Hey there, sorry for the delay. Here we are with the start of a new, exciting G5 miniseries: The Storm of Zephyr Heights. But just like we need to weather the storm before we can see the rainbow, or have a cloud to find the silver lining, we need to talk about some less than pleasant things, and I don't just mean the inevitable spoiler warnings for this review.
Let's get this out of the way.
As many people in the fandom will already know, this September 24th was the third anniversary of the premiere of My Little Pony: A New Generation, the movie that started Generation 5. It was announced that same day by Hasbro that My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale would come to an end on October 17th, basically signaling the end of G5. With the lack of any solicitations for further G5 comics, it seems a fair assumption to believe that this comic miniseries will be the last hurrah for the G5 cast in its own right.
Indeed, this miniseries was originally meant to be five issues (and called The Storm in Zephyr Heights), before being condensed into three issues, However the writer, Jeremy Whitley, has taken to Twitter to confirm that the second and third issues will be double length to ensure that nothing that was going to appear in the five issue story plan would be cut out or condensed now that it's going to be three issues. It will be finished and it will all be included. He also stated that he had no knowledge of the end of G5 or that the comic would come out after Make Your Mark and Tell Your Tale had concluded.
Given all that, while we can perhaps hope to see the G5 crew again as part of some future cross-generational MLP works, this will likely be the last time they have their own series.
I shared my own thoughts on Twitter, which got a bit more traction than I’m used to commonly getting, so I won’t take time here to recapitulate my thoughts on G5, the good and the bad, and what I attribute the end of the series to. What I will say here is that this has naturally been quite a bitter blow to fans of G5, which is all the more tragic when a series ends so abruptly, without resolution, with many things left unanswered or unexplored; not being allowed to conclude on its own terms.
No matter what one’s personal thoughts about G5, virtually everyone active in fandom culture has had this happen to at least one series (be it for TV, comics, games, movies, or otherwise) that they cared about (e.g. Pirates of Dark Water, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Sonic the Hedgehog-SatAM, Sym-Bionic Titan, Wander Over Yonder, Mao Mao, 101 Dalmatian Street, Infinity Train, The Owl House, Inside Job, Dogs in Space, Young Justice--to name but a few) and people in fandom spaces should be willing and able to express empathy to those fans who were devotees of G5, regardless of their own personal opinions as to the quality of G5 itself.
I could take the time to wag my finger at how divided the fandom is on the qualities of G5 as compared to Friendship is Magic, but honestly, the fandom has never not been divided and don't believe any other fandom has been either. I'm unsure what an undivided fandom would even look like. I started going to pony meet ups and conventions all the way back in 2011 and there were debates about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their episodes, about how well the Elements of Harmony lined up with the Mane Six, about Twilight subsequently becoming a princess, etc. Put simply, division is the natural state of affairs of any fanbase and this should be recognized and accepted. The writer and political thinker Isaac Deutscher once opined, “All human thinking and all human organization is subject to differentiation. Whether you like it or not, ‘squabbling’ is the stuff of life; do not be contemptuous of it. What to you is squabbling is nothing else but differentiation in thinking.” This is especially true when the alternative to a divided fanbase is one that's a giant echo chamber of itself, which is hardly an improvement.
Obviously, in asserting this I'm not saying that all opinions are equally valid, equally well argued, nor does it mean that there isn't some basic feathering decency that people should observe in the course of making their views known. To say the least, booing at Bahia Watson, Misty's voice actor, at Czequestria because you didn't particularly care for G5 is absolutely not acceptable. By the same token, badgering and making accusations against Andy Price on social media because you don't like how he depicted a character is likewise not acceptable.
I could go on at length, but I will conclude by pointing out that the cancellation of G5 has less to do with fan reactions, positive or negative, and more to do with the state of the entertainment industry (movies, TV shows, animation, and comics alike), the straits Hasbro finds itself in, as well other factors--all of which pose questions about the fate of MLP in general. We've haven't received word of any new monthly solicitations for any comics featuring MLP, be it FiM or G5, for the first time in over a decade. It's possible there's simply a lull and there will be more comics with FiM cast ... but it's also possible that there won't be. So anyone making cruel or gloating comments about the end of G5 might want to dwell on whether or not this will signify not only the end of G5, but the end of the continuous story drawing on Twilight Sparkle and her friends that started fourteen years ago.
