Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through The Snow. Now last time, we looked at Hearth's Warming Eve and sadly that has been the only Hearth's Warming episode but thankfully, the comics gave us another Hearth's Warming tale that was released in July. Odd but Hearth's Warming Eve In July. Well, anyways, this was the 6th issue in the My Little Pony Mirco-Series and it was the last one for the Mane 6 and the pony featured was Applejack.
Covers
Cover A
I have to say that I really like this cover. It has that feeling of a quilt being knitted by Granny Smith and I do like that it includes all of the Apple family. Because Babs and Braeburn haven't been seen very much in the show. Babs Seed has only been in two episodes and as of right now, there are no plans to bring her back and Braeburn has only been in a single episode.
Cover B
This cover is more in line with the story. It's not that bad, I like the action of it and AJ protecting the apples makes sense in the context of the story. Though, I still like Cover A better.
Staff
Story/Edited by Bobby Churhow
The writer for this comic wasn't bad and it did seem like they watched all of AJ's solo episodes but at the same time, they didn't bring anything new to the table regarding Applejack. That's not a bad thing but Applejack is a character that I have a hard time getting invested in and this comic was no exception.
Art & Lyrics by Brenda Hickey
Brenda Hickey's art wasn't bad and it captured the feel of the show. Take a look.
You may have noticed that she was also credited for lyrics. This comic included a song. Which seems a bit odd. Now, this isn't the only issue to do so as Pinkie Pie's comic also included a song and the artist behind that reached out to a Brony musician to record that song but even on it's own, that made sense because Pinkie is the type of character to break into song. AJ isn't really a character to sing on her own. She has to have a reason to sing and it is usually for a celebratory reason.
So, this is just my opinion but I don't feel there was much of a need for a song to be implemented into this particular issue.
Colors by Heather Breckel
I must give the colorist credit on this comic as this issue was very bright and vibrant. And I feel that even more then the art, it captured the color of the show.
Lettered by Neil Uyetake
The lettering unlike the Fluttershy comic really didn't feel very distinct but it served it's purpose, well enough.
It's almost Hearth's Warming Eve and we open as we see the Apple family sans AJ working in the family kitchen making apple sauce. The three are in good spirits but then the cowgirl herself comes barging in, complaining that they have too much work to do. Granny Smith takes a bucket of water to her eldest granddaughter and tells hers to simmer down because having everything being just is not what the holiday is all about. Applejack in a touching moment states that she knows that but she couldn't live with herself, if something happened to the farm or her family. Applejack tells her family not to worry because so long as her family is, she's happy. That night as the Apple family sleeps and we get a nice gag showing that Mac still has Smartypants (Don't tell Twilight), a creature comes to Sweet Apple Acres and starts to take the apples and replace them with squashes (Ewe, I hate squash). Applejack awakes to find her family out on the farm as they learn of their apples being replaced with squashes. AJ questions what could've done this and Granny Smith reveals that she knows what did it, The Sass Squash. Get it, Sass Squash. It sounds like Sasquatch.
Yeah, not funny. The three young Apples question Granny about this. Granny takes them back in and explains to them that when they were first setting up the farm, that they were having the same problem and a young Granny Smith was determined to find out what was going on. She shows them a picture of the Sass Squash and mentions that they had not seen it until now. This is when we get an adorable moment featuring little Apple Bloom coming with many various ways to defeat the beast such as training Wiona to hunt the beast. Here, just look.
Big Mac suggests that he can use his net. And Granny says that she can use pots and pans to bang noise. AJ splashes her family with water. (Is that a thing in this family?) As she tells them not to fret because she wants them to enjoy their holiday and she'll take care of the beast on her own. Oh great, this is starting to turn into a retread of Applebuck Season. Her family tries to convince her that she can't do it alone but the cowgirl won't listen to reason. She first starts off by making a cage but that doesn't work as she falls asleep and when she awakes, she finds herself trapped in the cage. When Apple Bloom comes out and lets her know what happened and offers her help. But again, AJ turns it down that is after she asks Apple Bloom to help her out of the cage. We later see AJ think to herself that she needs to think like a Sass Squash and starts to act a little weird. As Granny put it as the Apple Family looked on.
