By Ashley Gibbs

I’ll be blunt unless you’re a child or young adult, or a brony, then My Little Pony the Movie Prequel #3 isn’t for you. After reading three issues of this movie tie-in series I’m left underwhelmed and downright bored. Of course, a huge reason is that the main ponies who fans love are nowhere to be found. This series is about characters who will appear in the movie alongside them, who I don’t know or have any connection to yet and this doesn’t help. It’s also simple storytelling with heavy-handed messages of friendship thrown in, and decent enough artwork. I stepped into this miniseries hoping to get hyped for the movie, but so far I’m left with indifference.

I mentioned this would be good for children, the target demographics for this and as an adult, my opinion is probably very biased. However, I do enjoy stories that aim for audiences younger than me when done well and sadly this is not. This issue follows Capper and his friend Chummer as they have made their escape from the Storm King and if you’re wondering “Who is Chummer? I haven’t seen him in any of the promotional material for the movie!” then that’s your first clue where this story is going. We’re given more backstory about their lives and friendship because friendship is the main theme going on in this miniseries. While this issue serves as good background as to where Capper is from and his attitude going into the movie, it’s a basic tale of two thieves. The way the story flows and ends is predictable as is a bit dark for a kid’s story but I liked that element and might have enjoyed the story more if there was more of it present.

The artwork isn’t bad, of course, it’s not as vibrant as what the show presents or the movie will, but it works for the comics. There is a good use of colors, and I did enjoy the panel layout for the pages, particularly at one point where the mob boss Verko is talking and literally uses the borders of the panel to prop his arm on it casually. I’m a fan of flourishes like when the artwork breaks out of the confines of its panel. The art style is good but not my favorite. There are three covers for this issue, and one is done by Andy Price, the artist who does the interior artwork.  The other two are not, and I enjoyed those a lot better.

Maybe I’m being harsh on My Little Pony the Movie Prequel #3, it’s a movie tie-in for a kid’s show, but I am a fan of the show and do plan to see the movie, so I was hoping that I would enjoy this comic series as well. While it’s nice, the comic serves as background for the new characters who will be in the movie, the lack of any ponies is very noticeable; especially when all of the covers focus solely on the ponies themselves and not any of the characters featured in these pages. If you have a child that enjoys the series or wants to see the movie, they might enjoy this. If you’re a die-hard brony, then you might enjoy this. If you want a fun story, there are better My Little Pony comics to read.

Score: 2/5

My Little Pony the Movie Prequel #3
Writer: Ted Anderson
Artist: Andy Price
Colorist: Heather Breckel
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Publisher: IDW Publishing