With that said, let's get to the comic itself.
If this indeed the end of the line for MLP comics with IDW, then it’s only fitting that the artistic crew responsible for starting it all has come back to be with us at the end. We have veteran pony artist Andy Price back to litter the comic with various background references and homages (largely Star Trek, Batman, and horror movies) and some of the most exaggerated and comical facial expressions ponies can be made to have in any form. Heather Breckel is also back to provide the colors, having done so for pretty much the entirety of the various FiM series put out by IDW. This creative duo has been all-but joined at the hip going all the way back to Friendship is Magic #1 (“The Return of Queen Chrysalis”) back in November 2012.
Remember this image? Because I’m sure your nightmare still do!
Jeremy Whitley mentioned on Twitter that the penciling duties for the series will be split between Andy Price and Kate Sherron, who's done a number of issues of the FiM series as well as Camp Bighoof for G5. When it was going to be five issues, Andy would've done the odd-numbered issues (#'s 1, 3, 5) and Kate the even-numbered issues (#'s 2 and 4). Not quite sure how that'll work now that the series is three issues, potentially we'll have the next two issues with Andy price doing pencils for the first half of each issue and Kate doing the pencils for the second half of each issue.
Speaking of, Jeremy Whitley is the writer for this series, another old hand responsible for a great many individual issues and arcs of Friendship is Magic, Friends Forever, and several miniseries, including the fondly remembered Nightmare Knights. While some fans responded to the announcement of him as the main writer of this series by decrying the Season 10 comics, it's worth pointing out that Hasbro, eager to wind down FiM and pave the way for G5, cut the planned number of comics they were to have in order to tell the story of Season 10. Sound familiar? Perhaps it'd be better if fans kept information about the role of companies like that in mind before savaging other fans, or the creative people involved, on social media.
Just. Saying.
Now, our story begins with Queen Haven preparing to go on vacation for a full week to spend time with Alphabittle, despite Zipp’s concerns.
I find Haven’s self-absorption more comical than anything else, but I imagine if I actually had to work for her, I’d find her as insufferable as the poor maid here no doubt does.
Zipp’s objection to her mom going on vacation is that the kingdom would fall apart without her, citing a near-government collapse that occurred when Haven once took an overly-long bath. I’d say that seems absurd for anyplace other than Belgium, but stones and glass houses.
The queen at one point asks when is she ever not serious. You tell me.
This actually is one of my deepest criticisms of Equestria, both in FiM and in G5: how utterly paralyzed their society becomes as soon as their monarch is even temporarily indisposed. If it weren't for a handful of exceptional individuals (i.e. primarily the Mane Six) their societies would simply grind to a halt while everypony else waited around for somepony to tell them what to do. Whether it's a crisis or it's simply determining trends in food or fashion, there seem to be a small cadre of ponies whose opinions are taken as gospel and the rest of the herd simply fall into line behind them.
Celestia could be the kindest, smartest, wisest, most far-seeing, best decision-making ruler that the series (somewhat) tried to depict her as ... but if she hasn’t prepared ponies to show some initiative, make decisions on their own, to not be utterly dependent on her, then at the end of the day--regardless of all her other achievements--then in my view, she’s failed as a leader.
To quote another royal figure:
It's like Shining Armor’s crappy security system in “Sparkle's Seven”: if things only work when you’re physically there to personally oversee it in operation, then you haven’t done a good job at building the damn thing. In any case, Haven concedes that Zipp has a point and recognizes she needs a regent to rule in her stead during her absence—and that regent should be Zipp herself.
Zipp takes the news well.
I think Amy Mebberson remains the gold-standard for the G5 comic series, but I have missed Andy Price’s insanely expressive works. They’re, no pun intended, priceless.
We are treated to Zipp having a royal freak out at the prospect of running the kingdom for a week. She grants a willingness to eventually rule the kingdom--after she's traveled the world and solved all the mysteries out there to be solved, but not yet.
Shake, Rattle, and Roll!
