By Ashley Gibbs

I admit I wasn’t too impressed with the first issue of this series. It made me worry if I’d even like the movie at all, to be honest. Then the official trailer dropped and my interest rose again and now, after reading My Little Pony Movie Prequel #2 I am once again curious about this upcoming big screen adventure. While the book is aimed at younger readers and as such certain points are hammered into the ground, the overall story told is well-paced and matched with nice artwork. This series is not a bad lead-up to the movie if you’re looking for some background before heading to theaters.

This issue focuses on Captain Celaeno who we briefly saw at the end of the previous issue as she and her pirates raided the Storm King’s ships. This time we see the lead up to that event and learn about her personality and how she runs her operation. Depicted as a pirate with a heart, she cares about her crew and mainly raids ship to maintain their lifestyle. She constantly says she doesn’t like taking risks, each time the word is bolded to drive the point home making it a bit redundant. However, overall she seems kind, with no business being a pirate. While I wasn’t fond of the Storm King at all in issue one, here he actually seems imposing and has a villainous presence which was enjoyable, there are also no fourth wall breaking moments.

One thing I enjoyed in this issue were the character designs. Aside from minion characters, the important ones had very nice designs.Most of Celaeno’s crew are scrappy and even “missing a few parts” but they’re unique and colorful. Everything in the issue is colorful, even when they’re raiding the Storm King’s ships at night nothing looks overly grim or dark. I personally love bright eye-catching colors and I’m sure it will catch the attention of younger readers very well. Panel layouts are very creative and used well helping the story to flow easily as you read it.

While I know this series is a prequel to the movie there is still one vital thing missing so far; ponies. So far we’re learning about side characters who are also in the movie but nothing about the actual main ponies or even the seaponies which I admit to being the most curious about. Either way, this is probably a lot of information that wouldn’t get as much screen time in the movie so it is nice to read if you want to keep your hype built up. My Little Pony Movie Prequel #2 was a good issue, there was action and more interesting characters added to the mix. There is also a message that messing with magic is dangerous which will be an interesting contrast since magic plays a big part in the lives of ponies in the actual series.

Score: 3/5

My Little Pony the Movie Prequel #2
Writers: Ted Anderson
Artists: Andy Price
Colorist: Heather Breckel
Letters: Neil Uyetake
Publisher: IDW