My Little Pony Annual 2014

HELLOOO and welcome to Cultures Compendium of Reviews! As always, I am Culture Shock. Your guide to all things cultural in Equestria and beyond. Today, we learn how a little teamwork can go a long way. Before we begin, let's review the rules. First off, all content within this blog is expressly the opinion of its 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?

Annual 2014 is the second annual edition comic released by IDW Publishing. A collab by writer Ted Anderson and artist Ben Bates, this comic featured a 40 - page story about the original Power Ponies and an 8 - page EQG featurette starring the Mane - iac and her human counterpart. The story opens up with the Power Ponies foiling yet another evildoer in the city of Maretropolis. And continue to do so as the story progresses. Eventually, the villains agree that they've had enough and plot to team up against our heroes. Can the Power Ponies defeat this dastardly coalition of criminals? Or will they prove too much for our young heroines?

Okay, I was not pleased by this comic. Granted, I grew up in the generation where boys and girls both idolized the spandex clad heroes of yesteryear. I feel this comic tried to go above and beyond to pay homage to those old days. Only for it all to flop harder than a Magikarp.

The message, though poorly delivered, was the obvious lesson on how friendship is the most powerful strength there is. As long you carry it deep in your heart there's no challenge you can't overcome.

So my biggest grievance here, of course, was how obvious the references were throughout the the story. Paying homage to something or just plain referencing something is fine and all. But the least you can do is not make so obvious. There were so many blatant hints that I couldn't tell if this was an MLP comic or just a mishmash of random hero shows ponified. An honest example of poor writing on IDW's part if I do say so myself.

Alright! This concludes my review of the 2014 Annual. Poorly written and dry around the edges. I wouldn't recommend this even if Marvel endorsed it. I give this issue a 4 / 10. Hope you guys enjoyed the review.  Be sure to leave a like if you did. Also, don't forget to follow us for more updates. Got a suggestion for a review? Leave it in the comments down below. This is Culture Shock, your guide to all things cultural in Equestria and beyond, saying KEEP CALM AND BRONY ON!! PEACE!!