This is one of the things I really enjoy about Zipp and why she's my favorite G5 character. We've all seen the Disney princess who doesn't want to be a princess. But that really isn't what Zipp has got going on per se. She may dislike a lot of pampering and duller aspects involved with it, but she also knows and accepts that she will be queen someday. She just doesn't want to lose her freedom to act yet.
Multiple times across the different G5 series, we see her act as the driving force within the group, the one with the motivation to act and a plan to realize their goal, whatever it may be. She's also the pony allowed to be observant and even suspicious of others and have her insights be validated. In a series that's all about friendship and trust and all that, I remember being frustrated several times in FiM when Rainbow Dash expressed similar views of a friend who was behaving unusually or a less than trustworthy figure who proclaimed themselves to be a friend (i.e. Discord) only to be overruled and shut down by her friends because being suspicious isn't "nice" ... only for Rainbow Dash to frequently have been correct in her assessment and this is never recognized or acknowledged in the show.
Just saying is all...
You know, not to beat a (potentially literal) dead horse or anything, but Zipp’s totally understandable reaction to Haven here really underscores how poorly the Season 9 premiere depicted Celestia when she dumped ruling Equestria on Twilight.
Bear in mind: Zipp has known and has accepted since birth that she will one day be queen. She’s even known about her mother’s planned vacation for some weeks. Zipp is probably one of (if not the) calmest, most organized, and most level-headed member of the G5 cast (discounting her little mohawk poof whose origins we also find out here)—and she’s still sent into a tailspin over the news that she has to temporarily be in charge for a week: because that is how a rational person behaves when given a responsibility of that magnitude.
Now compare that to Celestia who, in her timeless wisdom, chose to drop the announcement on Twilight without any forewarning whatsoever. She was basically oblivious, if not out and out dismissive, of Twilight’s own very rational reservations and, honestly, essentially pressured her into accepting a job she never displayed any interest in or desire for. Moreover, Celestia planned to turn it the whole kingdom over to her within a few days of her deciding this ... not on a temporary basis, but in perpetuity while Celestia galloped off into retirement. And Twilight is a pony who has a track record of not dealing well with surprises, a tendency to overthink and worry over relatively minor things ... and you go and drop the mother of all responsibilities on her without her knowledge and barely even trying to get her consent?
If I was talking to someone and they made this face at me, I wouldn't chuckle and simply wave it off as them being overly modest or a worrywart.
Just saying, if Haven is coming off as showing better judgement and better emotional intelligence than Celestia, that’s a pretty damning indictment of the latter.
As if to underscore my point, Haven knew that Zipp would no doubt be worried (to say the least) so she called in Pipp and the rest of the Mane Six to come in to offer Zipp assurance and support for the duration of her week in power.
Hitch has even left Sparky back in Maretime Bay with a sitter for the week.
Seeing the support she has, Zipp accepts the task and, in a very sweet bit, acknowledges her mom has worked hard and deserves time her with her "Alfie."
Half an hour later, we see Zipp wrapping up some royal thank you cards (hopefully for Haven's long-suffering staff) as her friends cheer her on. She's grateful, but points out they don't need to sit around watching her do paperwork and suggest they have some fun while they're there.
Pipp, naturally, has already planned things out in that regard.
Pipp shows the rest of the gang around the castle. When Sunny points out that they've been there before and seen it all already, Pipp drops a little bombshell Sunny's way: an entire library of books pulled from the castle archives.
Sunny picks up one book, titled "Love at Twilight" with a picture of Twilight Sparkle on it and comments that she'd never heard the name Flash Magnus before. I suspect that she was supposed to say Flash Sentry in reference to their whole non-relationship from Equestria Girls, but it seems like there was a writing hiccup. Not unsurprising considering the similar names. Either that or this is a whole new ship being cooked up here.
I find that seeing a character simply exuding so much sheer joy at being able to do the thing they love is honestly a really fast way to get people on board with the character, even if it isn't a hobby you're that into yourself.
Still potentially my favorite moment with Applejack.
As Izzy said when she saw Zipp looking overjoyed when hovering/flying in the movie, "her sparkle is so bright right now!" Although, I may have to reevaluate that position after seeing the expression Izzy makes when Pipp leads her to the royal craft room because SWEET CELESTIA--!
