So in the first issue of IDW's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic, Rainbow Dash gives advice to Fluttershy in the form of a quote from the 1989 Patrick Swayze film Road House.

We can go ahead and shut the Eisner Awards down right now, because there's no way we're getting anything better than that this year.My Little Pony #1 is already on track to becoming one of the best-selling non-Big Two books of 2012, which isn't all that surprising. The cartoon that it's based on has, after all, been an unprecedented crossover, specifically crossing over into the same demographic that heads to the comic shop every Wednesday to catch up on The Walking Dead, and they've been wanting more Ponies than the Hub has been able to deliver for a couple of years now.

And by the same token, it's not really surprising that it's a good comic, either. Writer Katie Cook is pretty well-known for adorable comics and witty humor, and Andy Price has been doing some pretty amazing pony-related art on his own for quite some time now. That said, I was still pretty surprised that this book is this good.

Cook's script perfectly captures what's so appealing about the show, from the way the characters interact to the well-crafted comedy that doesn't talk down to its audience, and continuity nerds (who, unsurprisingly, make up a huge portion of that crossover audience I mentioned) will probably appreciate that it's a direct sequel to the Season 2 finale that also continues the ongoing Cutie Mark Crusaders storyline. Price's art is beautifully expressive and full of personality. Everything looks detailed and fully realized without being so busy that it's hard to follow, with a ton of amazing background gags that include ponies based on the Blues Brothers and Donald Sutherland.

And then there's also this:


I'm reasonably certain that these are Pony-fied versions of Price and Cook themselves (I was not aware that Cook was possessed of the Phoenix Force but that does explain her nigh-cosmic talent), but either way, a pony whose destiny involves a pencil with Batman wings and cape-shaped scallops on his hooves is someone I need more comics about.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1 hits shelves today with 20 -- yes twenty -- variant covers, and it's well worth picking up!







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