My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Volume 1 Paperback – July 8, 2014

As an avid My Little Pony fan, I was excited to finally read this comic in it's entirety. Ladies and Gentlecolts, you will not be disappointed! A engrossing storyline featuring our sinister Queen Chrysalis in an adventure that our mane six have never done before captures your attention and pulls you along for the ride. This is something thats believable and I can see it becoming part of the television show. However, this comic explores darker themes that might be disturbing for some children and parents. The art is exciting and detailed, so detailed that it can be a bit scary for younger readers as well (for instance Chrysalis' teeth are in plain sight in all it's pointy glory). As a adult reader I found it really enjoyable, it really appeals to people from different age groups.This collection contains the first four comics (that together creates a complete story - which includes all the issues cover art as well). My only complaint was I wish the art was farther away from the crease, I found myself stretching my book a little to uncover more of the panels, which I really didn't want to do. Nonetheless this is a must have for any fan, young or old. I will be buying Vol. 2 when it comes out in a few months!

I was originally thinking that this comic wasn't going to be very good when I first heard about it, but then I saw some preview pages on Equestria Daily, and after that I was instantly hooked. This book has very good art, an interesting story, and has a great amount of humor that would be on the show. It is about the evil Queen Chrysalis and her changelings returning to get revenge on Twilight and her friends. It's a really good story, has good humor, and some funny cameos and references (including Pennywise the clown, Earl Hickey, and Mola Ram) This is a must buy for any fan of the show and is a purchase one cannot regret. (Its only 11 bucks, how can you go wrong?)

love this show and love the comics

Okay, I will admit it. <i>Braces self and admits the truth</i>, I am a fan of the show <i>My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic</i>. Yes, that's right.... I'm a brony (male <i>Pony</i> fan). So what? I'm being facetious with the melodramatic embarrassment, but that is to introduce this topic. I love this show, because it is actually really good. It has plot lines that children can enjoy, with depth, characterization, jokes, references that adults can like as well. All of the above is because Lauren Faust, when originally tasked to created the newest generation of <i>My Little Pony</i> set out to make this newest iteration of the franchise one that both parents <i>AND</i> kids will want to watch.Anyone who has paid attention at all to the number of comics and manga I have read know that I love those genres. As a fan of the show, I was pleased to hear that they had started releasing comics that are part of the same continuity as the show.<i>My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Vol. 1</i> is a really fun adventure. The plot is simple enough, in that the evil Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings has returned to set up a trap for Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane 6 (Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Apple Jack). Though simple, the plot is actually pretty clever, in that it is well-thought out, and one that the characters all know is a trap that they have to walk into, because Chrysalis has forced their hands that effectively. But the trap at the end is not the only trick the evil Queen has up her sleeve. The trek to her kingdom is fraught with peril, and they will need all of their wits to make it through.The main draw for me is not the over-arching story. As I said, it is quite clever, though simple, so it is worth a read itself, though the end is a tad spoiled by seeming like a complete <i>Deus ex Machina</i>. That is the only real criticism I can come up with here, though. For me, however, the draw is the characterization and the way the story is told. The book is filled with shout-outs and clever and funny references to everything from horror movies like <i>The Shining</i>, to works such as <i>The Phantom of the Opera</i>, and characters from <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> and <i>Transformers</i>, among others. And the comedy and the interactions of the characters are hilarious. This is not some lame kiddie-story.At the end, there is the lesson learned and the good guys winning, and it is a tad more explicit than I liked, but that was only about three pages worth of panels. The rest of the book was written with subtlety and wit. There was a great section at the end where they had a short mini-comic that seemed to be half filling in plot holes, and half a Western comic book take on the Yonkoma sections in Japanese manga.This was a really great comic that I am sure both fans, and non-fans, of the current MLP franchise will enjoy.

I'll admit, I got this not really expecting much from it. While reading it though, it blew away my expectations. This is a definite must read for any fan of the show. The story is excellent, the humor is great, the art style is fantastic, and I'm surprised how dark it was allowed to get when compared to the show. With my last point, if you are getting this for a younger child, I could easily see them being scared by some of the imagery and stuff that happens, but there's nothing that's extremely bad. With older readers though, I think they will thoroughly enjoy it like I did. This was a great reminder of why I really enjoy My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

My child is an avid "Brony", and after meeting Andy Price, the main artist, at Dragon*Con, I bought her this book. I am new to this resurgence of Ponies myself, and didn't know what to expect. While the storyline at heart is a lovable if somewhat juvenile fantasy set in this land of colorful talking ponies, some of the scripting is absolutely hilarious, and the art, complete with double takes and glares, is an absolute howl to read. So, if you like MLP, it's a must. If you're in to easy reads which are just fun and entertaining, this would work well.

Having purchased the issues and loving them, I decided to get the volume edition. What an amazing buy. For a reasonable price, this paperback glossy-coated book is high quality in terms of color, page turnability, and overall feel of it being in your hands. What I didn't expect is the plastic clear coat on the cover, and the raised letters for the logo. Gives it a real special and unique texture when feeling it. Inside, the pages are crisp, fully colored, and do not stick to each other. I would recommend this to anyone who loves this comic series. It's just too bad I don't have the patience to wait until they release the volumes so I don't have to spend extra money on monthly issues.