There's some of Andy Price's patented Star Trek references littered here as some of the colors are Star Trek homages, like command yellow (a reference to command officers wearing yellow uniforms in The Original Series) and Borg gray (the cybernetic zombie race from The Next Generation). For a breakdown of the ones he made with the book titles, see the end of the review.
Izzy dives into a pile of crafting supplies, Misty apparently staying behind with her. She doesn't get her own room which I suppose fits. What would her hobby even be? Probably not board games for a while. In a simultaneously sweet and kind of sad moment earlier, when the Mane Six were offering to help Zipp, Misty's comment was "you probably don't need my help with anything, because you're so awesome but if you do, I'm here!" That is sweet that she thinks that highly of Zipp, but there's an undercurrent of Misty downplaying what she brings to the table which is kinda sad. So she's content to stay behind with Izzy and watch her work.
Hitch confidently asserts that nothing will distract him from making the rounds and keeping order--until Pipp shows him the royal zoo.
Pipp makes her adieu, planning to get the gang back together to meet up at the royal spa in a few hours. After some passage of time, Zipp makes her way out of the office and goes looking for Sunny. She finds her amidst a pile of books that even Twilight would call a respectable amount, clearly puzzling over something. She muses to Zipp about how many answers her dad had spent years looking for were all just right there before asking if she needed something.
If the answers her dad was looking for was in a book about Sombra, are we sure Argyle wasn't secretly a supervillain plotting to take over Equestria?
Zipp calls back to the movie by mentioning that she sprung Sunny and Izzy from prison because she wanted to show her something but got distracted with the return of magic and everything else, bringing up the poster she had down in the abandoned transit station.
Now, at the risk of being called a pedantic nerd (hardly a one-time occurrence): that doesn't quite line up with the movie. In the movie, Zipp explicitly stated that she brought them down to the station to show them the stained glass window depicting the unity crystals and the pony kinds living in harmony, not the Wonderbolts poster.
To be clear: this really, really doesn't matter. It's a clever call back to the movie and trying to expand on a moment from it in order to build for where the story is going. The fact that it doesn't perfectly line up with the movie's dialogue is not important at all. One of the great episodes of Friendship is Magic, "Amending Fences," similarly originates from a bit of a continuity tweaking. From the way the first episode, "Friendship is Magic: Part I" played, one does not get the idea at all that Twilight was friends with Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, etc. and Celestia's whole motivation in sending her to Ponyville was to make some friends--none of which lines up with the idea that Twilight already had friends in Canterlot. But the episode is so good that I really do not care if it takes liberties with how things originally went. Other fans may feel differently, which is fair, but I bring it up to explain why I don't think this is an impediment or a problem.
As it turns out here, Zipp doesn't know anything about the Wonderbolts, not even the name--which honestly explains why she looked up at their poster with such awe and reverence.
I usually don't agree with the adage of never meeting your heroes but when it comes to the Wonderbolts, I'd make an exception.
Zipp mentions how she got the sense that the poster and what it depicted was significant, but she was never able to get any answers and it's one mystery she hasn't been able to figure out yet. Sunny has her own inquiry for Zipp, asking about a dearth of books about the period from Twilight Sparkle's time. Considering she started with a book about Twilight and we see several titles about pony contemporaries of Twilight (Photo Finish, Mayor Mare, Cheese Sandwich, etc.) I assume that what Sunny actually means is that there are no books by or about pegasi during the historical period in question.
Now we get into some long awaited lore developments. Zipp reveals that the pegasi have no idea about their own history, only that they lived someplace before Zephyr Heights but were never able to find out where or anything about it, despite archeological searches. Which, considering that pegasi lost the ability to fly and they used to live in Cloudsdale, yeah, it makes sense why they wouldn't be able to find it. Sunny asks about Cloudsdale, holding up a book about it. Pipp arrives in time to scoff at the idea, dismissing the idea of a city in the sky made of clouds and deriding it as an old Daring Do story--which is suitably ironic since we know that Daring Do stories are, in fact, true.
Daring Do would have words for Pipp ... but probably not as many as she did for Quibble Pants.
Other fans have pointed out that Pipp dismisses the idea of walking on clouds when they did just that in the Tell Your Tale episode "Where Rainbows are Made" and even a bit at the start of Make Your Mark suggested pegasi could. Maybe one could say that walking on clouds is one thing, but building structures from them is another, currently beyond G5 pegasi.
