Comic Review: Friends Forever #5 (Fluttershy and Zecora) · 5:21pm May 22nd, 2014
Welcome back to another exciting look at our miniature equines and their adventures in sequential art! Today we have Fluttershy teaming up with Zecora to battle back the influence of the single most awful thing mankind has ever created. Worse than nuclear weapons and germ warfare. Worse than political parties and the Carls Jr breakfast menu. And yes, even worse than G3.
I'm talking about Doctor Dolittle.
Fluttershy is doing her usual Fluttershy thing when she encounters a squirrel. She says hello to the squirrel...who then says hello right back, in perfect English to boot. Fluttershy has her typical freakout, the squirrel turns out to be speciesist against beavers, and then he runs off, promising that he'll see Fluttershy again soon. She's willing to chalk it up to being stressed out, but when the birds start talking as well, she realizes she needs help, and the only doctor she can trust is Zecora. Can the two discover what happened, and just what are the animals happening?
NOTE: If you don't want to be spoiled, please stop here. I have to discuss the ending to get my full feelings for this issue out of the way.
First, the positive. I like that it's a Fluttershy story that isn't about her getting over some form of shyness. She's still freaked out by the whole thing, but she actually takes a proactive approach once she realizes the true breadth of the issue. And it's nice to get more Zecora; her interrogation of the cats was hilarious, and they did a decent enough job getting the rhyme scheme down. The art's also pretty good, and the ending is at least cute and funny in theory.
But the issue still fails at the most fundamental thing with this series: teaming up the characters. Fluttershy and Zecora are only together a couple pages in the middle and again at the very end, and even when they are together, they never really gel together like some of the other pairings have. The two have rarely interacted on the show itself, and I think this is part of the reason why: the two simply don't have enough in common to form a strong connection.
And in the end, Zecora is utterly pointless in the story. She doesn't contribute to the solution; Fluttershy finds out what's going on by herself. You could have written her out entirely and nothing would have been affected. At most, the only thing her presence does is give Fluttershy a reason to go into the Everfree Forest, which could have been substituted for any number of things.
But worst of all is the reveal. Turns out it was Discord that was behind it all. Why? Because Fluttershy's his friend and he wanted to throw a big party for her. That's it. No evil plan. No distraction. No ulterior motive. He just wanted to throw a party. I'm all for bringing up Discord's friendship with Fluttershy and all, and it's okay to have him as the cause of the issue...but I really needed something else to it. If you like redeemed Discord, then I'm sure you'll be okay with it (and he does get a good jab at Zecora in the last panel), but it really didn't do anything for me. (Also doesn't help that Discord is the only part of the comic that isn't drawn well; his proportions and eyes just look decidedly off, and not in a good, sensible way.)
In the end, I didn't care much for this issue. It had some funny moments (Rarity working herself to where she thought her sewing machine was talking, Zecora's hut exploding because she got tablespoon and teaspoon swapped, Angel talking) and I'm glad it's not the same old Fluttershy tale, but the lackluster team-up and Discord at the end kind of ruined it for me. Maybe next time.
Next week, we get the third part of the “Reflections” arc. And after that, we begin the SUMMER OF TRIXIE! That's right, Trixie is going to be in one comic every month from June through August! And it all starts next time, with Trixie teaming up with Rainbow Dash.
Humility is now sobbing weakly in a corner.
Whoa sounds like an incredible team of arrogant blue ponies for our starting lineup.
Well, I'll probably still pick up the comic anyway, 'cause I'm apparently collecting them now.
Also, I do like to see Fluttershy as a bit more active.
I wasn't that effused about it although to me it raises the most issues about how Fluttershy's talent works. I had sort of assumed she could directly understand animals but this sort of suggests its more of an empathy thing.
Maybe I was just imagining it, but I did like the Q/Guinan dynamic that Discord and Zecora had towards the end.
On the whole a so-so issue IMO. Not the best but not the worst.