Pony roller derby, GO!
It's time to look at the second entry in Sunny's quest to prove her and her team's metal at the most competitive derby in G5 Equestria! What we have is a unique opportunity to talk about her character and why she's often considered a main character with a usurped lead.
Catch the full review and spoilers after the break!
Art
Every praise I offered in the previous issue remains strong here. Though the biggest criticism–overly exaggerated proportions–is not present. It seems like artist Haines refined her style even further with the first issue. The big focus now is now on funny reactions, such as a weepy Sunny being intimidated by Zipp. This once again plays into the strength of a "Tell Your Tale" style that allows for greater exaggeration in expressions and actions.
Plus, Haines continues to put in the extra effort to add some diversity and style to background ponies. Even the fictional "history" ponies in Two Bits' recounting have distinct looks, including cutie marks and mane styles.
Speaking of styles, getting a closer look at the character Kiki Kaboom
makes me view her as a dark version of Zipp. Maybe it's the coat or the
mane color choices. What really drives home an evil vibe is the darkness
around her eyes. Looking back at the previous issue, this seems to be
an element that comes and goes randomly. Maybe only when Kiki is at her
worst... which, visual speaking, is pretty dang good!
Turn her eyes yellow and I'd say she's gone to the dark side.
Synopsis
The first practice for Sunny's motley derby team is off to a poor start. Sniffles, Oopsie Daisy, and the inexplicable Pegasnails are struggling to match her demands for speed and she hasn't even explained the game's rules.
Introducing the passing elements doesn't do much to enhance the team's confidence, to the Slammers delight. They take the opportunity of Pipp giving Sunny a reality check to poach the new recruits and lure them over to be Slammers benchwarmers just to antagonize Sunny. Tina Two Bits sweetens the deal with a bogus story about how ponies discovered roller skating spontaneously and the derby arose over teams competing for the same track.
Outraged at this intrusion, Sunny agrees to compete in the Kentucky Derby, to the shock of all her friends. There's a falling out that is only reconciled by the pegasnails' helpful advice. Thus Sunny's team is a collection of friends, minus Misty.
Practice proves to be draining until the team pools their talents to add an element of play. But no amount of enjoyment can quell Tracy Tailspin's shock about the Derby, which was to entire reason her own career came to an end.
Tracy declares she's out but returns the next morning to apologize for her sudden departure and commit to helping Sunny's team become the best possible in anticipation of this hyper-competitive competition.
Review
Let's get some of the basics out of the way before we tackle the real juicy elements. This second issue is meant to escalate the tension and push Sunny & Co. into the titular event. Yet to get there, we must have a journey with the threats of the group breaking apart or some pony withdrawing their support. We witness both in a single issue, and both are immediately resolved.
Let's be honest: I don't think anyone but the youngest readers would think any of these events would last forever. So I get the sense the story would rather get them out o the way rather than draw out a false tension. The real tease for the next issue is Tracy's history and how it will raise the stakes even further for Sunny's... Wait, what is her team called? "Sunny's Stars"? "The Maritime Manglers"? "The Snail Squad"?
At least I have a few more names with which to work this time! Kiki Kaboom and Tina Two Bits. Still no name for this fellow, but he doesn't even get a speaking role this time. Whatever the case, we get a little bit more insight into their perspective via the bogus story Two Bits tells. Sunny does a fine job of pointing out the contradictions and inconsistencies in this story, so I feel my own commentary is unneeded.
The thing is that, even in fiction, we can express our own values, criteria, and even sense of honor. The main idea behind this absurdist story is that the game of Roller Derby is open to anyone who is willing to fight for it. The Slammers may be resting on their own victories too much, but they seem to respect anyone who is willing to stand their ground. Perhaps that's why they harassed Sunny during tryouts. She had speed, but didn't display any aggression.
I'm not saying they were right to do so, but this mentality harkens to some aspects in the real world. In particular, the book "The Way of Men" by Jack Donovan. It's a book that puts too much emphasis on groupthink and avoiding personal morality, but it does raise an interesting point. The sense of honored shared by the roller derby ponies in this story relies more on the willingness to fight, not necessarily victory. Much the same way Donovan advocates that trying and failing at a task will earn you far more respect with a group than not trying at all.