This confirms that Zephyr Heights is clearly not Cloudsdale or a Cloudsdale that relocated itself onto the mountaintop or other such similar theories that were floated about by fans earlier in G5. There is a bit of minor hiccup from another comic. In the Kenbucky Derby miniseries, there was a series of teams from across different cities in Equestria that competed, including a team from Cloudsdale as well as other cities from old Equestria, like Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare. One could compose an in-universe explanation, that Cloudsdale (and potentially the other FiM cities mentioned here) aren't the original cities but newer settlements named after old ones. Or you could just go with the assuredly more likely out-of-universe explanation that the creative team working on Kenbucky Derby were trying to come up with other team names and didn't know that these pony locations were no longer around. Take your pick.
Returning to the story, Pipp comments that as a filly Zipp was obsessed with stories of Cloudsdale (not unlike how Sunny was obsessed with stories of old Equestria). But Pipp refers to Cloudsdale as clearly made up like Coltlantis--which probably would've had more weight if the last miniseries hadn't involved the Mane Six meeting seaponies and learning about seven undersea kingdoms. In any event, when Pipp asks Zipp to back her up about it all being a ridiculous myth, Zipp's face and tone say it all.
But the matter is pushed aside as Pipp excitedly brings them to the royal spa, gushing over its services and enticing her friends with the prospect of seeing a calmed Misty and a de-stressed Hitch--which even the study-obsessed ponies have to admit is something they're very curious about actually seeing.
The Mane Six assemble and head to the spa on a nice bright, sunny day. On the way they see a weather report predicting clear skies leading to a storm later in the week. Among other things, we find out that, indeed, G5 pegasi have not rediscovered the ability to control the weather. Also the symbol indicating a storm is ... not exactly subtle.
Zipp mentions the important of knowing the weather when you're flying, especially since you run the risk of being hit by lightning.
The gang relaxes at the spa for a while, a nice spread image capturing the opulence.
Thoroughly relaxed and refreshed, the Mane Six leave the spa to walk into ... a cold snowy day? Upset and clearly in a panic, Zipp bolts for the palace on her own, despite her friends' offer of help. She berates herself as she goes for taking a few hours to relax and have fun, that she just knew she wouldn't be ready for something.
Zipp arrives at the castle and meets with her mom's advisors. They tell her the storm they had predicted wouldn't arrive for a week had suddenly tripled in size and intensity, and would only get worse as it settled right over Zephyr Heights.
Her advisors have helpfully come with a four part evacuation plan:
Step One: Mass Hysteria (presumably with dogs and cats living together)
Step Two: Schools (presumably as in evacuate schools first)
Step Three: Downtown (presumably as in evacuate Downtown next)
Step Four: Horde all TP (Toilet Paper--self explanatory)
On her first day as queen regent and Zipp is faced with the necessity of ordering a full evacuation of Zephyr Heights. That's a bit more than your typical case of the Mondays. She's clearly distressed and overwrought but luckily that's when her friends catch up with her, again offering their assistance. Zipp quickly rallies and informs them that they're evacuating the city. To everypony's credit, no one wastes any time, Zipp immediately dispatching orders and the others accepting them.
There is one very baffling moment at this point. Sunny turns herself into an alicorn as per usual for her--but Pipp is depicted gaining a glowing horn as well.
Um, what?
This isn't a one-off either as she appears again with the horn a few panels later--something that doesn't happen to any other character present.
I have no idea what to make of that. Perhaps there was an assumption made that Sunny is capable of bestowing alicorndom on the rest of her friends whenever she feels like it and thinks Pipp needs it at the moment? Maybe there's something the creative team wants to develop or set up for the following issues. Or maybe it's just a miscommunication that will get caught and ironed out.
This issue ends with Zipp's newfound confidence at having her friends backing her once again fade as she steps outside to see pegasi falling out the stormy sky as Zephyr Heights gets pounded by the storm.
Mike Nelson: "This kind of weather wouldn't even faze the Midwest!"
With that our issue concludes until next time!
Story and Art Thoughts
I've been very eager for this series given what I've heard teased through the grapevine and solicitations for it, especially since it features my favorite member of the G5 cast and more history from the FiM days. I think the first issue helped showcase who Zipp is and what she's about, the next step is seeing just how she reacts to the developing crisis beyond the preliminary plans made at the end of this issue.
