Holiday cheer? What's that? I'm about to review a comic that makes a lot of people upset.
Yet there can be opportunity in why something upsets people so much. Let's have a look at the 2014 annual for Equestria Girls.
Click for more but be aware of holiday spoilers!
Even after four movies, the Equestria Girls spinoff remains a tender spot. Many fans avoid it completely while others have warmed to the idea. Comics staring this set of pastel-hued bipeds are few and far between, and so any entry is guaranteed to draw debate.
I hear some folks recorded Thanksgiving guests on security cameras.
Let's hope this isn't the case!
Art wise, Tony Fleecs did an admirable job capturing the look of Canterlot High and its strangely-proportioned student body. It's not just the lead cast that enjoys a lot of detail. Even background humans receive some detailed looks that match the movies. Given that these characters are much more complex than a standard background pony, that's no small achievement.
Behold the Hot Topic horde!
Though I noticed an odd trend. Look at a panel that features multiple characters in one shot, especially background characters. How many of them have their eyes open? Often times it seems like a 50-50 split.
Given the task of drawing various humans in diverse clothing styles, I'm not sure if this is a way to cut down on the details or add diversity to their expressions. Maybe both. Yet my greatest enjoyment for the art lies in Heather Breckel's winter coloring. Much like my favorite panel in the Applejack Micro, seeing the warmly colored cast contrasted against chill blues and whites really conveys the winter chill.
A beautiful opening.
Shifting to the story, this comic has already received one criticism this week. At the time of this post, comic reviewer Linkara reviewed the 2015 holiday special featuring the ponies. He made one comment on the EqG special that might be the most damning statement of all.
"I didn't think there was much stuff I could make fun of."
There are times it's fun to step back and joke about the very thing we celebrate. Even today I look at how active I've been in the fandom, the topic of interest, and laugh at how I got here. Some of the best pony stories feature extreme and bizarre moments that can generate memes as well as thought. This comic succeeds in the latter, but the journey is so grim that it's hard to have fun along the way. That works in some comics, but not for something bearing the MLP logo.
Get used to this heartache.
The story is very direct, but it involves hurting a lot of characters. Sunset Shimmer expresses that she hasn't had much investment in holidays. She's been either feared or shunned for much of her time at CHS, and before then she wasn't close to her family. That does make me wonder how things went when Celestia had to explain the family's daughter had trotted off to another dimension.
Applejack and company resolve to make this holiday special with a series of slumber parties. Big theme running throughout this is that friends become part of the family. When not updating her status on MyStable (I see what you did there!), Pinkie is marginally excited.
Turns out Sunset can't hear Pinkie. But every dog in the neighborhood can.
Not so much the little sisters in the story, who are constantly snubbed. It's here that we start to see the ups and downs of continuity. For starters, Sunset expresses that she doesn't get slumber parties, even though she's already been to at least one in Rainbow Rocks. One might counter that this could be set before that movie's events, but Sunset makes heavy use of the magical journal introduced there.
"Didn't we do this with Twilight Sparkle?"
"Who?"
A more strong continuity chord strikes when an online gossip, "Anon-A-Miss" (Again, see what you did there!) starts posting the human six's personal events. This comic really hits on the concept of cyber bullying and how our inter-connected lives can have far reaching damage. Case in point, Applejack's childhood nickname "Piggly Wiggly" is something shared between those whom she regards as close and family. Spread that to a population and you haven't just told and embarrassing story. You've cheapened a memory and bond.
Same problem rises when photos Sunset took of another slumber party get leaked online. Now a bit of silliness shared in trust is being exposed, souring the group's connections.
You'd think embarrassing Fluttershy would be considered a freebie.
Any troll with an ounce of pride would refuse such a gimme.
To go back to Linkara's statement, there's really no way to poke fun at this situation without taking it to an even darker extreme.
Think Shed.mov and you'll know what I mean.
We also get to witness a darker side of both high school and larger culture as people start feeding Anon-A-Miss embarrassing secrets from the whole student body. Pretty soon everyone is suspecting and resenting one another. All fingers point towards Sunset, who is left abandoned by even the core group. We get to witness her weeping on the floor, twice. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Did Sunset reconstruct Twilight's book bed, or did CHS never restock the shelves?
This does lead to the strongest moment in the comic. Sunset communicates via magic diary with Twilight. There, see? Just read that sentence again. Have a good step back and laugh at the more wonderfully weird ways this series can work.
"I recommend using 'A History of Cement' for a pillow. It's surprisingly comfortable."
A lot of people talk about handling bullying with silence, while I've heard others encourage violence. I don't think there's enough emphasis on wit. You have an embarrassing nickname? Own it. Take control and define the name rather than let it define you. Many people have overcome hazing by showing how the words don't bother them. Not by staying silent as Applejack shows, but by having a good laugh themselves. It's unfortunate that we don't get to see the human six rally and pool their talents to improve the situation. That would have been a greater showing of how, despite the problems we can spread online, we can improve the situation as people.
Girls, ATTACK!
That's because the final focus is spent revealing Anon-A-Miss' identity. Anyone who saw Ponyville Confidential can guess the inspiration for having the human CMC be the source of these rooms. It started as resentment for being left out by their big sisters, but that motive makes it worse. With a lot of online trolls or TMZ style groups, there's at least an explanation that they're sociopaths. One shouldn't expect better from them.
I just thought I'd ruin your friendship and make you all pariahs because I wanted us to be closer!
These three are supposed to be similar to their pony counterparts, though I've noticed that the EqG cast tend to be worse than their pony twins. Diamond Tiara will punch passer-bys in the face. Trixie will trap people for hours without the need of an alicorn amulet. Don't get me started on the human Shining Armor. Now we can add the CMC (or whatever they're called here) to the list. The pony CMC made a mistake with Gabby Gums, but the human CMC were malicious and calculating. They started off wanting to hurt someone and I don't understand why they kept posting people's secrets.
Sweetie, we gotta work on your penitent face. Less smile, more lip tremble!
Much like the pony world, they're forgiven instantly. Especially by Fluttershy.
Or maybe not. There is talk about detention, but no interpersonal consequence. It feels like the happy ending is forced. Yes, we do forgive our family for many wounds and misunderstandings, but we don't do it overnight. It takes time and effort to mend that rift and sadly this comic doesn't have the advantage of multiple issues.
This is a heavy comic and not all that cheerful. It explores the darker side our culture while taking place in an optimistic season. Most holidays are aimed at reminding us to be better. Historical holidays want us to be respectful towards the past. Thanksgiving urges us to be grateful and generous. Christmas is supposed to be about celebrating our best virtues.
That doesn't mean denying our weaknesses, but there's not enough counter-balance in this story to offset the negativity. The student body is still awful, the CMC's confession and apology is too little and too late, and our heroines haven't gotten to show their best after such a low point. We leave the EqG world for a time, seeing it as a much darker place.
If you haven't read this comic, I wouldn't recommend it. The topic of cyber bullying is competing too much with themes of fiends, family, and the holidays. This was something that needed more time to flesh out.
So in many ways I'm glad to have this reviewed and out of the way early in December. Better stories on the horizon and happier tales.
I'm Silver Quill. Thanks for reading!
