My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issues 34 - 37

HELLOOO and welcome to Cultures Compendium of Reviews! As always, I'm Culture Shock. Your guide to all things cultural in Equestria and beyond. In todays review prepare the flashlights and say your prayers as we investigate what goes bump in the night. Before we begin, lets review the rules. Firstly, all content within this blog is the express opinion of it's author. It does not, nor should it ever, reflect the overall opinion of the fandom. Lastly, if any of you notice any mistakes, be it typos or otherwise, don't hesitate to let me know. With that said, let's begin. Shall we?

MLP: FIM issues 34 - 37, aka Siege of the Crystal Empire, is a dramatic action story from writer Jeremy Whitley and artist Andy Price. It features elements of romance, friendship, and betrayal. It's also the second arc to focus on the dark lord himself, King Sombra.

The biggest plus from this arc is how it gave so much detail to Sombras past and his upbringing. From his lonesome and painful childhood to the truth behind his origins as an Umbrum or shadow pony. Towards the end we even get a subtle nod to the past arc, Reflections.

The lesson in this arc is an inspiration for all generations. No one controls your future. Only YOU decide your destiny. All his life Sombra believed he only had one path to walk. It took the love of a long lost friend to show him even HE has choices in how he lives.

There weren't too many problems with this arc but they should still be addressed. First off, the pacing kind of drolled on. It took a quarter of an issue for the story to pick up. Secondly, the fact that Sombra was hiding right under Cadences nose is baffling. I mean if I had an evil shadow moaning in MY basement I'd at least be a little suspicious. Finally, I feel the sudden time skip between part 2 and 3 left out a critical battle. Nothings wrong with shortening time for scene transitions but it does occassionally leave a lot of questions unanswered.

Alright! This concludes my review of issues 34 - 37. It was good to see Sombra get such a major redemption atc as well learn so much about him. I recommend this to all Sombra fans. I give Siege of the Crystal Empire a 7 / 10. Hope you guys enjoyed this review. Be sure to leave a like if you did. Also be sure to stay tuned for more updates. Got a suggestion for a review? Leave it in a comment below. This is Culture Shock, your guide to all things cultural in equestria and beyond, saying KEEP CALM AND BRONY ON! PEACE!