I definitely like the decision, in contrast to other miniseries of late, to have the entire Mane Six involved from the get-go. While I can attest from personal experience that writing for a group of more than two or three characters can be very challenging, it's only proper that they should all get some time and space if this is indeed the end of G5. Not to mention the group dynamics offer more possibilities for character interactions than when it's limited to only a few of them. Sparky is a make-or-break character for many and his involvement tends to frequently limit Hitch's range of options, so I'm glad for the decision to leave him at home with a sitter.
Naturally, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the plethora of in-jokes, puns, references, and more that Andy Price seeded throughout the issue, especially in the form of book titles. In the interest of saving time, I'm going to mention them all here rather than separate them out by the individual pages they show up on. A number of them are pony-related books that seem to be by or about various characters ("Love At Twilight," "The Sombra Sage Vol. 37," "The Photographs of Photo Finish," "Starswirl 1 & 2" "Detecting Gems for Fashion," "Unicornia," "The Care and Feeding of Yeti," "Life on the Moon," "The Prophecies of Cheese Sandwich," "Earth Pony History," "A History of the Party Cannon," and a few that are some true deep cuts that have us worried about the fates of some of our FiM favorites: "Party Planner 3 - Wakes," "Are Zebras Real?" "The Wrath of Gummy," "The Political Downfall of Mayor Mare," and "The Fall of the House of Apple").
Some of them are just jokey titles ("The Case Against Beets," "The Pop Up Book of Terrifying Things," "10,000 Recipes Nobody Wants," "Coffee Tables") but others refer to previous events in the MLP comics ("The Return of Queen Chrysalis," "Cosmos," "Whinny Land," "Little Fillies," "The Unicorn of Odd") and even a reference to Katie Cook's original webcomic ("Nothing Special").
Being an Andy Price work, science-fiction and comic references abound, especially for Star Trek ("The Lost Years"--referring to the time between The Original Series and the Star Trek motion picture, "Janeway Was Wrong"--self-explanatory, though far too short if that's anything other than an index). There's also "Quantum Physics by Sam Beckett" of Quantum Leap fame, "How I Did It by V. Frankenstein" from Young Frankenstein, Frazetta (as in comic legend Frank Frazetta), "Legend of the Bat Ponies" (which does double-duty as a pony reference and a Batman homage), "Building for Lefties" which might be a Leftorium homage from The Simpsons, and the flipping "Necronomicon" from H.P. Lovecraft and Evil Dead!
The art is by Andy Price and Heather Breckel. Had this review come out on time, I wouldn't have to say much more than that considering how accomplished they are and how great their pony art is. But since it didn't, I unfortunately became aware of some subsequent internet turmoil regarding the art for this issue that I don't think I can simply ignore, especially given what I laid out at the start about appropriate, respectful differences of opinion and fan behavior.
Some fans took to social media to barrage Andy Price's feed and his direct messages with multiple messages decrying how they felt Misty's mane appeared more curly rather than possessing the afro-textured coils she's depicted as having.
Now,
I can understand that as a black-coded character, Misty's depiction
means a great deal to many people in terms of representation and her mane is the most visible aspect in conveying that. However,
what Price faced was a sustained barrage of harassment and abuse, replete with
bad-faith accusations of racism and white-washing on his part--which are simply false to the core and wholly deplorable to make. I'm aware that not every fan who raised this issue was doing so in bad faith, but continuing to press Price on this while he faces this harassment can make it effectively look like you're very much a part of it.
Price then took the time to explain that he was expressly and explicitly told to
use the Tell Your Tale image as a reference for how Misty
was to be drawn in the comic and to not use her
more textured mane appearance from Make Your Mark. This was a specific
request made by the licensor--i.e., Hasbro themselves--to move away
from the Make Your Mark version as that was said to have a less positive
fan reaction than anticipated. One may read into that what you will,
but those were the instructions he was given. If this fact upsets you, take it up with Hasbro and not the artist. Jeremy Whitley confirmed that Price received more notes on character designs and models for this single mini-series than Price had ever received in the more than twelve years he has been doing pony comics.