Welp, She's lost it
We later see Applejack setting up mirrors and we get a cute little gag with Mac checking himself out in one of the mirrors. He came out offer his help with his net. Applejack turns down his help because she wants to capture the Sass Squash on her own. Though as we see that doesn't work. Later on, Granny Smith comes out to try and talk some sense into her granddaughter. As we find Applejack disgusied as a tree. Apparently, Applejack has booby trapped the entire place. Granny Smith is a bit worried about AJ and doesn't want Applejack to lose sight of what is truly important. And then we get the song. Let's skip that part. After many more attempts, AJ gives up. Well, we are done folk. Goodbye.
No, sorry. There's more to go. Applejack comes in down trodden and feeling bad but Granny tells her granddaughter not to be so hard on herself because that creature has eluded capture for generations. It won't be caught, if it doesn't want to caught. And the family agrees to work together to capture the Sass Squash. Apple Bloom uses music, Granny bangs her pots and pans and when the beast comes along, Mac uses his net and they capture it. And it's revealed that the Sass Squash was actually.....
Granny Smith
Apparently, she did this to bring the family closer together but Applejack took over like usual. And then the comic ends with Applejack writing a letter to Princess Celestia about slowing down and taking time for yourself. And that the holiday is about spending time with family. That's something, Hearth's Warming felt a bit shoehorned into this issue.
The comic ends as we see Granny Smith taking a pie to the real Sass Squash. All in all, this issue is... okay. I don't hate it but I don't really like it either. My issue is that the writer of this episode just that it feels like every other Applejack story. Most notably Applebuck Season. Because as I pointed out AJ is just being stubborn and not willing to take help from anyone in the family. We've already seen Applejack learn this lesson. This comic is basically just a retread of the lesson, she learned in first solo episode back in the first season. And that in part is one of the big reasons, why I don't Applejack because the writers really haven't done anything new with her. This issue plays off her most common traits: family and apples. Just once, I'd like to see a story that takes AJ outside of her comfort zone like the wonder Rarity issue did but alas that was not the case. I wanted to like this issue. Really, I did but it currently ranks as my least favorite MLP comic. It's not bad but it just treads old ground.
Characters
Now, this'll be broken down into Main & Supporting. With that out of the way, let's get started.
Main Character
Applejack
My biggest issue with this particular story is that Applejack's stubbornness comes off as being very annoying seeing as she's already that sometimes you can't do everything on your own and it's okay to take a lending hoof. Honestly, Applejack was the biggest thing that brought this story down. She's not a bad character but nothing interesting is ever done with her during her solo outings. It's frustrating because I do see a character in there I could like but the writers need to stop retreading the same old ground. That is how I lost interest in her so quickly. When I first got into MLP, I thought AJ was going to be one of my favorite character but she currently ranks at the bottom.
Supporting Characters
Granny Smith
Granny Smith probably had the most active role in this tale of the supporting characters in trying to teach her eldest granddaughter, a lesson (one SHE'S ALREADY LEARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Still, with that said, I liked Granny's role in this issue. It was the good matriarchal role to use to provide a lesson.
Apple Bloom
This one scene with Apple Bloom almost makes up for the lackluster story but it's not enough to save it. However, Apple Bloom is just adorable as always in this tale and all of the different ways, she comes up with to defeat the Sass Squash were so funny and her fast thinking was so great.
Big Mac
Mac was fun but he really didn't offer much but that doesn't upset me because unlike his sister, he's not the star of this comic.
Antagonist
Sass Squash
Sass Squash is a creature, we didn't get to learn much about other then he steals apples and replaces them with squash. Where does the squash come from? Though I do like that he mostly remained in the shadows and I also do like that he's really not a bad guy as the ending shows but we are given a reason as to why, he takes the apples.
My Final Thoughts
The first time, I read this issue, I went in knowing that there was going to be a good chance that I wasn't going to like it but I didn't expect it to be so disappointing. I went in hoping that maybe it'd give me a reason to like Applejack but no, it gave me more reasons to dislike her. Well okay, not AJ herself but the stories that are told with Applejack. Sad to say but I think this is the weakest MLP comic that has been released thus far. Ah well. Join me next time as I close out this event with some help from Magic Dust. Peace!
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