To earn their respect, Sunny must meet their challenge on the track. However, I doubt their arrogance will abate if the Slammers utterly destroy Sunny's team. Plus, it's pretty cowardly to lure away her potential team members and sabotage her team before they can even work out a practice routine. These Slammers have an ideal, but they continue to fall short.
Yet Sunny must meet them on their own terms because–per the hero's journey–they are the gatekeepers. Sunny cannot test herself and grow unless she first challenges them at their own game. Now's the time to talk about our dear Sunny Bunny as it's a rare treat to have her be so assertive.
That's because Sunny doesn't get to do a lot that requires such. Her ambitions have always been limited, so that even the main villain is disappointed. Remember Opaline and the community garden? But lest you lay blame at the feet of the current writers, I will correct this! Because this is a weakness for Sunny's character that started with the G5 movie itself! Recall the argument between Sunny and Hitch at the movie's beginning.
There are two elements of Sunny's character in the works here. The first is that her priority has always been and remains Maritime Bay. Her goal was to make it a place where unicorns and Pegasi would feel welcome. She only left this area of security when the outside world intruded. Once magic was restored, Sunny was right back to modifying Maritime Bay with no ambitions for the outside world. Getting her to step beyond that comfort zone has always required a new, external element to make itself known. That's why I'm hoping Sunny's recent questions about other existing alicorns will spur her to step beyond Maritime Bay and live up to the "scout" in her name.
The second element is Sunny's naïveté, which is further exemplified in her first practice. Sunny continually operates under the assumption that a good action will take care of itself. Thus she rarely considers what could go wrong thus doesn't have much by way of planning. This lackadaisical aspect of her character is why she feels like she's no longer the main character. When compared to driven characters like Zipp or emotional investments like Misty, I fear Sunny can't keep up and thus falls by the wayside. That's why I appreciate that she's much more driven here and her friends are either helping accomplish this goal or helping keep Sunny in check.
It's been a standard since Friendship is Magic that–when an episode focuses on just one pony–the other characters or even the town become victims of their misadventure. Rare is the episode that shows the characters coming up with creative solutions as supporters or as a group. So I'm glad that Pipp is serving as perspective for Sunny while Izzy's creativity helps set up the roller rink with Hitch and Zipp handles physical feats. This may be Sunny's story, but every pony is shining in their supportive roles.
Thus we're on track to the big match-up, but let's also acknowledge that all of this is important because a story gives the game meaning. Even with next to zero interest in sports, I can appreciate some of the personal stories that flow within the franchises. We glorify the memory Babe Ruth for that famous "called shot".
And we keep building up personal stories throughout the seasons. Just in 2023 we had stories like KJ Adams, who became the most improved player in college basketball because his mother asked the coach to "make him an a**hole." Or how Angels player Zac Kristofak rose above the tragedy of his father killing his mother, and his gratitude to the baseball community that helped lift him up. And Garrett Olin makes a concentrated effort at both games and interacting with the fans to keep his father Steve's memory alive. None of these stories have anything to do with the outcome of a game, and yet I think that knowing all these helps make people more invested in their favorite teams. By that same notion, we care about this concept because it features a rookie who is fighting to earn respect, and a veteran who suffered a fall from grace because of the same competition. Knowing both these stories adds greater meaning than if we just witness a roller derby.
Of course, there's one character-based conflict yet to unfold. How is Misty going to react to seeing Sunny and the other on the opposing team? Is she going to try her hardest or ask her team to go easy and likely be disappointed. I doubt there's room for that realization until the day of the contest, which is at least two months out. Next month I suspect will be all about Tracy. Until then, I think this was a decent issue that requires some digging to realize what its getting at. The surface-level is a rapid series of events with characters going and returning in just a breath. Hopefully, we've put the engineered conflict behind us so that the character elements can make this a stronger investment.
I'm Silver Quill. Thanks for reading!
