March of the Ponies: MLP Comics (Rainbow Dash One-shot)

[NOTE: Links to other March of the Ponies stories will go here as they are published. Part 1 - Abridged MLP history, Part 2 - Review of Lauren Faust's prior works, Part 3 - MLP Comics (Micro-series of Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, CMCs/Celestia, Spike/Luna; Nightmare Rarity arc (main series)), Part 4 - Equestria Girls review, Part 5 - Fan-made episodes (Dusk's Dawn, Double Rainboom, Snowdrop), Part 6 - Fan works (Music, Doctor Whooves, Parody/Abridged Series, Fanfictions), Part 7 - Season Reviews: Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Magical Mystery Cure, Season 4 (to date)]

Next up on the list of Pony Comics review is Rainbow Dash's one-shot and... uh, yeah... this was a comic.

How was this not a Cover of the
Year contender?

I go into this further in the audio above, but this issue was just completely crazy. It was like Frank Miller summoned all his affinity for one-liners and sent vibes to this crew so that Rainbow Dash would be Pony Leonidas.

Between the random TV interview segments and 80's style paneling, this did have shades of "The Dark Knight Returns." I half expected Rainbow Dash to stand crouched in the rain like the cover of that story.

I have no idea what these villains were, what their goal was or why Rainbow Dash seemed to be the only one in Equestria trying to do anything about them. This issue was one gigantic stroke to Rainbow's ego.

Actually, this whole story would make perfect sense if it ended with the twist that the whole thing was a campfire story Rainbow was telling the Cutie Mark Crusaders. This whole thing is entirely in character for Rainbow Dash in so many ways if you take it that way.

Even without it, though, this is still a VERY fun read and the art is very old-school superhero comic style. If you ignore that this is supposed to be taking place in the canon universe, or if you know nothing about the series, this would probably go down as a great issue and would most likely hook a lot of new followers.

But taking it for what it is vs. what it's supposed to be doing, I'm going to give it a 7.7/10. It's a really fun escapist work that allows you to shut off you brain and enjoy a good story. It also confuses the canon in ways I can't even begin to comprehend, but screw it, just call it a campfire story in your head and you'll have fun.

But what it does so well is that it encapsulates Rainbow Dash perfectly. The focus on her loyalty is perfect and I honestly think that if Rainbow ever wrote about her adventures, this would be how she perceives reality. This is a fascinating look into the inner psyche of the character, even if it was in a way not intended.

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