trashy romance novel. Obviously, each one is attuned to a different pony's tastes (Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity respectively), and despite having to actually reenact the stories to fix them properly, they proceed to screw them up by revealing plot twists before they're supposed to happen, purposely distort the order of events to make themselves look cooler, and just going absolutely crazy. Twilight, meanwhile, is left trying desperately to get them to just stick to the program and not wreck anything, especially since their “fixes” also screw up her damn books. (Ever wonder how that pony in “Read It and Weep” got his entire body broken? It wasn't a Pinkie Promise; he spilled a drop of coffee on one of Twilight's encyclopedias.)
There are certainly some fun moments to be had throughout. Rarity as Rapunzel is hilarious, especially when she manages to just get out of the bloody tower on her own using a nail and her massive hair. The book worlds all have a fairly unique art style, including the ponies all having actual hooves in the fairy tale world and the Daring-Do universe being sepia tone. The bookworm is appropriately disturbing, especially as it grows larger and larger. (Note: Worms are not cuddly or cute, especially when you see them up close.) The art in general is quite good is what I'm saying.
The issue ends on a huge cliffhanger, with everything gone to hell and our heroes pretty much doomed. Still, I think I have a solid prediction of how this will turn out...
In closing, this issue...boggles my mind. I really need next month's installment to properly sort all this madness. It's fun, sure, but still...such a jump.
So it was like a very wierd crackfic?
Guess full judgement will occur when the next issue comes out, alright that sounds good.
They seem to be going for 2-issue arcs lately. So far I haven't seen a comic that I wouldn't pay money for (i.e. I'm buying the trade paperbacks as they become available).
Yeah, that was pretty strange. All the villains popping out of the cocoons at the end was interesting, there was a ponified Loki so I'm assuming they were all references.
Granted, the solution to get rid of the worm by DIVING INTO THE BOOKS THEMSELVES was a) blindsiding and b) lightly undertaken (seriously, she shot one book, and Spike made one slap at it before they tried that), so that was pretty strange, but once past the hasty, hasty setup, I honestly did enjoy it.
Also don't forget that we've got Loki, Voldemort, Maleficient and... some guy I'm assuming is a Disney villain pop out in the final page, so the Ponyvillians are in for a bit of a fight on their end. The phrase "The beast is ready to emerge." is pretty ominous too, so I'm looking forward to the next issue.
On the other hand, I'm not sure whether or not to be wary of the teaser page for the next issue, which has Twilight dressed as Harry Potter. Given we've seen Voldemort, (and Maleficient; Rarity may be wearing Sleeping Beauty's tiara, but it's a bit of a stretch) the references may become excruciatingly, painfully obvious.
Aside from the jarring jump from there's a worm eating my books to we've got to travel into the books, I found this issue to be really entertaining. Sure, the references are obvious but I'm interested in seeing how they all play out in the next issue; especially considering that we see a ponified Voldemort, Maleficent, and Loki enter Ponyville at the end and the teaser page shows Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie dressed up as various fictional characters (my favorite was Twilight as Harry Potter
).
Huh... yeah, that does sound a bit awkward. Still, rushed as it is to the point of irrational jumps in logic, I almost prefer this setup as an excuse to go book diving than the nearly complete lack of explanation given for the comicbook in Power Ponies.
Plot was nonsensical, jokes fell flat, art was okay. Why were the first few pages wasted on Applejack? It would have been easier for the rest of the main six to come running to Twilight's library when she screamed bloody murder at the bookworm eating her books and freed up some space. Also, cocoons, why? The characters could have popped out of the tattered remains of the books; more freed space and less lolwut-inducing. Only good bit was the reference to Snow White/most Disney princesses and them singing to animals.
Twilight's so alone? Is that the actual title of the arc?
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As far as I can tell, the story has no official title. I just thought I'd reference this classic bit of fandom:
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